seeds

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Felled Sycamore Gap Tree Yields Seedlings

That's in addition to 9 genetic copies

(Newser) - Though slashed from its base, the Sycamore Gap tree might still have a future, the BBC reports, as dozens of seeds taken from the tree have now sprouted. A national landmark, the centuries-old sycamore tree stood in a picturesque gap between hills in England's Northumberland National Park before it...

$9M Doomsday Vault Getting $13M Upgrade
After 'Doomsday Vault'
Withdrawal Comes a Deposit
UPDATED

After 'Doomsday Vault' Withdrawal Comes a Deposit

Group formerly in Syria deposits seeds for safeguarding, a milestone for the vault

(Newser) - Updated: The world's "Doomsday Vault" opened its doors Monday to accept more seeds from abroad. The vault in Norway was taking seeds for safeguarding from facilities in Uganda, Sudan, New Zealand, Germany, and Lebanon, reports Reuters . Most notably, the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas, formerly...

Next Entry in Unconventional Food: Coffee-Less Coffee

Atomo startup in Seattle uses seeds and nuts and a chemical process

(Newser) - You can eat "meat" made from plants and drink "milk" made from nuts, but are you ready for coffee made without coffee? That's the question posed by a story in Bloomberg about a Seattle startup producing just such a brew. The concoction by Atomo Coffee is made...

Seeds Secretly Buried in 1879 Just Gave Us an 'Amazing Moment'

Seeds hidden in Michigan State experiment are still sprouting after 142 years

(Newser) - The world's longest-running seed experiment is still giving up greenery. A group of seeds buried in a secret spot at Michigan State University in 1879 have begun sprouting after they were dug up and planted in mid-April. The first sprouted April 23—"an amazing moment," per botany...

Experiment Started in 1879 Isn't Done Yet

Every 20 years, a bottle is secretly removed from the ground at Michigan State University

(Newser) - Three Michigan State University scientists have been let in on a secret that has persisted since 1879: the location of buried glass bottles that make up an experiment that has gone on for more than a century—and will likely continue until the dawn of a new century. NPR reports...

Many People Planted Those Mystery Seeds. Others Ate Them
Mystery Seeds a 'Much Larger'
Operation Than We Thought
in case you missed it

Mystery Seeds a 'Much Larger' Operation Than We Thought

Thousands of Americans may have planted them, while others admitted to eating them, per Vice

(Newser) - Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans planted the mystery seeds they received in the mail over the summer, against the advice of US authorities, while others decided to pop them in their mouths. That's according to Jason Koebler at Vice , who read through "thousands of internal emails" from state...

Seed Mystery Leads Amazon to Cut Off Foreign Sales in US

USDA is analyzing 2.5K of the packets sent to homes

(Newser) - Until the mystery of the unsolicited seed packets is solved, Amazon is throwing a wrench into the supply chain. Foreign sellers have been told they can no longer ship plant or seed products through its site into the US, the Wall Street Journal reports; the packets often have China postmarks....

Some of the Mystery Seeds Have Been Identified
Some Mystery Seeds
Mailed to Americans Identified
in case you missed it

Some Mystery Seeds Mailed to Americans Identified

But you still shouldn't plant them, officials say

(Newser) - Some of the mystery seeds appearing in packages sent to Americans from China have been identified by botanists at a federal agency, but officials still say you shouldn't plant the seeds if you received them. The US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says it has...

US Officials Warn About 'Mystery Packets' From China

Is it a simple business scam, or something worse?

(Newser) - All 50 states are warning Americans about mysterious seed packages sent unsolicited to their doorsteps—mostly from China, USA Today reports. The US Dept. of Agriculture suspects a simple business scam, but some officials say it could be a poison pill to damage crops: "I've had people describe...

Those Strange Seeds You Got in the Mail? Don't Plant Them

Officials in several states warn unsolicited packets may be from China, other overseas locations

(Newser) - "Do not plant seeds from unknown origins." That's the warning issued by Mike Strain, Louisiana's agriculture commissioner, after people in his state and several others say they've received unasked-for packages of seeds in the mail, which officials say may have come from China or other...

