JUST a question....

[Caleb <terminator2029@usa.net>]

Gang,


   *DISCLAIMER*
   Okay, let me say this, I am not trying to disprove anything or to prove
anything with this next question. I know a lot of people get irrate at
questions like this, so I don't want any violent lashings out. This is JUST an
honest question. But, to make Mickey happy, you might want to answer this
offlist.

    I've heard a lot about there being errors in the carbon dating process. I
heard that in one instance, some wood was found in a rock deposit, and the
wood was carbon dated to be much younger than the surrounding rock. I also
heard one instance in which some skin from a baby seal was taken after it had
just died and was carbon dated to be several thousand years old. I also heard
that certain things can happen to mess up the carbon dating process, such as
certain strains of bacteria and comets hitting the earth and stuff. So, I was
wondering about this. When fossils are carbon dated, are these factors taken
into consideration? Are they weeded out? Is there some mathematical formula
that is used to take care of these random factors? Basically what I'm asking
is, how is all this accounted for?


                                         JUST curious,
                                         Caleb Lewis

____________________________________________________________________
Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1