Australia: The Discovery of the World’s Largest Plant

If you happen to live in the 21st century, most of us never get the chance to see the largest animal on Earth. But if you can get to Australia, there is a chance that you’ll see our planet’s largest plant.

Recently, scientists have discovered a seagrass meadow in Shark Bay off the coast of Australia. The species in question is called Posidonia Australis, or ribbon weed. Testing numerous samples from various locations in the meadow, researchers have determined that the plant is about 4,500 years old. And why is this meadow called one plant? Because the other thing we’ve learned from the samples is that the entire area of seagrass got reproduced from one seed over the 45 centuries of its existence. Currently, the meadow spans over 180 kilometers.

So, now knowing the incredible power of reproduction, especially those from one cell, how does it work exactly? Before we get into that, we need to understand something else: Amino acids. These are organic compounds, and they are the building blocks of life. These amino acids form proteins, which then make up cells. If it is an animal or human that we’re talking about, then the cells would form tissue, and the tissue combines into organs, with the organs ultimately helping maintain life. But even with all this, we still have something left out: DNA, Deoxyribonucleic acid. The DNA in your body acts like a manual book on how to operate. If you didn’t have DNA or just lost or changed some of it, you would be an entirely different human or even animal. I’m not joking because we and chimps share around 95-98% of the same DNA.

Anyways, back to how cells reproduce. The basic principle is that one cell splits into two, and so on. So if one has more cells, the more it could replicate, as in the case of the seagrass in Shark Bay. When people age, our cells lose this ability to split, and so with no more replacements, our cells eventually die out, resulting in tissues and organs malfunctioning and spelling the end of life.

In theory, if we could maintain the ability to reproduce cells, then we would be immortal. However, even if someone somehow does that, they would only be immune from some natural causes. If you were unlucky enough to be caught up in a disaster, such as a tsunami, then I’m sorry that no one could save you. I guess there goes the mortal immortal.

So back to the seagrass meadow in Shark Bay. Though what I’m going to say isn’t about the seagrass itself but rather about Shark Bay and the area. Shark Bay is a World Heritage Site, one of many administered by the World Heritage Convention, an organization under UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. These World Heritage Sites could be either natural or human-made, and even though they get called “sites,” they could also be an area or landmarks. In either of the cases, special legal protection gets enforced on the place. A place could get administered if they have cultural, historical, scientific, or another form of significance. The sites get judged to contain cultural and natural heritage considered outstanding value to humanity. So if you’re worried about Shark Bay’s seagrass getting subjected to human-caused damage, the chances are very slim.

Speaking of the seagrass meadow, how cool would it be if we could clone ourselves just when we feel like it. It would instantly resolve the problem of a declining global birth rate! But how would it work out? I surely don’t want to see half of me walking around! All that and more possibilities are left to you to imagine, dear reader. That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you for reading, and tune in for more mind-blowing news updates.