• Old News

    From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to ALL on Fri Oct 31 09:21:16 2025
    Odd news story this week. Probably in the last place anyone would
    expect, a fossilized animal footprint about the size of a human
    hand was found on Prince Edward Island, Canada and thrown the
    Paleontologists into tizzy because it's been dated at 290 million
    years old, about 60 million years older than any life that size was
    thought to exist to date.

    Shows there's always room for surprises and to learn new things.. B)

    ---
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  • From August Abolins@618:400/23.10 to Rob Mccart on Sun Nov 2 20:24:00 2025
    Hello Rob Mccart!

    ** On Friday 31.10.25 - 09:21, Rob Mccart wrote to ALL:

    Odd news story this week. Probably in the last place anyone would
    expect, a fossilized animal footprint about the size of a human
    hand was found on Prince Edward Island, Canada and thrown the..

    I'm not convinced that methods to date things like that is
    completely accurate or reliable.



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    ../|ug

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  • From digimaus@618:618/1 to Rob Mccart on Fri Oct 31 17:10:56 2025
    Rob Mccart wrote to ALL <=-

    Shows there's always room for surprises and to learn new things.. B)

    It could also be that we know so much that isn't so. We think we know
    all of the things then something comes along and remind us that we know
    so little.

    -- Sean

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  • From Mortar M.@618:250/19 to digimaus on Tue Nov 4 12:02:19 2025
    Re: Re: Old News
    By: digimaus to Rob Mccart on Fri Oct 31 2025 17:10:56

    It could also be that we know so much that isn't so. We think we know
    all of the things then something comes along and remind us that we know
    so little.

    It's been said over the years that we know more about outer space than we do about the ocean depths. Now that we have vehicals that can reach the ocean bottoms, that may soon change, if it hasen't already.
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  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to AUGUST ABOLINS on Wed Nov 5 09:50:11 2025
    Odd news story this week. Probably in the last place anyone would
    expect, a fossilized animal footprint about the size of a human
    hand was found on Prince Edward Island, Canada and thrown the..

    I'm not convinced that methods to date things like that is
    >completely accurate or reliable.

    Probably not totally accurate but I'm sure they are using the same
    methods that have been used to 'date' other specimens, or in this
    case it's more like estimating the age of rock in that area, so
    the numbers may be inaccurate but should be comparative..

    It's like the carbon dating, we think of it as being pretty
    accurate but you often find that the older the specimen is,
    the wider the margin of error, like you start getting the age
    of a sample may be plus or minus 5,000 years old when you're
    getting close to the maximum it can do, about 50,000 years old..

    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Don't Vote... It only encourages them...
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  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to DIGIMAUS on Wed Nov 5 09:50:11 2025
    Shows there's always room for surprises and to learn new things.. B)

    It could also be that we know so much that isn't so. We think we know
    >all of the things then something comes along and remind us that we know
    >so little.

    Yes, over time most of the scientific information we've collected gets overturned or at least updated once we find better ways to look at
    things.

    But that's a bit like people.. You learn as you grow/age - if
    you're paying attention... (I went back to add that last bit..)

    I always liked the Mark Twain quote, he said when he was 14 that
    his father was so ignorant he couldn't bear to be around him, but
    when he was 21 he said he was astounded how much the old man had
    learned in just 7 years.. B)

    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Public office... the last refuge of the incompetent
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  • From digimaus@618:618/1 to Rob Mccart on Wed Nov 5 16:04:46 2025
    Rob Mccart wrote to DIGIMAUS <=-

    I always liked the Mark Twain quote, he said when he was 14 that
    his father was so ignorant he couldn't bear to be around him, but
    when he was 21 he said he was astounded how much the old man had
    learned in just 7 years.. B)

    "A man is like a plank of wood: needs to be seasoned before it's
    useful."

    -- Sean
    (who is 18 with 35 years of experience)

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  • From Jimmy Anderson@618:250/24 to Rob Mccart on Wed Nov 5 22:05:37 2025
    Rob Mccart wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS <=-

    Odd news story this week. Probably in the last place anyone would
    expect, a fossilized animal footprint about the size of a human
    hand was found on Prince Edward Island, Canada and thrown the..

    I'm not convinced that methods to date things like that is
    >completely accurate or reliable.

    Probably not totally accurate but I'm sure they are using the same
    methods that have been used to 'date' other specimens, or in this
    case it's more like estimating the age of rock in that area, so
    the numbers may be inaccurate but should be comparative..

