My Science School

Scientists have discovered the world's largest plant off the Australia coast- a seagrass meadow that has grown by repeatedly cloning itself. Genetic analysis has revealed that the underwater fields of waving green seagrass are a single organism covering 180 sq.km. through making copies of itself over 4,500 years.

Scientists confirmed that the underwater meadow was a single organism by sampling and comparing the DNA of seagrass shoots across the bed, wrote Jane Edgeloe, a study co-author and marine biologist at the University of Western Australia.

A variety of plants and some animals can reproduce asexually. There are disadvantages to being clones of a single organism. such as increased susceptibility to diseases- but "the process can create hopeful monsters" by enabling rapid growth, the researchers wrote.

The scientists call the meadow of Poseidon's ribbon weed "the most widespread known clone on Earth", covering an area larger than Washington, the US.

Though the seagrass meadow is immense, it's vulnerable. A decade ago, the seagrass covered an additional seven square miles, but cyclones and rising ocean temperatures linked to climate change have recently killed almost a 10th of the ancient seagrass bed.

Did you know?

• The species is commonly found along parts of Australia's coast, and grows "like a lawn" up to 35 cm a year, Which is how they arrived at this plant's age.
• This specific plant is believed to have spread from a single seed.
• The plant is hardy, growing in different types of conditions within its present location - from a variety of temperatures and salinities to extreme high light conditions, all of which would have been very stressful to most other plants.
• A place in the Guinness World Records

The Poseidon's ribbon weed has entered the Guinness World Records as the "largest single living organism based on area". The weed has claimed its title from a honey mushroom, which is spread over 2,385 acres in the U.S. The mushroom is still "the world's largest fungus".

Picture Credit : Google 

The geographic South Pole in Antarctica is the only place on earth where you can time travel! All lines of longitude converge at this exact point, so you are literally standing in all 24 time zones. You can step from today into yesterday and back into tomorrow! Since Antarctica is largely uninhabited, the continent is not officially divided into time zones. Research stations use the time zone of the country that operates them, while others observe the local time of countries nearby officially divided into time zones. Research stations use the time zone of the country that operates them, while others observe the local time of countries nearby.

What is a time zone?

A time zone can be described as a region of the Earth that observes a standard time for several purposes, including commercial, legal, and social. Time zones often follow the boundaries of a country and its subdivisions since it is convenient for places in close proximity to observe the same time. Time zones on land are usually offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The Earth’s rotation means that time zones are determined by the lines of longitude that connect the North and South Poles, and divide the globe into different time zones. A country or region may have multiple time zones. For example, the United States is spread across six time zones. However, since all lines of longitude converge at the poles, it means that the poles are technically located within all time zones simultaneously. 

Time at the geographic poles.

In most parts of the globe, lines of longitude determine the local time, such that the specific time is synchronized to the position of the Sun in the sky. However, this does not apply at the North and South Poles, where the rising and setting of the Sun occurs only once a year. At the North Pole, the sun is continuously above the horizon in the summer and below the horizon during winter. The Sun rises during the March equinox and reaches sunset around the September equinox. The South Pole does not receive any sunlight from March until September, while the Sun is continuously above the horizon from September until March, meaning that the pole experiences one of the coldest climates in the world.

How is time determined at the geographical poles?

While there are no permanent human settlements at the poles and no specific time zone has been assigned to either pole, explorers and polar expeditions choose to follow any time zone deemed convenient. Therefore, a group of explorers may choose to observe the same time zone as their country of origin or may opt to use Greenwich Mean Time. For example, a group working at the McMurdo Station in the South Pole followed the local time in New Zealand local time (UTC+12 or 13).

Credit : World atlas 

Picture Credit : Google