Every 11 years or so cosmic radiation is
known to fluctuate, increasing its intensity. This is because of the solar
cycle. But as it pounded the International Space Station (ISS) in its most
recent flux status it did something. It…created something. Something
incredible. Something…super…
Enter the Fantastic Four!
Okay so that may be a little misleading. Well…more
like a lot misleading…
Turns out it was the seed of a 1,250 year old
Chujohimeseigan-zakura cherry tree from the Ganjoji temple. Perhaps it should
join General Sherman (another epic monster of a tree we’ll talk a little about
today) in California and really start its own superhero team! No Carbon Dioxide
based threats are gonna snuff us out now!
Alas, that is obviously fantasy.
But the reality of this is that cosmic rays
CAN have a unique effect on biological material. While it may not turn you into
an invisible-stretchy-flying fireball-rock, it does produce a unique effect on
trees. No they aren’t going to uproot and go Groot style and join the Guardians
of the Galaxy, or start a debate on whether or not to go to war with Sarumon,
but like many of the other things we discuss here at To Infinity and…In Theory
they will continue to perplex botanists. At least for now.
Let’s take a walk through the woods and talk
a little about what cosmic rays are, where they come from, what they do, and
how they interact with the Earth. We’re also going to discuss a little about
the International Space Station, a Japanese educational program gone horribly
right, and some of the oldest, tallest, and biggest trees in the world.
But first, let’s start with a little history
of this Cherry Tree that may have helped usher in a better understanding of the
effects of cosmic rays.
This Ain’t George
Washington’s Cherry Tree
The first president of the United States
would have found himself hacking away at this monster for a very long time
before making any progress. The Chujohimeseigan-zakura cherry tree is said to
be 1,250 years old. Any tree that old can most assuredly take a beating.
As it turns out it wasn’t the only tree
harvested for the space cherry blossom mission. 14 other kinds were taken into
space as well. And here’s the kicker. Many of them are showing signs of growth
far ahead of schedule. Just like the one from the Ganjoji temple that sprouted
blossoms four years early. Another one from a different area of Japan sprouted
blossoms two years ahead of its
schedule.
But what was so special about this tree? Well
according to the monks at the temple in Gifu the stones from the parent tree
had never sprouted before. 265 of the seeds were taken into space as a part of
the experiment. Most were sent to laboratories for study afterwards but some
were planted. What happened next was remarkable.
Not only did some of the seeds from the
Chujohimeseigan-Zakura tree sprout, within four years one was over 13 Meters in
height! (For a point of reference, Shaq is about 2.7 Meters if I’m not
mistaken.) What was even more incredible was blooming so early ahead of its
cycle!
So what caused this? Scientists believe it
had something to do with cosmic radiation but for the life of them, nobody can
seem to figure out how.
The Cosmic White
Whale
So what are cosmic rays? The short version is
highly energetic particles whizzing through space near the speed of light.
Their erratic behavior is what causes them to gain speed and their speed is
what causes them to create atomic reactions when they collide with other
molecules.
But here at TI&IT we don’t do the short
version.
Despite their name,
Cosmic Rays are more like cosmic particles. We know they’re really fast, some
have exceedingly high energy, and they’ve been around since the dawn of time.
But to fully understand cosmic radiation, we actually need to rewind time and
go back a century.
In 1883 the brilliant
mind of Victor Francis Hess graced this world. Like most of the famous pioneers
ahead of their time we talk about at TI&IT you probably never even heard of
him. But if you’re into particle physics (you know, the tiny little specks that
comprise EVERYTHING) then you should at least get an idea for who this dude is.
Originally Hess had
intended to study optics under Paul Drude but unfortunately, a few weeks before
he arrived to the job, Drude tragically took his own life. He instead was
pushed toward a career in radiation under the watchful eye of Franz Exner. It
wasn’t long before his change in occupation paid off, for all of us.
Frequent reports were
coming in about electrical discharges in the equipment, no matter how well the containers were insulated.