    It's like the carbon dating, we think of it as being pretty
    accurate but you often find that the older the specimen is,
    the wider the margin of error, like you start getting the age
    of a sample may be plus or minus 5,000 years old when you're
    getting close to the maximum it can do, about 50,000 years old..

    And of course carbon dating is not historically accurate. Look
    at the dating of the trees buried during Mount St. Helens.




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  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to MORTAR M. on Thu Nov 6 07:46:23 2025
    It could also be that we know so much that isn't so. We think we know
    > > all of the things then something comes along and remind us that we know
    > > so little.

    It's been said over the years that we know more about outer space than we do
    >ut the ocean depths. Now that we have vehicals that can reach the ocean bott
    >, that may soon change, if it hasen't already.

    And whether this will be good or bad remains to be seen.. I've read a
    lot of books where waking something up down there didn't work out well.. B)

    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Very funny Scottie! Now beam up my trousers!
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  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to JIMMY ANDERSON on Fri Nov 7 10:44:47 2025
    It's like the carbon dating, we think of it as being pretty
    accurate but you often find that the older the specimen is,
    the wider the margin of error, like you start getting the age
    of a sample may be plus or minus 5,000 years old when you're
    getting close to the maximum it can do, about 50,000 years old..

    And of course carbon dating is not historically accurate. Look
    >at the dating of the trees buried during Mount St. Helens.

    My impression is it doesn't matter what the carbon based matter
    is buried in, they check the age by the break down of the
    radioactive isotope of the carbon which occurs at a relatively
    predictable rate over time, although it's harder to nail down
    as accurately when it gets quite old.

    ---
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  • From Mike Powell@618:250/1 to JIMMY ANDERSON on Fri Nov 7 13:15:34 2025
    It's like the carbon dating, we think of it as being pretty
    accurate but you often find that the older the specimen is,
    the wider the margin of error, like you start getting the age
    of a sample may be plus or minus 5,000 years old when you're
    getting close to the maximum it can do, about 50,000 years old..

    And of course carbon dating is not historically accurate. Look
    >at the dating of the trees buried during Mount St. Helens.

    Did something about the volcanic erruption prevent them from being dated properly? I had never heard that before.

    Mike

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  • From Mortar M.@618:250/19 to Rob Mccart on Sat Nov 8 13:20:16 2025
    Re: Re: Old News
    By: Rob Mccart to MORTAR M. on Thu Nov 06 2025 07:46:23

    And whether this will be good or bad remains to be seen.. I've read a
    lot of books where waking something up down there didn't work out well.. B)

    RELEASE THE KRACKEN!!!
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  • From Jimmy Anderson@618:250/24 to Rob Mccart on Wed Nov 19 09:42:12 2025
    Rob Mccart wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-

    It's like the carbon dating, we think of it as being pretty
    accurate but you often find that the older the specimen is,
    the wider the margin of error, like you start getting the age
    of a sample may be plus or minus 5,000 years old when you're
    getting close to the maximum it can do, about 50,000 years old..

    And of course carbon dating is not historically accurate. Look
    >at the dating of the trees buried during Mount St. Helens.

    My impression is it doesn't matter what the carbon based matter
    is buried in, they check the age by the break down of the
    radioactive isotope of the carbon which occurs at a relatively
    predictable rate over time, although it's harder to nail down
    as accurately when it gets quite old.

    Right - but my point is they 'carbon dated' trees that were buried
    during the eruption that came out to be thousands of years old.

    At least that's how I remember it... The point is that the
    'relatively predictable rate' changes under extreme conditions,
    like buried under a volcano eruption, or, oh I don't know, a
    world wide flood?


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  • From Jimmy Anderson@618:250/24 to Mike Powell on Wed Nov 19 09:42:12 2025
    Mike Powell wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-

    It's like the carbon dating, we think of it as being pretty
    accurate but you often find that the older the specimen is,
    the wider the margin of error, like you start getting the age
    of a sample may be plus or minus 5,000 years old when you're
    getting close to the maximum it can do, about 50,000 years old..

    And of course carbon dating is not historically accurate. Look
    >at the dating of the trees buried during Mount St. Helens.

    Did something about the volcanic erruption prevent them from being
    dated properly? I had never heard that before.

    Quick correction on my part. I checked into that Mt. St. Helens
    thing again, and I had it wrong. The "thousands of years old"
    dates came from older wood the eruption kicked up, not the new
    trees from 1980. Just wanting to be accurate, so I'll own that one.

