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.”
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_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.
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.”
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_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.
For a second I read liches, and was puzzled that they existed.
Semi-related, the Old English word for cemetery was "licburg": corpse-town. The lic- in that is the source of "lich".
Me too, especially today!
Original headline: A Cemetery’s Immortal Residents and the Scientist Who Studies Them