1/3/2023 0 Comments New ming![]() ![]() I hope you are still with me I’ll try to keep it brief. After all, having lived for 507 years in peace and quiet at a remote place offshore Iceland, there really was no reason to suspect a sudden change. Of course, poor Ming-not having many friends in high places – had no choice in the matter and was unable to defend him/herself against premature death. At the time of his (or her) demise in 2006 at the hands of unsuspecting scientists, Ming was quite alive and thriving. 1499-2006) was a member of the Animal Kingdom, not a large organism by any means, only about the size of your hand. Now, let’s go on and meet the longest-living known member of the Ming family. Few animals live for more than 50 years though some really slow moving large tortoises are thought to have made it to around 200+ years. Elsewhere in the Animal Kingdom the numbers are not much different. The oldest human ever recorded is said to have reached an age of 122 years. ![]() A thousand years later it was in 40-50 year range, but still short in comparison to today’s (developed world) life expectancy range of 70-80 years. For example, two thousand years ago the common human life expectancy ranged in the 30-40 years. However, in the Animal Kingdom things are different. Even some of the thuja (white cedar) trees growing slowly on the limestone cliffs in southern Ontario are over 1,000 years old and still doing fine. No wonder, some of them are known to be more than 4,000 years old and thriving like the giant redwood trees in California and Oregon. As they are sessile (non-moving) organisms, they don’t need to spend any time or energy on moving around, finding prey or carrion and, therefore, can use all their available nutrients and energy for survival and reproduction. In the Plant Kingdom long-living organisms have been known for quite a while. Longevity is a prerequisite for many great developments. No doubt, all these artists, philosophers, astronomers, mathematicians, etc., would have advanced the arts and sciences even more if they had lived for another decade or two. Scientists like Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Isaac Newton (1642-1726), and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) developed new methods to observe and understand nature in all its complexities. Many of Europe’s great cathedrals were built then and great artists like Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo (1475-1564), and Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) created many masterworks. ![]()
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