dvunkannon
Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008
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Not a science link, but a quick question for y'all -
Is it possible to calculate the time that has passed since the stellar explosion that created the atoms now present in the earth?
As I understand it, some star had to explode in order to cook up the atoms that are above iron in size. These atoms would be floating around for a while in space. Then another nearby explosion would start the process of collapse of the gas cloud, leading to the formation of the sun and our planet.
Radioactive atoms such as uranium must have been decaying into lead the whole time since they were created. Some lead would have been formed directly by the explosion. Is it possible to tease these factors apart and make an estimate (for example) that our atoms are 6 billion years old? At least our heavier atoms anyway. Our hydrogen has probably been around since right after the Big Bang.
All part of a back of the envelope calculation of whether we are among the first intelligent life that has had time to evolve.
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I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima
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