4 ms·

Lichens in cemetaries and a scientist who studies them

40 points by diodorus 2y ago

dn3500 2y ago
Original headline: A Cemetery’s Immortal Residents and the Scientist Who Studies Them
ilamont 2y ago
There's a subculture of people who clean strangers' gravestones, which often involves removing lichen. They are very particular about the tools and chemicals used during the cleaning. Some also reset broken stones. You can see some before/after photos on Twitter (https://twitter.com/search?q=clean%20gravestones&src=typed_query https://twitter.com/search?q=clean%20gravestones&src=typed_q...) as well as fast-motion videos on TikTok and Instagram. A few people research public records to share more information about the stones they are cleaning.
rhaps0dy 2y ago
For a second I read liches, and was puzzled that they existed.
- solardev 2y ago
  Me too, especially today!
- acheron 2y ago
  Semi-related, the Old English word for cemetery was "licburg": corpse-town. The lic- in that is the source of "lich".
  - AStonesThrow 2y ago
    By contrast, etymology for "lichen" has nothing to do with corpses, apparently: Borrowed from Latin līchēn, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn), from λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick”). Which, I must presume, is derived from the behaviours of animals which eat the stuff, licking it off rocks.
- ksymph 2y ago
  Off topic: it's always been strange to me that "lich" isn't pronounced like "like" like in "lichen". Even after hearing the 'correct' pronunciation plenty of times I still usually hear it 'like' in my head.
  - hatthew 2y ago
    first time I read it I mentally pronounced it kinda like loch with an i
Lance_ET_Compte 2y ago
The last paragraphs of this article are brilliant... > “It’s not going to cure cancer, it’s not going to bring world peace, two things that we desperately need right now,” she says. “But I would argue that there is great value in understanding the world [and] how biodiversity works so that we can preserve it, which is an integral component of human health,” says Pringle. She adds: “It’s not clear to me that the best way to repair the world isn’t sitting and watching lichens grow in a cemetery and telling the world about it.”
sva_ 2y ago
I always wondered what those are called. Interesting how in some way these live on the boundary between single- and multicellular organisms.
dtgriscom 2y ago
I've always thought that lichens were only found on hundreds- or thousands-of-years-old rock exposures. But, we have a deck table with a metal mesh top. It was last painted about 15 years ago, and is outdoors year round. A few years back I was amazed to see that flecks of lichen had colonized the table top. I guess they grow faster than I thought.
- fifticon 2y ago
  they must - reindeer subsist on them?
bcraven 2y ago
It's not specifically written in the article, perhaps because it's well-known, but the reason lichens are studied on gravestones is they have dates on. With those dates you can draw conclusions about growth rates as you have a 'maximum possible age'.

40 points by diodorus 2y ago

Original headline: A Cemetery’s Immortal Residents and the Scientist Who Studies Them

There's a subculture of people who clean strangers' gravestones, which often involves removing lichen. They are very particular about the tools and chemicals used during the cleaning. Some also reset broken stones. You can see some before/after photos on Twitter (https://twitter.com/search?q=clean%20gravestones&src=typed_query https://twitter.com/search?q=clean%20gravestones&src=typed_q...) as well as fast-motion videos on TikTok and Instagram. A few people research public records to share more information about the stones they are cleaning.

rhaps0dy 2y ago

For a second I read liches, and was puzzled that they existed.

solardev 2y ago
Me too, especially today!
acheron 2y ago
Semi-related, the Old English word for cemetery was "licburg": corpse-town. The lic- in that is the source of "lich".
- AStonesThrow 2y ago
  By contrast, etymology for "lichen" has nothing to do with corpses, apparently: Borrowed from Latin līchēn, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn), from λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick”). Which, I must presume, is derived from the behaviours of animals which eat the stuff, licking it off rocks.
ksymph 2y ago
Off topic: it's always been strange to me that "lich" isn't pronounced like "like" like in "lichen". Even after hearing the 'correct' pronunciation plenty of times I still usually hear it 'like' in my head.
- hatthew 2y ago
  first time I read it I mentally pronounced it kinda like loch with an i

Lance_ET_Compte 2y ago

The last paragraphs of this article are brilliant... > “It’s not going to cure cancer, it’s not going to bring world peace, two things that we desperately need right now,” she says. “But I would argue that there is great value in understanding the world [and] how biodiversity works so that we can preserve it, which is an integral component of human health,” says Pringle. She adds: “It’s not clear to me that the best way to repair the world isn’t sitting and watching lichens grow in a cemetery and telling the world about it.”

sva_ 2y ago

I always wondered what those are called. Interesting how in some way these live on the boundary between single- and multicellular organisms.

dtgriscom 2y ago

I've always thought that lichens were only found on hundreds- or thousands-of-years-old rock exposures. But, we have a deck table with a metal mesh top. It was last painted about 15 years ago, and is outdoors year round. A few years back I was amazed to see that flecks of lichen had colonized the table top. I guess they grow faster than I thought.

fifticon 2y ago
they must - reindeer subsist on them?

bcraven 2y ago

It's not specifically written in the article, perhaps because it's well-known, but the reason lichens are studied on gravestones is they have dates on. With those dates you can draw conclusions about growth rates as you have a 'maximum possible age'.