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Researchers find world’s oldest living tree 研究人員發現世界最老「神木」

A man looks up while standing among old-growth Sitka spruce trees on June 20, 2007, near Long Beach, Washington, US. 去年六月二十日，一位男子在美國華盛頓州長堤附近的錫特卡雲杉神木群下抬頭仰望。 照片：美聯社 PHOTO: AP

The world’s oldest living tree on record is a nearly 10,000 year-old spruce. It was discovered in central Sweden, Umeaa University researchers announced earlier this month.

The researchers discovered the tree in 2004 on Fulu Mountain in Dalarna. They were carrying out a census of tree species when they came across it.

The researchers said it dates back about 9,550 years. That means it started growing around 7,542BC.

“It was a big surprise because we thought until (now) that this kind of spruce grew much later in those regions,” said Leif Kullmann, a professor at the university.

The discovery of the ancient tree has led to “a big change in our way of thinking,” he added.

Scientists had previously believed the world’s oldest trees were 4,000 to 5,000 year-old pine trees found in North America.

The tree’s age was calculated using carbon dating at a laboratory in Miami.

(STAFF WRITER, WITH AFP)

優米亞大學的研究學者本月初宣布，他們發現了全世界有史以來最高齡的一棵活樹，這棵樹齡將近一萬歲的雲杉生長在瑞典中部。

研究學者二ＯＯ四年在達拉納地區的富魯山上發現了這棵樹，當時他們正在進行一項樹種個體數調查。

研究學者表示，這棵樹的歷史可以追溯至九千五百五十年前，意味著這棵樹約在西元前七五四二年就開始生長了。

該大學的列夫．庫爾曼教授說：「這個發現令我們感到相當意外，因為我們一直以為那些地區的這類雲杉樹齡較為年輕。」

他說，發現這棵古樹「大大改變了我們的想法」。

科學家之前相信，全世界最高齡的樹是生長在北美的松樹，樹齡約界在四千到五千歲間。

這棵雲杉的樹齡是由邁阿密一間實驗室利用碳-14年代測定法計算出來的。

（法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）

Today's Words今日單字 1. spruce n. 雲杉 (yun2 shan1) 例: Greg has a spruce tree in his yard. (葛雷格在他家後院種了一棵雲杉。) 2. census n. 人口普查 (ren2 kou2 pu3 cha2)，個體數調查 (ge4 ti3 shu4 diao4 cha2) 例: When was the last census? (上次人口普查是什麼時候？) 3. ancient adj. 高齡的 (gao1 ling2 de5)，古老的 (gu2 lao3 de5) 例: We found an ancient weapon in the woods. (我們在森林裡發現了一樣古老的武器。) 4. carbon dating n. phr. 碳-14年代測定法 (tan4 shi2 si4 nian2 dai4 ce4 ding4 fa3) 例: The scientists used carbon dating to figure out how old the bone was. (科學家用碳-14年代測定法來計算這些骨骸的年代。)

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