I graduated in 1996 with a BSc (Hons.) in Archaeology from the University of Bradford and I remember the lectures we had on radiocarbon dating and the calibration thereof. The Bristlecone Pine calibration is the most famous, but the head of department had been involved in a much more interesting calibration project.
To successfully produce a calibration chart, you need to date items you already know the age of. Ideally you need lots of identical things of known age. This particular project was using Scotch Whisky to get a calibration table for the last 100 years or so in the British Isles - the year the grain was harvested being a known factor. Of course, once you'd opened the bottle to get your sample, it would be a shame to waste the rest...
Carbon dating is a wonderful technology - it dates stuff within a range of a century or so.
Just a small nitpick here. Carbon dates are given to within one standard deviation, so its accuracy (or rather, our confidence in how accurate it is) decreases the older the object being dated is.
"Who cares what religion you are? The "official" religion of England was created because one man wanted a divorce, yes? Does filling the form out "wrong" (claiming to be a Jedi) get you free stuff, a tax break, or a chicken in every pot? If not, who the hell cares?"
It could get very interesting in the next few weeks as the government plans to bring in laws against religious hatred. Don't ask me why, but I thought arson and assault were already illegal.
The government is going to have a fun time implementing such a law, especially when the first cases come to court and questions about what a religion is are asked. The census data demonstrates that religious belief (and even lack thereof) is remarkably diverse. While inclusion on the list of 'religions' doesn't indicate anything other than enough people wrote it in to be worth allocating it a number (to help the data entry people), it could be considered descriptive--this is what people in the UK think religion is.
(Cameras on buses)
"Well his name is on the article, so he is more accountable than you. He mentions several cities that he travelled to in the course of writing the article. You've been to the same cities?"
Well I'm not anonymous and I've lived in the UK all my life so I can assure you that the only cameras on buses are the ones inside which the bus companies put there so the driver can spot rowdy behaviour, vandalism and people smoking on the upper deck. Not all double-deckers have these as they come with a sort of periscope built in.
Some companies also put a security camera which covers the area around the driver and the entrance to the vehicle. Nealy all buses are pay-as-you-enter, so the reasons for this are pretty obvious. I'm not so bothered about cameras in this kind of circumstace but am very unhappy about the current trend for authorities to put them in public places, watching everyone.
"What if a camera just happened to be pointed towards somebodys window"
A while back, someone placed a webcam pointing at the then Home Secretary's house. The authorities got most upset and managed to persuade the guy to take it down in the interests of national security!
This could get very interesting - the Human Rights Act is England and Wales only. Scotland has its own separate Act to implement the European Human Rights legislation and, so far, the judges have been interpreting cases under it in favour of the people. Maybe I'll need my passport to go south of the border in future.
Slashdot Mirror
Fiance. Just so you know.
I graduated in 1996 with a BSc (Hons.) in Archaeology from the University of Bradford and I remember the lectures we had on radiocarbon dating and the calibration thereof. The Bristlecone Pine calibration is the most famous, but the head of department had been involved in a much more interesting calibration project.
To successfully produce a calibration chart, you need to date items you already know the age of. Ideally you need lots of identical things of known age. This particular project was using Scotch Whisky to get a calibration table for the last 100 years or so in the British Isles - the year the grain was harvested being a known factor. Of course, once you'd opened the bottle to get your sample, it would be a shame to waste the rest...
Carbon dating is a wonderful technology - it dates stuff within a range of a century or so.
Just a small nitpick here. Carbon dates are given to within one standard deviation, so its accuracy (or rather, our confidence in how accurate it is) decreases the older the object being dated is.
"Who cares what religion you are? The "official" religion of England was created because one man wanted a divorce, yes? Does filling the form out "wrong" (claiming to be a Jedi) get you free stuff, a tax break, or a chicken in every pot? If not, who the hell cares?"
It could get very interesting in the next few weeks as the government plans to bring in laws against religious hatred. Don't ask me why, but I thought arson and assault were already illegal.
The government is going to have a fun time implementing such a law, especially when the first cases come to court and questions about what a religion is are asked. The census data demonstrates that religious belief (and even lack thereof) is remarkably diverse. While inclusion on the list of 'religions' doesn't indicate anything other than enough people wrote it in to be worth allocating it a number (to help the data entry people), it could be considered descriptive--this is what people in the UK think religion is.
Well I'm not anonymous and I've lived in the UK all my life so I can assure you that the only cameras on buses are the ones inside which the bus companies put there so the driver can spot rowdy behaviour, vandalism and people smoking on the upper deck. Not all double-deckers have these as they come with a sort of periscope built in.
Some companies also put a security camera which covers the area around the driver and the entrance to the vehicle. Nealy all buses are pay-as-you-enter, so the reasons for this are pretty obvious. I'm not so bothered about cameras in this kind of circumstace but am very unhappy about the current trend for authorities to put them in public places, watching everyone.
A while back, someone placed a webcam pointing at the then Home Secretary's house. The authorities got most upset and managed to persuade the guy to take it down in the interests of national security!
This could get very interesting - the Human Rights Act is England and Wales only. Scotland has its own separate Act to implement the European Human Rights legislation and, so far, the judges have been interpreting cases under it in favour of the people. Maybe I'll need my passport to go south of the border in future.