Ancient date palm sprouts again

Israeli researchers have germinated a sapling date palm from seeds 2,000 years old

The seeds were found in archeological excavations at Masada, the desert mountain fortress where ancient Jewish rebels chose suicide over capture by Roman legions in CE 73. Carbon dating of a fragment from the Masada seeds put their age at between 1,940 and 2,040 years - indeed the oldest seeds ever brought back to life.