Cherokee Nation: 'This Is History in the Making'

US tribe is first to deposit heirloom seeds in global vault

(Newser) - "There will always be a part of the Cherokee Nation in the world," declares the Native American tribe, which will be the first to store its heirloom seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, better known as the "doomsday vault." In a statement , Senior Director of...

Arm Wrestler Arrested Over Apricot Seeds. Again

Jason Vale, mom allegedly made $850K for selling them as a cure for cancer

(Newser) - A two-time national arm wrestling champion will need more than muscle to escape charges that he made $850,000 selling "the answer to cancer" online. Cancer survivor Jason Vale, 51, has long attributed his health and success to apricot seeds. In fact, this is his second bust over the...

Army's New Push: Ammo That Grows Plants

It wants biodegradable bullets for training grounds

(Newser) - At US military training facilities, spent shell casings are scattered across proving grounds, many buried several inches below ground. What if they were biodegradable and contained seeds that would sprout into beneficial plants over time? It may sound a bit utopian, but the US Department of Defense has just released...

'Doomsday Vault' Sees Its First Withdrawal

Spurred by the Syrian civil war

(Newser) - The "Doomsday Vault" just got its first bit of doomsday press: coverage of its first-ever withdrawal of seeds. Since 2008, the vault has sat on a Norwegian island in the Svalbard archipelago, 800 miles from the North Pole where the soil is always frozen. It's a place so...

Feds: We Have a Way to Fix Land After Disasters

Authorities say it will make damaged land more resilient

(Newser) - Federal authorities announced a plan today to produce massive quantities of seeds from native plants that can be quickly planted to help land recover from natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes. The program will make landscapes more resilient and healthier, especially Western rangelands where massive wildfires have been an...

'Doomsday Vault' Gets First Tree Seeds

Spruce and pine among new collection added to Svalbard Global Seed Vault

(Newser) - The " Doomsday Vault " sits on an Arctic Island, quietly helping to protect our future. At first, it mostly collected and stored food crops, but it recently got its first shipment of tree seeds, Wired reports. Norway spruce and Scots pine are, of course, not much of a meal,...

'Doomsday Vault' Gets Sizable Birthday Present

Sleep easy tonight: Key miso ingredient is now safe

(Newser) - Earth is now slightly better prepared for an agricultural apocalypse: The "Doomsday Vault" is 20,000-species stronger as of this week— its sixth birthday . A new wave of seed varieties were deposited that hail from more than 100 countries and represent a "sort of winter Olympics of crop...

Chinese Spy Stole Iowa Corn Seeds: Feds

FBI tracked alleged corporate spy through corn fields

(Newser) - Corporate espionage ... in an Iowa cornfield? Federal agents caught an alleged Chinese spy last week trying to smuggle highly valuable "inbred" cord seeds out of the country, prosecutors say. Mo Hailong is accused of stealing the seeds from fields in Illinois and Iowa and trying to evade FBI agents...

Farmer, 75, Takes on Monsanto
Farmer, 75, Takes on Monsanto

Farmer, 75, Takes on Monsanto

Soybean seed case hits Supreme Court this week

(Newser) - Vernon Hugh Bowman, a 75-year-old Indiana farmer, is taking on agribusiness heavyweight Monsanto in a case hitting the Supreme Court tomorrow. Monsanto says Bowman, who has been using Monsanto's soybean seeds happily for years, is infringing its patents when he plants a second crop of soybeans each year. The...

Seed Shortage Buries Hopes for Record Corn Crop

Corn prices may hit record high this year

(Newser) - American farmers had been planning the biggest corn planting since World War II this spring, but they're being thwarted by a seed shortage. Drought conditions in the Midwest and Great Plains last year have caused what dealers in the corn belt say is the biggest shortage of top-quality seeds...

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