    As for the bigger picture, my worldview starts with Scripture,
    so that's the lens I'm looking through. And honestly, big
    catastrophic events can really throw off the neat-and-tidy
    assumptions scientists use when they try to reconstruct the past.
    That's why I don't push blind faith - I just try to look at the
    actual evidence and the assumptions behind it.



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  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to JIMMY ANDERSON on Fri Nov 21 07:50:42 2025
    And of course carbon dating is not historically accurate. Look
    >at the dating of the trees buried during Mount St. Helens.

    My impression is it doesn't matter what the carbon based matter
    is buried in, they check the age by the break down of the
    radioactive isotope of the carbon which occurs at a relatively
    predictable rate over time, although it's harder to nail down
    as accurately when it gets quite old.

    Right - but my point is they 'carbon dated' trees that were buried
    >during the eruption that came out to be thousands of years old.

    Okay, I looked into this and I saw the articles that you were
    referring to. It looks like when things are buried during an
    eruption it can mess up the dating and they are looking for
    other ways to adjust for that.

    I found info on a number of sites and most, a few thousand years
    old, gave accurate dating to within a few hundred years, which
    is the norm, but St Helens they got an estimate of 350,000 years
    old when it should have been under 100 years, so something was
    definitely wrong there.. That said, that may not have been
    standard Carbon Dating since it doesn't give results from farther
    back than around 50,000 years..

    I appreciate your comments though. It's aways good to learn
    something new.. It gives you more things to forget later.. B)

    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Pride is the lower classes substitution for class
    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1)
  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to JIMMY ANDERSON on Fri Nov 21 07:50:42 2025
    Did something about the volcanic erruption prevent them from being
    dated properly? I had never heard that before.

    Quick correction on my part. I checked into that Mt. St. Helens
    >thing again, and I had it wrong. The "thousands of years old"
    >dates came from older wood the eruption kicked up, not the new
    >trees from 1980. Just wanting to be accurate, so I'll own that one.

    That was my first thought as well, materials from earlier eruptions,
    but there was some wild inaccuracy there. It sort of sounds like
    the numbers were thrown off when the organic materials rather than
    just dying normally were subjected to the super high heat of the
    lava flow there. There was talk about layers of charred bark from
    other eruptions too which added to the confusion.

    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Sometimes the hardest thing to do is Nothing
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  • From Jimmy Anderson@618:250/24 to Rob Mccart on Tue Nov 25 22:47:02 2025
    Rob Mccart wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-

    Did something about the volcanic erruption prevent them from being
    dated properly? I had never heard that before.

    Quick correction on my part. I checked into that Mt. St. Helens
    >thing again, and I had it wrong. The "thousands of years old"
    >dates came from older wood the eruption kicked up, not the new
    >trees from 1980. Just wanting to be accurate, so I'll own that one.

    That was my first thought as well, materials from earlier eruptions,
    but there was some wild inaccuracy there. It sort of sounds like
    the numbers were thrown off when the organic materials rather than
    just dying normally were subjected to the super high heat of the
    lava flow there. There was talk about layers of charred bark from
    other eruptions too which added to the confusion.

    Interesting. So it might be hard for them to accurately date any of it...



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  • From Rob Mccart@618:250/1 to JIMMY ANDERSON on Thu Nov 27 09:18:49 2025
    That was my first thought as well, materials from earlier eruptions,
    but there was some wild inaccuracy there. It sort of sounds like
    the numbers were thrown off when the organic materials rather than
    just dying normally were subjected to the super high heat of the
    lava flow there. There was talk about layers of charred bark from
    other eruptions too which added to the confusion.

    Interesting. So it might be hard for them to accurately date any of it...

    I suppose things that 'died' in a normal way can be dated fairly
    accurately but if they end up in Lava or spend hundreds of years
    under water or something, it sounds like it could be a problem.
    Lava and fire contact is likely by far the worst.

    I think the most accurate results they've gotten were on plants
    and animals that died in the far north and have been frozen and
    buried under the ice for the last XX,000 years..

    ---
    * SLMR Rob * Happiness is what we expect - Life is what we get
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  • From digimaus@618:618/1 to Rob Mccart on Thu Nov 27 17:39:36 2025
    Rob Mccart wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-

    I think the most accurate results they've gotten were on plants
    and animals that died in the far north and have been frozen and
    buried under the ice for the last XX,000 years..

    Carbon-14 dating is good for up to 60,000 years. There are other dating methods but they are expensive and hard to work with.

    -- digi

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