Carbon dating. Is this a theory?

[Ichabod]

No, lywyllyn. In fact the Bible is a little ambiguous about both the "created on" date AND the "best if used by" date.

[daniel]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Mar 26 2007, 09:49 AM) [snapback]412348[/snapback]</div>

No, lywyllyn. In fact the Bible is a little ambiguous about both the "created on" date AND the "best if used by" date.
[/b]

I didn't know the Bible had a "best if used by" date. Jesus said nobody would know the hour, though he clearly thought the world would expire within the natural lifetime of his followers.

[hyo silver]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Mar 26 2007, 10:50 AM) [snapback]412264[/snapback]</div>

The real key to your question, and you hit it right on the head, is the word "theory." People who like to argue against science take that word to have a very different meaning than the way scientists use it.
[/b]

This reminds me of a discussion I had with a high school science teacher. I said "So, if I've got this right, you mean there's no certainty the Sun will rise tomorrow, because that theory is based merely on empirical evidence."

[daniel]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Mar 26 2007, 01:11 PM) [snapback]412494[/snapback]</div>

This reminds me of a discussion I had with a high school science teacher. I said "So, if I've got this right, you mean there's no certainty the Sun will rise tomorrow, because that theory is based merely on empirical evidence."
[/b]

Well, an asteroid could smash the Earth into smithereens. If there's no "tomorrow" because "tomorrow" is defined according to the Earth's rotation, then once there's no Earth, there's no tomorrow, and by extension the sun would not rise tomorrow.

[airportkid]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Mar 26 2007, 01:11 PM) [snapback]412494[/snapback]</div>

This reminds me of a discussion I had with a high school science teacher. I said "So, if I've got this right, you mean there's no certainty the Sun will rise tomorrow, because that theory is based merely on empirical evidence."
[/b]

I'm sure somebody's worked out which will happen first: the earth's spin finally stops, or sol's death cycle incinerates the earth. Either way, sunrise will have long before ceased to have any meaning for whomever is still around to ponder it.

Better get busy on those escape space ships - time's a wastin'!

Mark Baird
Alameda CA

[daniel]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(airportkid @ Mar 26 2007, 04:27 PM) [snapback]412589[/snapback]</div>

I'm sure somebody's worked out which will happen first: the earth's spin finally stops, or sol's death cycle incinerates the earth. Either way, sunrise will have long before ceased to have any meaning for whomever is still around to ponder it.

Better get busy on those escape space ships - time's a wastin'!

Mark Baird
Alameda CA
[/b]

The Earth's spin should eventually synchronize with the orbital period of the moon, making for long days, but a continued (slow) spin, and continued sunrises.

Perhaps by then the human race will have evolved back into a slime mold, and won't care.

[hyo silver]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(airportkid @ Mar 26 2007, 07:27 PM) [snapback]412589[/snapback]</div>

...which will happen first: the earth's spin finally stops, or sol's death cycle incinerates the earth...Better get busy on those escape space ships - time's a wastin'!
[/b]

Sorry, burritos, one more diversion and then you can have your thread back.

I had a National Geographic poster up in the bathroom for a long time, showing the known universe in several exploded diagrams, each a vastly different scale. Of course I had to add a "You are Here" marker, and after the description of how Sol would engulf Earth billions of years hence, I wrote "RUN!"

About the spin stopping: any idea of the latest thinking on how the differential rotational speeds of the core and the crust might cause reversals in Earth's magnetic poles?

[larkinmj]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(huskers @ Mar 25 2007, 01:53 PM) [snapback]411918[/snapback]</div>

I don't know if I believe in carbon dating or not. Do they allow them to get married?
[/b]

President Bush has said that he's OK with carbon dating, as long as it isn't gay carbon.