Posted on 06/02/2011 6:57:54 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The long, slow decay of carbon-14 allows archaeologists to accurately date the relics of history back to 60,000 years.
And while the carbon dating technique is well known and understood (the ratio of carbon-14 to other carbon isotopes is measured to determine the age of objects containing the remnants of any living thing), the reason for carbon-14's slow decay has not been understood. Why, exactly, does carbon-14 have a half-life of nearly 6,000 years while other light atomic nuclei have half-lives of minutes or seconds? (Half-life is the time it takes for the nuclei in a sample to decay to half the original amount.)
"This has been a very significant puzzle to nuclear physicists for several decades," said James Vary, an Iowa State University professor of physics and astronomy. "And the underlying reason turned out to be a fairly exotic one."
The reason involves the strong three-nucleon forces (a nucleon is either a neutron or a proton) within each carbon-14 nucleus. It's all about the simultaneous interactions among any three nucleons and the resulting influence on the decay of carbon-14. And it's no easy task to simulate those interactions.
In this case, it took about 30 million processor-hours on the Jaguar supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Jaguar has a peak performance of 2.3 quadrillion calculations per second, a speed that topped the list of the world's top 500 supercomputers when the carbon-14 simulations were run.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.iastate.edu ...
Iowa State University physicists, left to right, Pieter Maris and James Vary have used supercomputing power to solve the puzzle of the long, slow decay of carbon-14. That long half-life makes carbon-14 a useful tool to determine the ages of skeletons and other artifacts. Photo by Bob Elbert.
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It's going on all the time, but it's the WEAK FORCE that turns Carbon 14 into Nitrogen 14.
The energy device invented in Italy that draws power from the conversion of Nickel to Copper appears to rely on the WEAK FORCE to release energy.
One of the characteristics of the WEAK FORCE is that it can change quark flavor.
Although the smart guys don't have it all worked out yet, this characteristic is in use in the conversion of one element to another by means of interactions in the WEAK FORCE.
There was a piece on NASA's interest in LENR just yesterday. Lots and lots of folks are looking at this phenomenon. Not that it's not radioactive ~ it is, but instead of releasing highly energetic Alpha particles it releases low energy Beta particles.
I wonder if all forces were included or just electro-weak and strong excluding gravity (yes I know it's preposterously minute but it is important in GUT).
Calling smart FReepers!
Physics marches on.
But I still am skeptical about the use of carbon-14 ever since some creation scientists measured the carbon 14 in fossils supposed to be truly ancient and found more carbon 14 than there was supposed to be.
Evo’s responded that what they were measuring was groundwater contamination. But that just raises the question, if carbon 14 can seep into a fossil through ground water, can’t it seep out as well. How do you know how much seepage has occurred?
“What about four-nucleon forces?”
“You’re gonna need a bigger computer.”
http://blog.newenergytimes.com/2011/06/01/nasas-bushnell-lenr-most-promising-energy-alternative-and-its-not-fusion/
There are now several articles on the net concerning NASA and LENR. Look up NASA LENR
Bone is porous, so when it fossilizes there will be pores in the fossil. Water and contaminants can seep into the pores, but the fossil is not going to seep out throught the pores.
http://www.newenergytimes.com/v2/sr/WL/media-3rd-party/2009-NASA-LENR-8-12-09.pdf This one has more stuff. LENR explains how the outerspace flying saucers get around so readily with such an apparently low emissions profile.
Let’s cut to the chase. The alchemists transmutation of base metals into gold - just send me the formula on the lowdown. I’m like JGWentworth and I need cash now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN9OKXtzHtE
I’m thinking you need some palladium first, and there’s your problem. Ever check the price on that stuff?
Palladium is half the price of gold. I’m going to double money!! This is better than the stock market though I did get a pop on JoyGlobal this morning and sold for a quick $5/shr profit.
Gotta keep that grant money flowing... ;-)
[dead link]
The Radiocarbon Revolution
A Chemist Answers the Key Question: How Old Is It?
by R.E. Taylor
http://www.discoveringarchaeology.com/0699toc/6cover12-chemist.shtml
[snip] Radiocarbon dates differ from actual calendar years because, it turns out, the atmospheric concentration of C-14 is not constant, as Libby had assumed, but varies according to changes in solar radiation and in the intensity of the earth’s magnetic shield. Radiocarbon years can be “calibrated” to reflect calendar years, however. For instance, 12,700 years B.P. is equivalent to about 13400 B.C. [/snip]
I’ve been skeptical about the term “creation scientists” since I started hanging out on FR, as I saw what amateurish political hacks they for the most part are.
OTOH, back in the late 1990s I read “Darwin’s Black Box” by Michael Behe, and found it compelling, and recommend that title to anyone. Local man Del Ratzsch’ “Science and Its Limits: The Natural Sciences in Christian Perspective” is *probably* around here somewhere, but regardless I’ve read some of that and it’s probably a good read overall.
Radiometric Dating: A Christian Perspective
Dr. Roger C. Wiens
http://www.evcforum.net/RefLib/RadiometricDatingEvo3.html
Nucleon would be a great name for a golf ball.
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