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Could they not carbon date the fossils to see if they correspond with the existence of similar lifeforms on Earth?

by aneth4 14y ago

heidar 14y ago
I do not think this would work on organisms that did not live and die in our atmosphere because the ratio of C12 and C14 is local to our atmosphere and might be very different where they come from.
egeozcan 14y ago
that apparently wouldn't work on extra-terrestrial stuff as it seems to depend on "the ratio of 14C to 12C in the atmosphere" and works for "up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years"[1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating
- aneth4 14y ago
  Right, so if it turned out to come from the future or 10 billion years ago on that scale, then it's likely extraterrestrial. As you say though, it's not good in the billions.
  - schiffern 14y ago
    You're not getting it. You can't date anything non-biological using carbon dating. It's not that you get the wrong answer. You get no answer, since you don't know a-priori what the ratio of C12 to C14 was when the sample was formed. The equations are under-constrained. You can still use radiological dating with other elements (e.g. Uranium). >if it turned out to come from the future I don't even…
    - aneth4 14y ago
      Difficult to get what was not said in the comment I'm replying to. So fine, I don't know my dating techniques. Uranium radiological dating sounds fine. Why not that? >> if it turned out to come from the future > I don't even… have a sense of humor? It is certainly possible if we had a extra-terrestrial organic matter (which we don't) that it could test as coming from the future based on carbon ratios, though obviously it would not actually be from the future - thus "on that scale". I'm not sure if the same applies to Uranium radiological dating.
      - tripzilch 14y ago
        But we don't know future carbon ratios.
evilduck 14y ago
Carbon dating is only good for about 50,000 years back. There are other radiometric dating methods, but none as useful for dating lifeforms.

Could they not carbon date the fossils to see if they correspond with the existence of similar lifeforms on Earth?

by aneth4 14y ago

Could they not carbon date the fossils to see if they correspond with the existence of similar lifeforms on Earth?

I do not think this would work on organisms that did not live and die in our atmosphere because the ratio of C12 and C14 is local to our atmosphere and might be very different where they come from.

egeozcan 14y ago

that apparently wouldn't work on extra-terrestrial stuff as it seems to depend on "the ratio of 14C to 12C in the atmosphere" and works for "up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years"[1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating

aneth4 14y ago
Right, so if it turned out to come from the future or 10 billion years ago on that scale, then it's likely extraterrestrial. As you say though, it's not good in the billions.
- schiffern 14y ago
  You're not getting it. You can't date anything non-biological using carbon dating. It's not that you get the wrong answer. You get no answer, since you don't know a-priori what the ratio of C12 to C14 was when the sample was formed. The equations are under-constrained. You can still use radiological dating with other elements (e.g. Uranium). >if it turned out to come from the future I don't even…
  - aneth4 14y ago
    Difficult to get what was not said in the comment I'm replying to. So fine, I don't know my dating techniques. Uranium radiological dating sounds fine. Why not that? >> if it turned out to come from the future > I don't even… have a sense of humor? It is certainly possible if we had a extra-terrestrial organic matter (which we don't) that it could test as coming from the future based on carbon ratios, though obviously it would not actually be from the future - thus "on that scale". I'm not sure if the same applies to Uranium radiological dating.
    - tripzilch 14y ago
      But we don't know future carbon ratios.

evilduck 14y ago

Carbon dating is only good for about 50,000 years back. There are other radiometric dating methods, but none as useful for dating lifeforms.