At the time the scientists chalked this up to interference from the mineral
deposits in the ground, after all, the Earth emits trace amounts of radiation.
But Victor wasn’t convinced.
Attempts were made to
send electronic equipment up into the air to see if radiation dissipated at
higher altitudes but the instruments would fail. Nothing at the time was
equipped to deal with the atmospheric pressure changes and the temperature
shifts that stressed the sensors. Victor had a hurdle to overcome. He needed to
make better toys.
So unlike Batman (who
outsources his gadgets) Victor Hess Da Vinci’d (yeah…that’s right. I just verbed
Leo Da Vinci) himself some tools that were up to the task. But he didn’t stop
there. Literally risking life and limb he made ten separate journeys over the
course of 3 years (1911-1913) all by himself during the day and the night to
take the measurements himself.
At the time air
travel was done by a balloon, and while balloon travel wasn’t exactly new
technology, it wasn’t quite as safe as the air fare we’ve grown accustomed to. Nevertheless
he successfully completed his mission, and what he found was astounding.
It turns out that
yes, radiation decreased to a certain extent as one gained altitude. But at a
certain point (around 1 km) there was a considerable increase in radiation that
could only mean one thing. Something other than mineral deposits in the Earth was
causing the interference. It was definitely something of a cosmic nature.
Of course, there was
still no way to definitively prove that this radiation was coming from space.
Therefore more research had to be conducted. It wasn’t until 1925 that Robert
A. Millikan (kind of a big deal at CalTech) proved Hess’s theory that this radiation
was of extraterrestrial origin. Millikan was also the first person to coin the
term, cosmic rays.
So now we know what a
cosmic ray is and we know they come from outer space. But if outer space is a
frictionless vacuum how do these particles build up speed to get here? That’s a
great question and I’m so glad you asked that.
In 1949 a man named
Enrico Fermi published a paper to the Journal of Physical Review entitled “On the
Origin of Cosmic Radiation”. Enrico had a rich background in radiation study.
He had worked on the Manhattan Project (the atomic bomb), and had the good
sense to oppose the hydrogen bomb after seeing the Russian’s detonate their
fission bomb. He held several patents related to nuclear physics and actually
had helped pioneer the Chicago Pile-1, the world’s first Nuclear Reactor.
Yeah…I’d say he’s
qualified.
So Fermi proposed
that as these particles bounced around (since no charged particle can really
sleep) against the magnetic fields created by the gaseous nebula floating
around the universe they built up speed. As they made each circle they built up
more and more speed. Finally, after so much momentum was built up the particle
was able to break free of its cloud and make its rendezvous with us.
Not only was this
theory sound, to this day this method of momentum buildup is referred to as
Fermi Acceleration. We now know that by colliding with these magnetic clouds
the particle actually builds its speed. But now, we needed a way to measure it.
A HiRes
Fly on the Wall
That
there is the now defunct HiRes Fly’s Eye built in the Dugway Proving Grounds in
the desert of Utah. So why did the scientists abandon the facility? Was it
raided by spies? Aliens? Dear God don’t tell me the bank repossessed the land…
Nope, it was none of the above. Actually they proved their point and that was
that. In all actuality their story had a happy ending.
But before we get too much into that, let’s
talk a little more about cosmic rays. We know they come from space, we know
they’ve known about them for a long time, and we know there are ways to measure
them. But what do they measure them in? In order to understand cosmic rays we
have to understand Electron Volts (eV).
The eV is a strange little unit of
measurement. It isn’t a standard SI measurement as it can be used to measure
distance, mass, momentum, even temperature. It’s used in a range of physics
professions from nuclear to particle. Even though it may not have a place on
your Texas Instruments calculator yet, it’s probably coming soon.
So what is it? For the purposes of cosmic
rays it’s a measurement of momentum. It measures the electric potential
difference as electrons move from one field to another. Why is this important?
Because this is how our cosmic particle picks up speed. According to current
theories of origin, cosmic rays come from supernovas. In order for the
particles to break free of its gaseous prison it has to be moving at least near
the speed of light. In order to achieve this it has to bounce around a bit.
