NOVA Online: Methuselah Tree

NOVA Online: Methuselah Tree
PBS.org

NOVA news minutes - video clip

Welcome to the companion Web site to "Methuselah Tree," originally broadcast on December 11, 2001. Marked by striking imagery and a poetic style, the film dramatizes the life cycle of the world's oldest living thing, the bristlecone pine of California's White Mountains. Here's what you'll find online:

* Explore the Methuselah Grove
In this series of breathtaking 360° panoramas, place yourself 10,000 feet up in California's White Mountains, on the windswept hillside where the world's oldest tree has stood for almost 5,000 years.

* A Tree's Secret to Living Long
It's hard enough to accept that a tree that was a seedling when the Pyramids went up is still alive today, as is the case with the Methuselah Tree. It's truly baffling to learn under what conditions it has accomplished this feat. Here, reach into the bristlecone pine's bag of survival tricks.

* Build a Tree-Ring Timeline (Hot Science)
Learn about the study of tree rings, which scientists have used to date the remains of Viking ships, Anasazi ruins, and other ancient objects. Also, try your hand at creating your own tree-ring chronology.

* Illuminating Photosynthesis (Hot Science)
In nature, photosynthesis takes place on a grand scale without any help from you. In this interactive feature, however, you need to help the process along.

Visit the web site for videos, panoramas, and more.