Latest news with #Methuselah
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill Koch's World-Class Wine Collection Just Sold for a Record $28.8 Million at Auction
Cheers were in order at Christie's over the weekend. Prized bottles from the cellar of billionaire businessman William Koch realized $28.8 million at auction, setting a new record as the largest and most expensive single-owner wine collection ever sold in North America. More from Robb Report Inside a Luxe New Resort and Spa That Just Opened on the Greek Island of Crete $12.4 Million Home Perched Above the Ocean Hits the Market in Martha's Vineyard This $7 Million L.A. Home by Famed Architect Paul R. Williams Comes With a Speakeasy The three-day live auction, which took place at Christie's New York from Thursday, June 12 to Saturday, June 14, attracted bidders of all ages and nationalities. Nearly half of the registrants (42 percent) were new to wine auctions at Christie's, according to the auction house. All 1,500 lots were snapped up, with the sale achieving 154 percent of the low estimate ($15 million). The epic haul included both the finest vintages from the world's best producers and an array of under-the-radar wines. Some 750 large-format bottles also went under the hammer. The star of the auction was a Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1999 Romanée-Conti. The Methuselah—described as 'the ultimate unicorn bottle' by Paul Tortora, vice president and international director of wine at Christie's—was originally expected to sell for between $100,000 and $150,000, but hammered down for a hefty $275,000. Three Magnums of the same wine also sold for double the pre-sale estimate, collectively achieving $237,500. The wines of Domaine Georges Roumier were also an auction standout, with multiple lots shattering their pre-auction estimates. Six magnums of Domaine Georges Roumier 1985 Bonnes Mares sold for double the high estimate, collectively fetching $200,000. Large-format bottles performed exceptionally well across the board, with outstanding results for Burgundy in particular. Lots of Bordeaux achieved exceptional prices, too, with six magnums of Château Latour 1961 Grand Vin hammering down for $187,500. The sheer diversity of the collection is a testament to Koch's discerning taste. Interestingly, the oenophile's first foray into wine was sipping Portuguese rosé Lancers during grad school in the early 1960s. 'I remember it fondly because it came in a clay jug that you could use for a candle holder,' Koch told Robb Report in a recent interview. He soon graduated to Burgundy and Bordeaux, and then to California wines after the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting highlighted the quality of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Koch spent the subsequent decades amassing what is one of the world's greatest wine collections. 'I hope these wines that I have spent years collecting and curating will bring joy and great memories to their new owners,' Koch said in a statement. 'Drink them in good health.' Best of Robb Report Why a Heritage Turkey Is the Best Thanksgiving Bird—and How to Get One 9 Stellar West Coast Pinot Noirs to Drink Right Now The 10 Best Wines to Pair With Steak, From Cabernet to Malbec Click here to read the full article.
India.com
04-06-2025
- General
- India.com
Meet Oldest Whale In The World: A 200-Year-Old Bowhead Still Swimming The Arctic Seas, Has Lived Through World Wars, Space Races And...
Just imagine this: deep beneath the icy, remote waters of the Arctic Ocean, a truly ancient Methuselah still glides fearlessly. This creatures has surprised a whole lot of scientists with them believing to have found the oldest living whale ever recorded, a bowhead estimated to be an astounding 211 years old. Think about that for a moment. This creature was born around 1814. Napoleon was just retreating from Russia, James Madison was in the White House, and the first photograph was still years away. While humanity was busy inventing steamboats and fighting wars, this whale began its long, cold journey through the Arctic. In its long lifespan, the bowhead whale has seen it all - metaphorically, right from the end of Napoleonic Wars, industrial revolution, American Civil War, World Wars, space races, digital revoultion and climate change to name a few. And the story of its lifespan doesn't stop there. Researchers at CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, peering into the whale's genetic code, now believe bowheads could potentially live for an incredible 268 years. Metaphorically speaking, this single animal has "witnessed" the entire sweep of modern human history – from the clatter of the Industrial Revolution and the tragedy of World Wars to our first steps on the moon and the birth of the internet. All while navigating its frozen, silent world. A Living Relic in a Fast-Moving World Bowhead whales are marvels of nature. Their massive skulls, strong enough to shatter thick sea ice, are just one of their extraordinary features. They also hold the title for the longest-living mammals on our planet. While many live well past a century, this particular individual truly amazed marine biologists. The first