Reply to post: Re: How many sources? @Grikath

Creationist: The Flintstones was an accurate portrayal of Dino-human coexistence

Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward

Re: How many sources? @Grikath

He's trying to turn radiological dating against itself. Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,730 years. That means in that time, there will be half as much of the stuff as there was at the start. Also, radioactive decay is mostly atomic (as in mostly independent of any exterior factors) because it's internal to the physics of the isotope. So, if we assume the bones are about 5.7 million years old (1,000 times the half-life), there should only be traces amounts of the C-14 (2^-1000, last I checked considered infinitesimal) there was when the thing died (C-14 builds in living beings as they live, this obviously stops upon death).

Just to note, some creationists believe radioactive decay is non-atomic and can be significantly altered by environmental factors creating a false aging picture.

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