As the particle bounces around and gets more
excited it gets faster and faster. Finally when it’s reached its peak it breaks
free of its cloud and rockets off into space, sometimes on a direct course for
Earth. When and if this particle enters our atmosphere it goes ballistic,
bouncing off other particles, causing reactions along the way. The particle
breaks up a little bit; it loses some of its tenacity.
As it collides with other atoms it can
sometimes knock electrons free or even combines itself with a pre-existing one.
This is actually how Carbon-14 is created.
The speed at which that particle was moving
when it entered our atmosphere is what scientists are using the eV to measure.
Some are moving at incredible speeds! I won’t bog you all down with a ton of
equations but if you want to see them all you can view the wiki on eVs here. If you’re a SUPER
nerd (like me) and you want to know exactly how
they use this information to measure them you can click here.
The important thing to know is that
facilities like the one in Utah could use this information to help track the
ray’s origins. They also detected the highest ever energy particle discovered
to date at the facility in Dugway.
So now that we know what they are, where they
come from, how they behave, and what they’re made of (electrons by the way) it’s
time to answer the question we started with.
Just what in the heck does that have to do
with a tree?
She’s Just A Cosmic
Burl
Turns out this isn’t the first time that the
magnificent power of cosmic energy has humbled the botany field. In 2009 the
BBC’s Earth News section published a column titled “Cosmic Pattern to UK Tree
Growth.” Turns out while cosmic rays were making their 11 year rounds they were
also doing something strange to the trees…and headlines.
When some of the trees were cut down and
cross sections were examined it turned out that as the solar cycle passed and
cosmic radiation increased, so didn’t the growth patterns of the trees. The
years where measured rays had been higher the growth patterns were increased,
the years where radiation had been lower so was growth. The finding was bizarre
to say the least. What factor did Cosmic Rays play?
And this wouldn’t be the last time cosmic
radiation and trees would come face to face with one another. In just the last
two years articles have been surfacing all over the web about an 8th
century cosmic surge that boosted tree growth on our planet. How do they know
about this? Carbon-14 dating. (We’ve talked about this process more than in
just the previous section. If you’re still unsure of what Carbon-14 dating is
check out the article on mummies “How to Politely Ask A Mummies Age.” The same process is used to date mummified
remains.)
So why is this a big deal? Because there’s no
explanation for the correlation between exponential tree growth and heightened
cosmic activity. And also it’s really hard to prove how this massive surge
happened. They’re likening it to a supernova and one really smart undergraduate
student pieced it all together. Check out this video below on the matter.
(Embedding issue. Watch the video on YouTube by clicking here.)
Jonathan Allen, an undergraduate at
California U was listening to a Nature Podcast when he heard the news about
Japanese scientists discovering abnormal tree growth. Being a history buff he
hit the interwebs and discovered something rather incredible.
Turns out, somewhere between 774 and 775 AD a
massive red crucifix suddenly appeared in the sky. Because this was the days
before “Bing” and “AskJeeves” locals just shrugged and figured God must’ve been
angry. Go figure right?
What they actually may have witnessed was a
supernova, although there are other schools of thought on the matter. Some say
since the text describes it as being “near sunset” it may have been red light
from the sun reflecting off ice crystals in the air. Some say it’s an ancient
religious text and needs to be taken with an unambiguous grain of salt.
Honestly given the crazy tree growth, my
money’s on supernova.
Scientific Progress
Goes “Whoops” more than “Eureka”
It started as a brilliant experiment for
young Japanese students. Gather up some cherry stones, send them up into space
on the ISS, then bring them back down and replant them. After ten years when,
they blossomed, bring the children back and show them the trees. It was
intended to teach a child how even after someone comes home from space, life
will continue on.
