Carbon 14 Dating Inaccurate?

Is carbon 14 dating inaccurate?

Many of us, including myself had taken the word of our 7th science teacher who taught us that the world is billions of years old. Many of us know this as carbon dating that has told us is this so called fact. Well for starters this is how carbon 14 dating works.

Carbon 14, or radiocarbon as it is often called, is created in the upper atmosphere by the action of cosmic rays converting ordinary nitrogen into carbon 14. Ordinary carbon (carbon 12) is found in the carbon dioxide in the air we breathe, which, of course, so that your body, or the leaves of plants, or even a wooden piece of furniture, contains carbon. When carbon 14 has been formed, it acts just the same as ordinary carbon, combining with oxygen to make carbon dioxide. This is continually being cycled through the cells of animals and plants. Once carbon 14 is formed, it begins to decay radioactively back to nitrogen, at a rate of change which can be measured. If I were to take a sample of the air, for example, and measure how many carbon 12 atoms there are for every carbon 14 atom, this is called the C14/C12 ratio. Scientists are able to do this because C14 is so well mixed with the C12, which they expect to find that the ratio is the same if they sampled a leaf from a tree or a part of your body.

In order for this theory to be correct, the ratio of C14/C12 has to be the same. Scientists know that the industrial revolution has impacted it and can work around it, but how do they know what that ratio of, say, thousands and thousands of years ago.

There are factors in the past that seem to skew the ratio. The measure exponential decay of the earth’s magnetic field suggests that as you go back in history, the strength of the field increases rapidly. A stronger magnetic field would mean more protection against cosmic rays, therefore reducing the amount of C14 atoms created.

Here are some examples of some things that baffle C14 dating technique. A freshly killed seal is dated by C14 showed it had died 1300 years ago. Living mollusc shells were dated at up to 2,300 years old. Living snail’s shells showed they had died 27,000 years ago.

Academic Goal

By the end of this year my hope is that I would be in the top 20 for class rank. Even though it is going to be very difficult, if do all my homework, study for all my tests thoroughly then I think I can accomplish this far fletched goal.

This goal is important to me because it involves many aspects of academic challenges that would enhance my educational career. It will open up scholarships that weren’t available to me before because of my new improved class rank and grade point average, which will have to increase if I hope to improve my class rank.

When I achieve my goal, my first reaction will be to pat myself on the back because I have put in a lot of work to get here. I will feel surprised that I have actually made it here and also grateful. Grateful because I know without encouragement/pressure from my family and friends I know the journey would have been much more difficult. I also grateful and humbled that God had blessed and for some reason unknown let me achieve this goal through the gifts he gave me.

I recognize that in order to complete my goal that I must make sacrifices. Obviously I have to sacrifice some of my time that is normally spent sleeping, even though I already do this, I must cut even further into it. Another problem that I have that needs to end if this goal is to be reached is my trouble with transitioning from one activity to the next. Often times I will sluggishly go from one chore to the next such as when I eat, I frequently watch TV. When I am done eating, I continue to watch TV and waste time that I should be using to study or doing homework. Other times when I finish homework I will take a nap that was supposed to be for a couple minutes but turns into a couple hours, I got to get rid of that bad habit to accomplish this goal.

There are obstacles that will get in the way of me meeting my goal by the end of the year. Those obstacles are the leisurely activities that so easily entice me, watching TV, playing video games, watching movies, playing computer games and the napping. By focusing on my goal and realizing that my family doesn’t have enough money to put me through college will help be attain my goal.

I Hate Winter

I look outside and I see about a foot of snow on the yards that were full of green grass not that long ago. Don’t get me wrong I like the winter, but only because of the things that come with it. I like the holidays that come and the time that we are able to get away from school and spend with friends and family. Even though I may have homework over break, Christmas is still a time to cherish in the year. Also an aspect that I delight in when winter comes around is the days when the pure snow is on the ground and the temperature begins to rise making the white snow fit for making snow men and even better snow balls to throw towards your younger brother’s face. Other than that the winter is just not that great of a time in the year.

The winter is a time when the trees look like they should be in a scary movie, because they had shed their leaves. The roads are bad and car accidents became more frequent and more deadly. Travel is terrible in a snow storm or the roads are icy and you aren’t allowed to go anywhere, or worse, often times you are on your way home from a family get together a ways from home. While traveling home you run into a storm or bad roads, you were going 60 before to be cautious, now you are going 20, it’s terrible. What usually is a 30 minute drive turns into a couple hours long drive.