clues to its incredible age came from Alaskan Inuit whalers decades ago, but the real shocker arrived in 2007 when a fragment of an old harpoon was discovered lodged in its blubber. This wasn't just any harpoon. It was a piece of 19th-century technology, a tangible link to a whaling attempt long past. This discovery was a key piece of the puzzle. Later, a delicate biochemical analysis of the whale's eye lenses – a process surprisingly similar to counting tree rings – lent further support to its astonishing age. Echoes in Indigenous Wisdom For the Inuit communities of Alaska and Canada, the bowhead isn't merely a subject of scientific wonder; it's woven into the very fabric of their culture. Their oral histories, passed faithfully from one generation to the next, have long spoken of these whales living incredibly long lives. These ancient stories were, in fact, some of the earliest hints that bowheads might outlive previous scientific assumptions. It just took modern science a bit over a century to catch up and confirm what Indigenous knowledge keepers had understood for so long. An Ancient Swimmer in a Modern, Changing Ocean However, this creature is set to feel the heat of climate change soon. Climate change is hitting the Arctic hard and the ice, its lifelong companion, is thinning. The seas are warming. And the once-quiet waters are increasingly disturbed by shipping traffic, all disrupting the bowhead's ancestral home. Bowhead whales were hunted nearly to extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries and are currently listed as a species of "Least Concern" by the IUCN. However, the change in environment may prove to be vulnerable even a species with such a long lease on life, feel scientists. "This predominantly Arctic species is associated with ice floes. Its movement patterns are therefore influenced by the melting and freezing of the ice. Bowhead whales are capable of breaking through sea ice at least seven inches thick with their large skulls and powerful bodies," writes the World Wild Life site. The Silent Wisdom of the Deep We'll likely never know the full story etched into this whale's long existence – the epic migrations undertaken, the ancient songs sung in the deep, the primal battles survived. But its very presence, its quiet persistence, speaks volumes about resilience. It's a humbling thought, that this creature has outlived empires, witnessed inventions that reshaped human civilization, and swam through eras that predate the very idea of modern science.
Forbes
27-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Meet The World's Oldest Tree — Nearly 5,000 Years Old And Born Before The Pyramids
At nearly 5,000 years old, a Great Basin bristlecone pine has outlived civilizations and survived ... More climate shifts — and it wasn't even discovered until the 1950s. Trees older than empires are not as rare as you might think. A gnarled olive tree in Crete has watched over generations for nearly 4,000 years, bearing fruit through war, drought and the fall of Alexander's empire. Ginkgo bilobas have stood their ground for thousands of years, some even shrugging off nuclear fallout to leaf again in spring. But one tree makes them all feel young. High in California's White Mountains, twisted by wind and time, stands a Great Basin bristlecone pine known as Methuselah. At over 4,800 years old, Methuselah holds the record for the world's oldest non-clonal tree — one that grows as a single entity — with a confirmed age. This ancient sentinel began life before the pyramids were built and it's still alive today. It wasn't until the summer of 1953 that a detour in the White Mountains of eastern California led dendrochronologist Edmund Schulman to an astonishing revelation. Schulman, a scientist who had spent years scouring the western United States in search of ancient trees, was on his way home from Idaho when he stopped to investigate rumors of unusually old pines in a high-elevation grove. There, at the far edge of the dry forest zone, Schulman found what would soon be confirmed as the world's oldest known non-clonal tree, Methuselah. Another view of Methuselah's ancient, twisted body. To determine the age of the tree, Schulman used a tool known as an increment borer. The borer is essentially a narrow drill that extracts a slender core from a living tree without killing it. By analyzing the concentric rings in the core, he was able to count at least 4,789 years of growth. This was a record-breaking lifespan that pushed the known limits of arboreal longevity. For decades, Methuselah's exact location was kept secret by the U.S. Forest Service to protect it from vandalism. That veil of secrecy lasted until 2021, when a leak of published photographs quietly pinpointed the ancient pine's identity to the public. High in the desolate ranges of the American West, where winters scrape the earth with ice and summers parch it bone-dry, Great Basin bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) like Methuselah have mastered the art of patience. Its ancient longevity is the fruitful result of a strategy built on restraint. Where other trees would race toward the canopy, bristlecones stall their growth to a