Rare male Weedy Sea Dragon pregnant

The Georgia Aquarium's attempts to coax rare weedy sea dragons to mate has resulted in success. The pregnant male sea dragon is now only the third of its kind in the United States to successfully become pregnant outside of its natural habitat.

The sea dragon, found in nature only in the waters off southern Australia, became pregnant when a female transferred her eggs onto his tail. Male sea horses, sea dragons and pipe fish all carry the eggs instead of the female.

But so much is unknown about the creatures that a lot about the pregnancy remains a mystery. When the animals finally do mate, the sea dragons arch their tails and swim side by side until they latch onto each other before swimming vertically together during their version of a "date."

Of the 70 small pink eggs wrapped around the male's tail, nobody knows how many are viable and could actually hatch. Scientists are relying on other experiences with breeding, where about 60 percent of the eggs survived, to estimate how things may go. The eggs are expected to hatch in four to six weeks.

2000 year-old seed germinated

Three years ago, a team of researchers took an ancient date seed collected from one of King Herod's palaces and planted it in a small pot. It sprouted, and Methuselah, as they dubbed the sapling, is now 5 feet high.

Radiocarbon dating shows the seed was 2,000 years old, by far the oldest ever to have germinated, as reported in the journal Science. The researchers say they hope the plant will help resurrect a long-extinct species known in biblical times for the sweetness of its fruit.

It is also special because of where it was found: Masada, a mountaintop fortress overlooking the Dead Sea, is where Jewish forces made their last stand against Roman troops after the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70.

A number of seeds were collected in the early 1960s by archaeologists excavating the fortress. They stored the seeds at room temperature for nearly four decades. They didn't just plop the seeds into a pot. Instead, they bathed three seeds in fertilizer and enzyme-rich solutions before they were planted. Two of them came up. The plant appears normal, although some of its early leaves had white patches on them. It won't be known whether it will bear fruit until about 2010.

The date palm was domesticated more than 5,000 years ago, and the Judean Dead Sea region was famous for its high-quality fruit. Ancient texts describe how the dates were used to treat tuberculosis, heart problems, worms and infections.

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