Posts tagged ‘Discovery’

A new danger lurks...?? (its not this guy...)

Just when you thought it safe to breathe a sigh of relief at the passing of the threat posed by the Twilight Saga, a new danger has been found lurking in the forests of coastal California… vampire trees (or possibly just albino sequoias)!!

This new, yet ancient, threat is extremely rare and fortunately has been targeted for study by Barry Starr and Ghia Euskirchen, two scientists from Stanford University. These two brave researchers, with the help of Sandy Lydon, a historian, and Dave Kuty, Docent of Henry Cowell Redwood State Park, have begun to draw attention to these rare and hauntingly beautiful trees through a series of print, radio and television interviews. In the interviews, the four speak of their goals in regards to the trees. The researchers, both geneticists, speak about mapping the genomes of the albino redwoods. As the trees have 6 sets of chromosomes (sneaky), the optimistic but concerned Ghia states that she is faced with a difficult task.   While the researchers grapple with their tasks, the other interviewees speak of protecting the trees from curious humans (I’m fairly certain they mean protecting humans from the trees) by laboring under a veil of secrecy. Dave and Sandy have the heavy task of balancing the need for further research, which can be achieved through publicizing the trees’ unusual features, against the damage caused by curious visitors, which are increasing in numbers. Both people work to keep the location of the trees a secret from all but their most trusted confidants.

Although these parasitic trees read more…