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My initial ideas were injecting the tree with a chemical and zapping it with radar, and growing it hydroponically in translucent gravel. But this seems wildly i
by FredPret 3y ago
My initial ideas were injecting the tree with a chemical and zapping it with radar, and growing it hydroponically in translucent gravel. But this seems wildly impractical.
They probably just have a team of students dig them up with a brush, one layer of soil at a time.
- barbazoo 3y agoI imagine that too. How would you map the root system of a tree. Can’t grow a tree in the lab. (Someone’s gonna reply with a link where someone grew a tree in a lab but you know what I mean)
- bcraven 3y agohttps://www.ediblegeography.com/rootstock-archaeology/ https://www.ediblegeography.com/rootstock-archaeology/ There's some detail here about how British researchers developed apple tree rootstocks, including photos of whole trees that have been excavated and reassembled. Couple it with this documentary: https://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Apples:_British_to_the_Core https://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Apples:_British_to_the_...
- anitil 3y agoThere's a computerphile video [0] that looks at one way people take 3d x-rays to look at plant roots (I haven't re-watched it yet so unsure if it's related to the article) Edit: Look at about 6:50 in the video for a render of a root system. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrl__J4vYok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrl__J4vYok
- andrewflnr 3y agoWith the gravel thing, you wouldn't necessarily even get the same structure as in the wild. Plants can grow to fit their surroundings.
- shellfishgene 3y agoAren't all the drawings just one 2d slice? You would just have to cut the soil in a line through the plant with a sharp spade and remove enough on one side to make the drawing.
- berkes 3y agoIn gravel won't work, as the structure of the ground has a high impact on the shape of roots. As I can confirm, trying to grow carrots in heavy clay ground for example.