50 Years ago

Considerable data are now available on the radiosensitivity of cultivated plants, but very little is known about the tolerance of wild species. We have investigated the doses of γ-radiation needed to prevent weed seeds from growing ... The results obtained indicate that arable soils need treatment with at least 100,000 rads of γ-radiation to inhibit weed growth effectively. This treatment would sterilize any insects, or nematodes present in the soil, and would probably destroy a high percentage of the bacteria and fungi.

From Nature 28 March 1959.

100 Years ago

Much interest has been aroused in Sussex by the discovery of the greater part of a skeleton of a mammoth (Elephas primigenius) on the shore of Selsey Bill. The remains were found below high-water mark in the estuarine or fresh-water deposit of black clay, which underlies the raised beach and coombe rock on that part of the Sussex coast. The thick mass of shingle, which usually covers this deposit, was temporarily removed during the recent stormy weather, and the teeth and broken bones were found projecting from the clay. Probably the whole skeleton was originally present, but when found the bones were already much eroded, and they were scattered over an area about 30 feet square. Both upper and lower molar teeth were recovered, and their condition shows that the animal was immature and of small size. Fragmentary remains, both of the mammoth and of Elephas antiquus, have been found at various times in the same deposit in Bracklesham Bay, some of these specimens being now in the British Museum. Indications of complete skeletons are rare. They seem to have been recorded only twice in England, the first in the brick-earth of Ilford, Essex, the second in a corresponding deposit at Ealing, Middlesex.

From Nature 25 March 1909.