Except it didn’t quite go as expected…
As we discussed at the beginning of this
article when the seeds from the Chujohimeseigan-zakura cherry tree were brought
back, not only did they sprout from a presumably sterile tree, but they bloomed
four years ahead of schedule. The only explanation scientists have is the
possibility that cosmic rays somehow interfered with the cherries normal growth
cycle. As of right now there is no explanation for why this occurred, but if
history is any indication, this is nothing new.
One thing however is for certain, if you ever
find yourself in Japan around the January-February time near Okinawa during the
cherry blossom blooming, you’ll find yourself that much closer to Heaven.
Because one can only hope if there is another side, it’s as beautiful as that.
-Ryan Sanders
Thanks for reading!
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As always, Happy Learning!
Oh
yea.
I
almost forgot I promised you some other crazy tree based trivia.
The Biggest, Baddest, and um…Barkiest Trees Around!
That
monster there is known as General Sherman, and that is the biggest tree in the
world. A giant Sequoia located in the Giant Forest in the North American state
of California. With a height of 275 ft., a diameter of 25 ft., and an age that
puts it before the time of Christ (it’s somewhere between 2300-2700 years old)
it’s certainly been through some hearty battles.
Named
by naturalist James Wolverton after his commanding officer, General William
Tecumseh Sherman, from the Civil War, this Sequoia weighs in at around 1,910
metric tons and holds the current record for largest living tree known to man.
Fun Fact of the Day: General Sherman
served under command of General Ulysses S. Grant early in the American Civil War.
After succeeding him following the fall of Vicksburg he went on to capture the
city of Atlanta, a military victory so vital it directly influenced the
re-election of President Abraham Lincoln.
That
there is El Árbol del Tule. It translates to the tree of Tule. Fitting
considering it’s in the Mexican city of Santa María del Tule in the state of
Oaxaca. This guy holds the world record for world’s most free-est spirit. Well…okay,
so maybe it’s the world’s wildest trunk. But jinkies just look at that thing,
it’s earned the title.
Clocking
in at 116 ft. tall doesn’t earn the title of tallest, but with a diameter of
around 46 ft. it’s the stoutest. Reports however indicate that this gentle
giant is slowly dying due to the high volume of traffic from a nearby highway.
While it’s tentative age of 1400-1600 years may seem like an incredibly long
time to us, in tree years it’s just a baby. As you’ll see by our next arboreal
abomination.
More
than just a crazy looking tree, for the longest time Methuselah was thought to
be the longest living non-clonal organism with an age of 4,845 years. Recently
another Bristlecone pine was discovered in the same area of the Great Basin in
California (they sure do have some big trees) that’s over 5,000 years old. But
personally I like Methuselah, it has a much cooler name, and a far richer
history.
Because
people are so untrustworthy the exact location of Methuselah is a closely
guarded secret. (Stupid vandals ruin it for all of us). As such there isn’t a
wealth of information available on its height or diameter. But for all the
history behind this hearty giant there is an entire website dedicated to this
towering hulk from a Tim Burton film. – National ParkService: Great Basin Bristlecone Pine
Old
Tjikko is quite remarkable. It is the oldest clonal tree known coming in at
almost 10,000 years old (9,550 to be exact) and is located on Fulufjället
Mountain of Dalarna province in Sweden. At only a measly 16 ft. tall it certainly
isn’t the highest cloud kisser on the list but if age brings wisdom, this tree
is a sage (no pun intended).
Due
to the harsh condition of this Norway spruce’s environment it spent most of its
life as a shrub. Only due to the warming of the last century was Old Tjikko
able to really spread its branches and blossom. It’s important to note that it
is the oldest single known living
organism. Other Clonal colonies (multiple trees connected to the same root
system) such as the Pando Colony in the North American state of Utah. (Pictured
below) are thought to be over 80,000 years old.
While
there are hundreds of other crazy trees out there in the world with all sorts
of cool names like the Baobab with a bar (Sunland Baobab) inside it…
…to the
famous Wawona tree in Yosemite National Park you could drive through that fell
several decades ago…
…the
world is full of arboreal oddities. Hope you enjoyed this romp through the
forest as much as I did. Thank you all for reading.
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