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What Struck Earth in 775?
ananyo writes "Just over 1,200 years ago, the planet was hit by an extremely intense burst of high-energy radiation of unknown cause, scientists studying tree-ring data have found. The radiation burst, which seems to have hit between 774 and 775, was detected by looking at the amounts of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 in tree rings that formed during the 775 growing season in the Northern Hemisphere. The increase in 14C levels is so clear that the scientists conclude that the atmospheric level of 14C must have jumped by 1.2% over the course of no longer than a year, about 20 times more than the normal rate of variation (abstract). Yet, as the only known events that can produce a 14C spike are supernova explosions or giant solar flares, and neither event was observed at the time, astronomers have a cosmic mystery on their hands."
You need only look at the years leading up to 775 to unravel this mystery. In 773 at the start of the Islamic Golden Age, the number zero was introduced to Baghdad which would, in 775, surpass China's capital of Chang'an as Earth's largest city. Now, we know from the second law of thermodynamics that 'the entropy of an isolated system that is in equilibrium is constant.' Now with all those people suddenly using zero in tons of transactions and writings, Earth experienced a huge decrease in entropy. I'm sure if you analyze the existing works from the time, you'll find that pervasive use of the hot new number zero increased the frequency of numbers at the time by 1.2%. That means that somewhere there had to be an increase in entropy to maintain the balance described by the second law of thermodynamics. Of course, anyone with a mail-order internet degree can tell you the obvious natural source of entropy at the time would be the decay of nitrogen-14. What? Falsifiability? Just watch, the floods in Thailand have lead to a decrease in production of ones and zeros hard drives which means we'll finally get a break from this 'global warming' or (let's just call it for what it really is) the 'entropic energy extravaganza!'
Also, for good measure: Nazis.
My work here is dung.
I don't have a comment other than to say that I enjoy articles like this one. Please bring more like it and i will hit refresh 20 times to get yor page hit count up :)
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Is that you?
Would this mean carbon dating is inaccurate for items older than 1300 years?
Time to redate the Shroud of Turin?
No. The sun was completely invisible until 1013.
Yet, as the only known events that can produce a 14C spike are supernova explosions or ... and neither event was observed at the time
... was observed at the time in surviving northern written records.
Are there any detailed written astronomical observations from the southern hemisphere from that long ago?
Also it would be pretty funny if the two guys recording solar observations in 775 both had a rainstorm the day of the largest solar flare.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
If I do it'll be because I think it's funny; not because you say so.
I really wish people would stop with this sort of thing.
"Behind the Sun?"
Maximum Prophet, for your information, the Earth rotates around the Sun.
Being behind the Sun may not matter here, if the effect was strong and _long_ enough to elevate C14 levels.
Wrong! Back then, the universe rotated around the earth. Everybody knows that. So it could be perfectly true back then, that this supernova hid behind the sun.
775 was a year of false permissiveness when anyone could read or do anything as long as it was produced by a small cabal known as "the group", headed by "owner".
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
A.D. 774. This year the Northumbrians banished their king,
Alred, from York at Easter-tide; and chose Ethelred, the son of
Mull, for their lord, who reigned four winters. This year also
appeared in the heavens a red crucifix, after sunset; the
Mercians and the men of Kent fought at Otford; and wonderful
serpents were seen in the land of the South-Saxons.
http://omacl.org/Anglo/part2.html
rewriting history since 2109
If the supernova was behind or near the Sun, earthlings around 775 wouldn't have been able to detect it.
Nearby supernovae appear as one of the brightest objects in the sky for a few days to a week. The remnants remain visible for months, and then have a habit of leaving a nebula behind.
The Earth travels slightly more than one degree of its orbit per day; The Sun, as seen from the Earth, subtends half a degree of arc. In the absolute worst case, the sun couldn't completely "hide" a supernova for more than a single day; and half a week later, the supernova remnant would dominate the dusk (or dawn) as the brightest thing in the sky except possibly the moon.
Of course, it all makes sense now. The supernove killed all the turtles, so the Earth had no choice but to start rotating.
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