How do they know?

[grinningghost]

This has bothered me for years. How do scientists know that a dinosaur bone is 6 billion years old? I mean, couldn't it be 6 MILLION years old? How do they know that the last dinosaur died in such & such a year? I know they're experts at what they do, but really, NOBODY alive today even has faint memories of ancestors that were around back then? How do they know? Any anthropology/paleontology people out there that care to explain this to me?

 

[binny]

not to get this moved to the debate thread but there is a movement out that says the earth is not billions of years old its onlya couple hundred thoudans years old.

I went to a seminar on it once. Scientists base there theory on circular thinking. They pick up a rock and say " this rock is 6 Billion years old" then they pick up a bone and say " This dinosaur lived 6 Billion years ago because his bones are in this 6Billion year old rock"


Thats just an example. Its an interesting theory I thought.

I know what you mean its bothered me forever too.

 

[Gone Disney]

I saw something on this one time. It may have been the History Channel. Well, this guy (geologist?) was hired to date a volcanoe somewhere near China. They believed this volcanoe had a massive eruption which caused the flood of Noah. Well, not to get a whole nother thing going. This guy had to dig into this mountain at certain areas and he dated it depending on the rock he found. The rock also told him what activity had gone on at that time. What about the rock tells him how old it is? couldn't tell you. But this has always intrigued me as well. How do these people know that what they "Figure" is the answer really is the answer? Especially about time and dinosaurs.


Patti

 

[JoNo]

well I hope this helps:

Carbon Dating. almost EVERYTHING, as a matter of fact 99.99%, of things on earth contain carbon. when they die (dinos) or are created (rocks), they start to give off carbon. They then test the remains or fossils or objects and check on a scale. They can get up to 1 or 2 months accuracy usually!

 

[Wagamama]

oh, you answered what i was going to say! Carbon Dating...

 

[grinningghost]

Carbon dating - I think I did that in the 70's - one date after another exactly the same - all idiot carbon copies of one another.

Well that helps anyway. I could never be a scientist - I'd look at the rock and say "it looks old".