Hello Explorer. Welcome along to the Fun Kids Science Midweekly. It's time to take another little

bite at some of the splendorous science meal served through the universe for us. Every Wednesday,

I'm here. Lots of stuff will answer your science questions today looking at

race cars and what propels them. Plus, what's the oldest living thing on earth? No, it's not your

granddad, but it's close. My name is Piper and I'm seven years old and I live in Australia, Sydney.

And my question is, what is the oldest living thing on Earth?

It's tough to explain this one, Piper, because there are a lot of organisms that are called living

and they could be one animal or they could be groups of cells in organisms that are together.

And they're also called one thing.

There's a lot to get your head around, maybe like an ancient forest.

But there are a few answers that I can break down for you.

The oldest living land animal is an al-dabra giant tortoise.

One of them as well. It's called Jonathan. Jonathan, the tortoise.

He lives on the island of St Helena, which is in the middle of the ocean near Africa. And he was

given as a gift to someone very important there, an ambassador. It was a welcoming gift. Now that was back in 1882 where he was

already alive. He wasn't a baby. He is 190 years old. So Jonathan, the Aldabra giant tortoise, is the

oldest living land animal. We could go underwater though, where you'll find the Greenland shark. One has been

found and tracked in the very cold waters around the Arctic Circle, and it's a female who is

estimated to be nearly 400 years old. That's down deep in the ocean. Then there are some trees in

Utah over in America, in a big forest there, the quaking aspen trees.

Now, I don't know if this counts, it's up to you.

They manage to clone themselves.

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