Giant tree stuns scientists

A tree familiar to players of the computer game "Minecraft" could also be the tallest tree in the tropics, conservationists have found. Researchers spotted the enormous yellow meranti (Shorea faguetiana), extending 293.6 feet (89.5 meters) above the forest floor, on the northern part of the island of Borneo, where they were conducting reconnaissance flights to assess local biodiversity. Their discovery was described in an announcement published online June 8 by the University of Cambridge. "Yellow meranti" is also one of the sapling "species" available to Minecraft users in the game's "Forestry" modification pack, and it grows into a mahogany tree. But while Minecraft users can spawn an infinite number of trees and plant them in any biome, in the real world, the yellow meranti is threatened by habitat loss and is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN.)