Swedish spruce may be world's oldest living tree

Discussion in '2008 Archive' started by webdog, Apr 11, 2008.

  1. webdog Active Member
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    Could this give us an idea how old the earth really is?

    STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Scientists have found a cluster of spruces in the mountains in western Sweden which, at an age of 8,000 years, may be the world's oldest living trees.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080411/sc_nm/sweden_tree_dc
     
    webdog, Apr 11, 2008
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  2. Rippon Well-Known Member
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    Carbon dating is not that reliable . And besides , different scientists with the same data would come up with widely differing results .
     
    Rippon, Apr 11, 2008
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  3. Jon-Marc New Member

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    I read once that carbon dating was done on a LIVING creature, and the result was that it was 3,000 years old! :laugh:
     
    Jon-Marc, Apr 12, 2008
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  4. Deacon Well-Known Member
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    The tree is living!
    Carbon dating: it's not exact but it's useful with certain items.
    Contamination of a sample causes widely varying results.
    That's why multiple samples are used and tested.

    Maybe they should cut the tree down and count the rings. :laugh:

    Rob
     
    Deacon, Apr 12, 2008
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