WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Is The Oldest Living Thing?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren bog Obam here with a classic episode from the

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<v Speaker 1>vault our erstwhile host Christian Sager is exploring a tangly question,

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<v Speaker 1>what is Earth's oldest living thing? Hey, brain Stuff. It's

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<v Speaker 1>Christian Sager here. So as far as aging goes, humans

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<v Speaker 1>have it pretty good. I mean, we're no giant tortoises,

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<v Speaker 1>but we're generally capable of living for decades, some of

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<v Speaker 1>us for more than a century. Here at brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it got us thinking, what is the world's oldest living thing? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a tricky question, and the answer depends on how

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<v Speaker 1>we define living and thing. First, let's tackle what we

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<v Speaker 1>mean by thing. If we say a thing could also

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<v Speaker 1>be a clonal colony, then the competition heats up quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>There are numerous plant and fungal clone colonies that have

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<v Speaker 1>been around for tens of thousands of years years, and

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<v Speaker 1>they're still barreling along. There's King Clone, the creosote bush

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<v Speaker 1>in the Mojave, almost twelve thousand years old. And we

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<v Speaker 1>can't forget Pando, the gigantic male quaking aspen clonal colony

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<v Speaker 1>in Utah. He is about eighty thousand years old. Incidentally,

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<v Speaker 1>he's also the heaviest living thing, weighing in around six

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<v Speaker 1>million kilograms. But what if we stick to single organisms.

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<v Speaker 1>If so, then the tiny end a liths are strong contenders.

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<v Speaker 1>These extreme aphile methuselahs like to kick back and take

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<v Speaker 1>it easy. For millions of years, they've lived a mile

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<v Speaker 1>and a half below the ocean floor, with metabolism slower

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<v Speaker 1>than molasses, only reproducing once every few centuries or millennia.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean that makes pandas look like rabbits. There's a big,

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<v Speaker 1>let's call it loophole in the definition of living dormancy.

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<v Speaker 1>What if something was frozen in time, trapped in stasis,

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<v Speaker 1>and then revived like Captain America or the Alien and

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<v Speaker 1>the Thing. In two thousand and eleven, then professor Brian

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<v Speaker 1>Schubert published a paper on just that he discovered bacteria

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<v Speaker 1>in what he called a kind of hibernation state inside

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<v Speaker 1>tiny bubbles of thirty four thousand year old salt crystals.

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<v Speaker 1>Other scientists have claimed to find older organisms, such as

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<v Speaker 1>the two hundred and fifty million year old bacteria in

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<v Speaker 1>southeast New Mexico, but Schubert's work was independently reproduced. So

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<v Speaker 1>if we allow an organism to take a time out

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<v Speaker 1>and spend thousands of years in stasis, there are loads

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<v Speaker 1>of competitors for the title of oldest living thing, many

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<v Speaker 1>of which may still lurk undiscovered in the isolated hinter

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<v Speaker 1>lands of Earth. You know, deep oceans, remote mountains, endless

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<v Speaker 1>Arctic wastes. Now I'm thinking of HP Lovecraft. Well, moving on,

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<v Speaker 1>There's one other important thing. Some organisms might be immortal. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>don't get jealous. We're not talking about some super sexy

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<v Speaker 1>vampire type immortality. No, we're talking about jellyfish, specifically, how

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<v Speaker 1>hydra and the tour autopsis story. The tour autopsis is

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<v Speaker 1>only four point five millimeters large, but capable of something

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<v Speaker 1>that may be unique in the animal world. After reaching

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<v Speaker 1>sexual maturity, it can revert to its polyp stage, it

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<v Speaker 1>can reverse and reset its aging cycle, rendering it biologically immortal,

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<v Speaker 1>and the hydra doesn't seem to age at all. That

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<v Speaker 1>means that potentially the oldest living organism could one day

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<v Speaker 1>be a jellyfish. But for now, even counting states of dormancy,

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<v Speaker 1>the oldest living, continually active things on Earth appear to

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<v Speaker 1>be the extreme file organisms collectively called endoliths. But of

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<v Speaker 1>course there may be something older, buried in time, dormant,

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<v Speaker 1>waiting for intrepid humans to wake it from its deathless slumber.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Joe McCormick and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Lang. To hear morphrom Joe, check out his weird

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<v Speaker 1>science podcast Stuff to Blow your Mind wherever you tune

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<v Speaker 1>into podcasts this very perhaps, and of course, for lots

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and other well preserved topics, visit our

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<v Speaker 1>home planet, how Stuff Works dot com