Methuselah's Second Life

In 1963, archaeologists excavating the ancient fortress of Masada in Israel's Judean Desert uncovered a small clay jar containing date palm seeds. For four decades, those seeds sat in a drawer at Bar-Ilan University — dry, shriveled, and by every appearance, completely dead. They had been sealed in that jar since the Roman siege of 73 AD. Then in 2005, Dr.…