| − | '''Radiometric dating''' is a method of determining the age of an artifact by assuming that on average decay rates have been constant (see below for the flaws in that assumption) and measuring the amount of radioactive decay that has occurred.<ref>[http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/radiometric.html Radiometric Time Scale] USGS</ref> Radiometric dating is mostly used to determine the age of rocks, though a particular form of radiometric dating—called [[Radiocarbon dating]]—can date wood, cloth, skeletons, and other organic material. | + | '''Radiometric dating''' is a method of determining the age of an artifact by assuming that on average decay rates have been constant (see below for the flaws in that assumption) and measuring the amount of radioactive decay that has occurred.<ref>[http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/radiometric.html Radiometric Time Scale] USGS</ref> Radiometric dating is mostly used to determine the age of rocks, though a particular form of radiometric dating—called [[Radiocarbon dating]]—can date wood, cloth, skeletons, and other organic material. [[Atheistic]] assertions of an old universe are not based on radiometic dating, but on other assumptions.<ref>Current [[atheistic]] theories asserting an old [[universe]] are based on assumptions and conclusions about (i) its expansion rate, (ii) cosmic microwave background, (iii) cosmological models describing the universe's alleged evolution, (iv) extrapolations about observations of distant stars and galaxies.</ref> |
| | Because radiometric dating fails to satisfy standards of testability and [[falsifiability]], claims based on radiometric dating may fail to qualify under the ''[[Daubert]]'' standard for court-admissible scientific evidence. It is more accurate for shorter time periods (e.g., hundreds of years) during which control variables are less likely to change. | | Because radiometric dating fails to satisfy standards of testability and [[falsifiability]], claims based on radiometric dating may fail to qualify under the ''[[Daubert]]'' standard for court-admissible scientific evidence. It is more accurate for shorter time periods (e.g., hundreds of years) during which control variables are less likely to change. |
| | + | It is unknown how much faster the radiometric decay rates were during the very high temperatures of the early universe, because decay rates depend on temperature as confirmed by a study published in ''Nature'' in 2024 measured the decay of fully ionized thallium-205,<ref>Leckenby G, Sidhu RS, Chen RJ, Mancino R, Szányi B, Bai M, Battino U, Blaum K, Brandau C, Cristallo S, Dickel T, Dillmann I, Dmytriiev D, Faestermann T, Forstner O, Franczak B, Geissel H, Gernhäuser R, Glorius J, Griffin C, Gumberidze A, Haettner E, Hillenbrand PM, Karakas A, Kaur T, Korten W, Kozhuharov C, Kuzminchuk N, Langanke K, Litvinov S, Litvinov YA, Lugaro M, Martínez-Pinedo G, Menz E, Meyer B, Morgenroth T, Neff T, Nociforo C, Petridis N, Pignatari M, Popp U, Purushothaman S, Reifarth R, Sanjari S, Scheidenberger C, Spillmann U, Steck M, Stöhlker T, Tanaka YK, Trassinelli M, Trotsenko S, Varga L, Vescovi D, Wang M, Weick H, Yagüe Lopéz A, Yamaguchi T, Zhang Y, Zhao J. High-temperature 205Tl decay clarifies 205Pb dating in early Solar System. Nature. 2024 Nov;635(8038):321-326. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08130-4. Epub 2024 Nov 13. PMID: 39537886; PMCID: PMC11560843, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11560843/?utm_source=chatgpt.com</ref> and in a 2025 study published in ''Chinese Physics C''.<ref>https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-1137/adcf11?utm_source=chatgpt.com</ref> Laboratory high temperatures are nowhere near the early-universe temperatures. |