crawl. In the nutrient-poor soils of subalpine elevations, where rainfall is often sparse, this species thrives by conserving energy. One secret lies in its needles. While lowland pines shed theirs after just two to four years, bristlecones can retain needle fascicles for up to 45 years, which is a record among conifers, according to a 1981 study published in Oecologia. This dramatically reduces the metabolic cost of producing new foliage year after year. Their growth rings are narrow, their wood dense and their architecture asymmetrical. All of these are features that help them withstand brutal winds and resist decay. Great Basin bristlecone pines represent a botanical paradox. By growing slowly in hostile environments, these trees outlive their peers by millennia. In a world obsessed with speed, bristlecones are a compelling case for longevity through deliberate stillness. Though Methuselah has long stood as the benchmark for arboreal longevity, it is not without competition. In Chile's Alerce Costero National Park, a massive Fitzroya cupressoides known as Gran Abuelo, or 'Great-Grandfather,' has emerged as a potential heir to the title. Based on partial core samples and statistical modeling, climate scientist Jonathan Barichivich estimated the tree to be 5,484 years old, over six centuries older than Methuselah. Yet without a full core, which is likely impossible due to internal decay, the claim remains scientifically unverified. Nonetheless, Barichivich's findings have sparked global attention for the urgent message they carry about climate resilience and forest preservation. Even within the bristlecone pine lineage, Methuselah once had an older sibling. In 1964, a bristlecone known as Prometheus was felled during research on glacial history near Wheeler Peak, Nevada. Only after its cross-section was analyzed did researchers realize their mistake. Prometheus had lived for at least 4,862 years, potentially over 4,900, depending on uncounted rings and vertical growth estimates. The event catalyzed increased protection for bristlecone populations and left a cautionary tale about the cost of curiosity. Methuselah may be the oldest verified living non-clonal tree today, but as these stories show, longevity in the plant kingdom is often deeper and more elusive than it appears. The story of Methuselah speaks to nature's resilience. How does it feel to witness the natural world adapt against all odds? Take a 2-minute quiz to see where you stand on the Connectedness To Nature Scale.
The Guardian
01-04-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
California wildfire threatening forest home of world's oldest tree
Firefighters have managed to make 'strong progress' containing a fire burning through eastern California near the world's oldest trees, but the blaze remains an active threat, officials said. Since igniting on Sunday afternoon, the Silver fire has scorched nearly 1,600 acres (647 hectares) in the eastern Sierra Nevada, and forced residents of about 800 homes to evacuate. Strong winds fanned the flames, which burned through dry grass and brush in Inyo county, threatening neighborhoods, endangered species and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. On Monday evening, Cal Fire's San Bernardino/Inyo/Mono unit, the agency managing the response to the blaze, announced that firefighters had stopped forward spread of the fire. By Tuesday morning, authorities reported that crews working overnight had made 'strong progress' on the fire, with containment at 50%, and announced that evacuation orders had been downgraded to warnings. Still, the fire continues to threaten structures, critical infrastructure and endangered species, Cal Fire said in a statement. It also remains an active threat to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, said Chloe Castillo, a Cal Fire public information officer. The forest features some of the oldest known trees, including Methuselah, a bristlecone pine that is almost 5,000 years old and the world's oldest living organism. Officials are keeping the evacuation warnings out of an abundance of caution because of high winds forecast in the fire zone, Castillo said. The fire sparked along Route 6 north-east of the Owens Valley town of Bishop, near the Nevada border. Inyo county has seen little rain recently and parts of the region are experiencing severe or extreme drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. Weather can be erratic in the area and the local vegetation, saltgrass, will burn even in snow, Castillo said. More than 200 personnel responded to the blaze, facing thick smoke that reduced visibility as strong winds grounded aerial resources, preventing tanker drops, the Cal Fire spokesperson said. Meanwhile, temperatures have dropped below freezing in the evenings. Firefighters have dealt with 'extreme cold. Extreme, extreme wind. Almost Santa Ana type winds where it is completely dead, and it just immediately takes a turn for the worse,' Castillo said. 'It's been a very tough firefight in the middle of very cold weather.' The area is expected to see snow on Tuesday evening, Castillo said, but the threat remains. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
