Buried 142-Year-Old Seed Experiment in a Bottle Still Ongoing, Longest Running Germination Study

把142年前的种子埋在瓶子里，这项史上最长的种子实验仍在进行

Scientists are still baffled by a 142-year-old seed experiment that had been buried underground. Michigan State University botanist William James Beal dug the ground and buried 20 bottles, each contains a set of seeds, in a secret location.

科学家们仍然对埋藏在地下的142年的种子实验感到困惑、充满好奇。密歇根州立大学的植物学家威廉·詹姆斯·比尔(William James Beal)挖了个地洞，在一个秘密地点埋下了20个瓶子，每个瓶子里都装有一组种子。

The botanist had kept the bottles in 1879, and recently, the true purpose of the experiment shed light on the simple but confusing research. The bottles were buried to find how the selected species of long seeds can stay dormant. Beal's main objective was to help farmers through old seed bottle experiment, reports Weather.

这位植物学家在1879年就保存了这些瓶子，他想把这些种子放在合适的温湿度环境下，看看它们是否还能发芽生长并产生新的种子。最近，这个实验的真正目的为这个简单却又令人困惑的研究提供了一些帮助。这些瓶子被埋起来，是为了观察和发现这些被选择的长时间种子是如何保持休眠的。

(Photo: Castorly Stock from Pexels)

In a study by Beal entitled "The Vitality of Seeds," the germination research needed 20 bottles to be buried underground. Since 1879, each of the bottles contained a sandy mixture of seeds. The sandy mixture comprises 21 various species of plants together with 50 seeds per each of the plants.

比尔在一项名为《种子的生命力》(The Vitality of Seeds)的研究中记录称，需要将20个瓶子埋在地下。从1879年开始，每个瓶子都含有一种沙质种子混合物。沙质混合物包括21种不同的植物，每种植物有50粒种子。

The bottles are then left uncorked and buried upside down to prevent water from entering the seeds. It will be transferred to a private area so no disturbances will be made. Beal's views for the project could help farmers how to repel and prevent common, local seeds from growing.

瓶口都用软木塞塞住，瓶口斜向下插入土中避免雨水积在瓶口;瓶子中的土也是根据种子实际的种植深度挖来后立即与种子混合并装入瓶子的。它将被转移到一个私人区域，这样就不会造成干扰。比尔对该项目的观点，可以帮助农民如何抵制和防止普通的当地种子生长。

Beal's buried seed bottles are meant to be dug once in a while. So every five years, Beal digs the bottles to examine whether the seeds in it had undergone germination. After the botanist retired in 1910, Beal passed the data and responsibility for the seed bottle experiment to his colleague, which then continued up until our time.

比尔埋的种子瓶是要偶尔挖一挖的。所以每隔五年，比尔就会趁着天黑把瓶子挖出来，检查里面的种子是否已经发芽，是否还有活性。他想看看种子能最长休眠多久。

Today, Frank Telewski, a professor at Michigan State University, is the current keeper of the seed bottle experiment. Every generation has a specific keeper to manage the experiment, and he is the seventh keeper of our time. The goal of the keepers is to continue the research, recording data from the seed bottle experiment's findings.Verbascum blattaria (most commonly knows as moth mullein) is the only species that sprouted after many years.

事实上，每一代，都有一个特定的管理员来管理这个实验，研究人员们希望这个实验至少再持续80年。如今，密歇根州立大学(Michigan State University)教授弗兰克·特勒维斯基(Frank Telewski)是这个种子瓶实验的现任“守护者”。他们的目标是继续研究，记录来自种子瓶实验的数据。Verbascum blattaria(通常被称为毛蕊蛾)是唯一一种经过多年发芽产生的蛾。