Another aspect of winter that I used to like, are the snow days. I have come to dislike these days off of school, for a couple reasons. For a snow day means that you have to make that day up at the end of the year. The worse thing about it though is that you are happy about it when it happens, but when June rolls around and the summer that was yours is being taken away from you, it is horrible. Even though it is outside our control we wish that we didn’t have those snow days. Another thing that I dislike about snow days is that often times your parents will not let you go and do stuff with friends because if its too dangerous for schools to be in sessions then it is also too dangerous for you to go and hang out with your buddies.

This is why winter is poopy.

Football Year Round

Well for anyone who doesn’t play a winter, spring, or summer sport then Football is a year round sport for them. That is, if he attends all the workouts scheduled. For me I’m lucky one could say because I am in track, but the only reason I started doing track as a freshmen was for football. I was going out then only to get faster for the next season, only to make myself faster and gain a competitive edge on fellow teammates I was trying to beat out for a spot on the team.

I played basketball for Kennedy as a freshmen and sophomore, but decided that it wasn’t worth the time I would have to put in to go out this year. So instead of hoopin’ it up I’m trying to study more and get more homework done and am also lifting with the football team. Our grueling lifting is just I said it is grueling, we lift four times a week and on the day we don’t we have morning “mat drills” as we call them. These morning workouts are for the cardio aspect of football and we work on our quick movements that are needed in game situations.

To make the workouts we go through more beneficial to the player, we often drink protein shakes to acquire the appropriate amount of protein to help our beaten up muscles recover. The protein is bought in powder form and mixed into a liquid of your choice, some use water, but I use milk. Drinking it with milk is much better tasting than mixing it with water, but the problem is I can’t drink it at school because there is no place for me to put milk if I brought it to school to consume while lifting, which is better somehow for the recuperation of your muscles.

It doesn’t take a genius to discover the affects of protein shakes after you have had quite a few of them yourself. The side affects are terrible you find yourself farting all the time even as I am typing now I can feel my stomach churning. I’m not a doctor so I don’t know how it all works I just know that once I guzzle down a few protein shakes then something goes wrong in my abdominal region. Once I feel that sensation a couple hours later I start to rip and don’t stop until deep in my sleep in the middle of the night. My suggestion is that if you can avoid drinking them it will keep your nose a lot more comfortable than if you started.

Wasting Time

“Why do I waste so much time?” I often wonder to myself as I go to bed at night. There is a reoccurring pattern during the normal day and it goes like this.

I wake up in the morning and automatically feel like I can sleep more because I am capable of getting ready for school quickly. When I finally convince myself to get out of bed, I experience regret because I realize that I not only need to get ready to be at school on time, but also to finish some homework I hadn’t been able to get to the previous night. Before school in the library I am panicking about tests or certain homework that I need to study for. That is the time I am most efficient, going through one homework assignment after another like nothing. Unfortunately though, during classes when I have everything done for that day I become extremely lazy always saying to myself, “You can do that at home tonight.” I go home from school and tell myself I don’t quite yet need to start on my homework for the night. Apparently I love the instant gratification, because I always trick myself into not doing the homework until late at night and then I don’t even finish and save it for the next morning when I am far more efficient. I go to bed that night regretting that I had left homework to do in the morning. Also before falling asleep I tell myself that I’ll try harder tomorrow and succeed in doing all my homework before going to bed. I wake up in the morning only to repeat the set of emotions.

I’m not sure what stirs and calms the motivation inside me to do well in school. It seems to be calmed when there is entertainment as an alternative to homework. I try hard to avoid entertaining myself at home, but with two younger brothers always entertaining themselves and my dad helping them its difficult to ignore. It’s mostly the movies that calm the motivation, but when it is over I become motivated again. This is short-lived because of my desire to go to bed. If I could better ignore the enticing movies or the loud video games then my life would, in all aspects, improve. I am not saying that I wouldn’t miss video games or movies, but I would be better for it. I would have better grades; have more time for reading and more time to talk with friends to keep in touch. Sure I enjoy “wasting time” but when you think about it, it’s just not worth it.

The Little Middle Finger Problem

It is very possible to have known me for a long time without realizing of my deformity. It is a peculiar one, one that I can hide well without bringing too much attention to myself. Well if you didn’t know before you probably imagined through the title that I have a short middle finger.

