The Importance of Bean Ernest

Well.....My beans seem extremely reluctant to pop their shells in an effort to grow, they have increased in size and seem to look alot healthier since I first brought them home, but they are slowww beans. I have wondered if maybe their in trauma as on a few occassions I have found our cats up on the windowsill peering in the cup at them.
They have however changed in colour, they now have lighter and darker patches on them, I think maybe where either the shell is starting to rot a bit or perhaps were they have most access to water. Wikipedia says this about the requird conditions for bean and seed growth:-

Requirements for seed germination
Seed germination depends on many factors, both internal and external. The most important external factors include: water, oxygen, temperature, light and the correct soil conditions. Every variety of seed requires a different set of variables for successful germination. This depends greatly on the individual seed variety and is closely linked to the ecological conditions in the plants' natural habitat.

Water
Germination requires moist conditions. Mature seeds are typically extremely dry and need to take up significant amounts of water before metabolism can resume. The uptake of water into seeds is called imbibition and leads to a marked swelling. The pressure caused by imbibing water aids in cracking the seed coat for germination. When seeds are formed, most plants store large amounts of food, such as starch, proteins, or oils, for the embryo inside the seed. When the seed imbibes water, hydrolytic enzymes are activated that break down these stored food resources and allow the seedling to germinate and grow non-photosynthetically until it reaches the light. Once the seedling starts growing, it requires a continuous supply of water and nutrients.

I am hoping that once it starts to grow I will be able to take some photos with my digital camera and upload onto the Bean Blog! I wondering if the salt water is having advers effects on my beans maybe it has killed the bean inside?........hmmmm I will investigate and see if this experiment has been done before........