When I was younger I went to PCI and they ran a bunch of tests on me. I was about six years old at the time and the experience left an impact on me. They molded two casts to fit my hands that I would wear at night. The diagnosis was that my middle finger was growing into my ring finger on both hands. To correct this I wore the cast at night, which held the finger straight up and down, hoping to improve the growing path of it. I remember the cast well, because at that time in my life I was sucked my thumb as I went to sleep. I recall the cast, which was also around my thumb, so well because it made me give the habit up, otherwise I would be sucking on the disgusting tasting plastic the whole night.

I also remember the doctors talking about a long term brace; they might be able to put on my hands when I was 13. I looked forward to the day when they finally would correct my fingers permanently, but the age came and passed, and lost hope to ever attaining “normal” fingers.

With that in mind I began strategizing. I planned what to do and not to do in order to keep this problem on the down low. When I raised my hand, I kept it in a fist as to not expose it. When I cross my arms, I put both hands under my arms. I will never initiate a high five because that might cause for an awkward high five as they begin to study my hand. Most of the time I will walk with my hands stuffed in my pockets or into a semi clenched fists.

The bottom line is that I must use caution when I am in public. I use the strategies that I have explained and most of the time they work. When they don’t though, I am obligated to explain why I am the way I am. I must say to them that this is genetics seen in a deformity. My mom has it and so does her brother. I am unfortunately required to answer all the rest of their questions which are quite dull such as “Is it weird to do stuff?” Honestly people, come on.

Ringing for the Army

A friend and I excitedly volunteered to ring bells for the Salvation Army. We signed up on one of two sheets for this opportunity in our A.P. US History class, remembering the day and time, Saturday 10-11, but not the place that we were to go. It bothered me that I didn’t know where we were going, but during the school week we had the opportunity to look at the sheet, but I kept forgetting to look at it during school.

It was Friday night at 11pm when I remembered that we still had no idea where we were to ring bells tomorrow morning. I made a few calls and narrowed down the options to two, Mt. Vernon Rd. Hy-Vee and the Oakland Rd. Hy-Vee. The next morning I awoke with a sense of urgency, and a good reason for it. We still didn't know where we were going and didn't want to drive all the way out to Mt. Vernon Rd, to find out if that was where we were supposed to go. I had to do something quick so I decided to call our teacher, Mr. Benedict, but he didn’t pick up. Fortunately though as I was talking to my friend he called back to clarify that it was either Oakland Rd. Hy-Vee or Edgewood Rd. Hy-Vee not the Mt. Vernon Rd one. That made things easier because my friend lives in that neighborhood.

We decided to split up, one of us go to the Edgewood Rd. one and the other to the Oakland Rd. one, to determine where we were actually supposed to be. We both went at 10 a.m. to our different destinations and because I lived closer to the Oakland Rd. Hy-Vee that is where I went. I arrived to find no one there and proceeded to call my friend while still waiting inside my car, avoiding the cold, but more importantly the wind. He confirmed that I was at the right place when he saw others ringing at the Hy-Vee he went to. I got out of the car with my winter gear on, planning not to get cold and put on the Salvation Army apron and began to ring.
When in the car, on the phone with my friend waiting for him to answer, I had a clear shot at the red bucket that people so often put change in. When I observed though how many people were just walking by, I became discouraged and thought that it would be an awkward time standing there while people walk by the entire time. So I was extremely surprised when I had started ringing that people actually started placing money in the red bucket.

I thought to myself “Why do people become more generous when I’m standing here ringing a bell in the cold?” I reasoned with myself that it was because I was standing there in the cold that these people gave to the Salvation Army. They also might have believed in what it was going towards, but I believe the main reason was that I was there, sacrificing some sleep to come and ask for money for those who need it simply by ringing a bell.

Boring Snow Days

A snow day always sounds good, while sitting in class. However, when I consider the consequences of it, I reevaluate my liking of them. We had snow days on Wednesday the January 14th through the 16th, essentially a five day weekend. When you read this you are probably thinking “Oh, he is going to talk about how much fun he had during those days.” Actually it is quite the contrary.

My sister (who is attending college at the time) decided to go and visit one of her sorority sisters between her semesters. She is currently mentoring her friend and has made a commitment in investing a lot of time in her, to help her succeed. Unfortunately for me, my parents allowed her to take the car I was using at the time. Even worse for me though, was that her friend lived in Michigan and she would be gone for a week.

I was fine with the situation, because the car was going to come under my control (for the most part) when she returned, which wasn’t that long. I was patiently awaiting my sister’s return throughout the week and was glad when Friday morning came. I was to get my car back that day, not sure when, I just knew that my sister was coming home that day. I came home after a football workout and was told by my mom that she had been in an accident.

My first question to her was about my sister’s safety and after she confirmed that she was safe she defended my sister by explaining to me that it wasn’t her fault and described the situation to me. She then told me that she was on her way home being driven by her friend’s dad. I asked about the car and she told me sadly that it was not looking so good and it was still in Michigan and she wasn’t sure how we were going to get it back. There was a possibility that it was totaled, but we didn’t know at the time.

The next week we didn’t have one full day of school and unfortunately I was stuck home on the last three days of that week because I was without a car. The first day I was extremely lazy and promised to myself I would be more productive the next day if it was a snow day. It was and I used my time a little bit more wisely, but it was a close call. I disliked those snow days and wished there had been school, so I could have been spared of boredom.

A Hug?

It was my seventh grade year and I was excited for band to start (at the time, yes, I was a band geek). The previous year I had worked relentlessly to better myself at playing my instrument, the trumpet. I thoroughly enjoyed playing the trumpet, with its ability to hit many notes and the deafening noises that I could extract from it. My work had paid off and I was one of the best trumpet players in my class. By the end of the year I was clearly the best trumpet player and was without a doubt in my mind going to be first chair next year.

I was right, I came in, a seventh grader, first chair but lacking the enthusiasm that I had possessed the year before. That trimester I coasted along because I became disinterested in playing the instrument I had once loved to play. For that trimester’s concert there was a trumpet solo, and because I was first chair I had the honor of playing it.

The night of the concert came and I was pretty nervous, but it didn’t bother me much the reason being it was not a difficult solo. We went on stage to arrange ourselves into the classic half-circle with everyone facing the podium where our band instructor was going to be conducting. I only hoped as I set up my music that nothing would go wrong and I wouldn’t feel embarrassed in front of all these people.

The song in which I had my solo in came and we played along when the rest of the band quieted down to hear me play the solo. As I was playing I was only thinking about how to hit the next note just right and remember myself saying in my head that I nailed it as I continued to play the song mindlessly only reflecting on my solo performance. I was tremendously happy that I didn’t somehow make a fool out of myself and thought I was in the clear.

The concert ended and we packed up our instruments while parents began to gather to pick up their child. While the parents were coming I noticed one of my friend’s moms who came over to me and congratulated me on my solo. I thanked her and she extended one of her arms as if to give me a high five, but it also could be interpreted as an invitation for a hug. My mind began to race, thinking ‘I have never hugged another person’s mom before’ and ‘does she want a high five?’ The arguments and counter arguments for each action were being chucked back and forth in my mind when I though ‘if she is going for a hug and I just high fived her how would that make her feel.’ I decided to give her a hug and at once left her presence not being able to bear any more awkwardness. I could ask her still today what she was going for, but I doubt she remembers because it was a much bigger deal to me than I’m sure it was to her.

Difficult Christmas Presents

Every Christmas each person in my family gives two gifts. In order to determine who we will give these gifts to we draw names out of a hat. The first person’s name we draw is the person we buy a present for and the next is the one we make a present for.

This year I was given a make present, as they are called, that my sister would paint my room (which was pink with unicorn wallpaper because it was her room when she lived here). This gift, however, takes a lot of effort, obviously unlike other Christmas presents. Most Christmas presents you reap the enjoyment of it right after ripping it from its cage of wrapping paper. Christmas passes and I start to slightly begin to prepare my room to be painted, while my sister is still home from college. Unfortunately this present means that I will have to sacrifice some of my time to help my sister give this present to me.

I realized how sacrificing it would be one night when I wanted to go and hang out with some friends and she confronted my saying that she wanted to work in the room that night. I ended up going after she played the devil’s advocate and exclaimed that after all, it was a gift from her and shouldn’t require that much work from me. Regrettably that was the last time I escaped from the work that needed to be done. The painting was mostly done on that Sunday and I really believed that we were going to finish the project within a couple days, so I could move back into my room. It still isn’t finished today and let me tell you, I have gone into my room a number of times to do an odd job, such as looking for my bag pack. Also I have gone there a number of times to drop my stuff when I arrive home only to be denied of the space that I used call my own, but its floors are covered in towels to prevent the falling drops of paint from staining the room.

I am currently sleeping in the basement and enjoy it for its chilliness, because I love to sleep in the cold. Unfortunately though, it is a hassle to make the trip up and down our flight of stairs for little things that I have left down in my current quarters. However aggravating these nuisances may be I am still very glad my room is being painted, because that pink was really really pink.