How can scientist tell what time period something is from if the world is constantly changing?
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Because the world is constantly changing in ways that are predictable within certain margins of error. We can use this knowledge to, in a sense, rewind history and make statements about how things were in the past.
Because the world is constantly changing in ways that are predictable within certain margins of error. We can use this knowledge to, in a sense, rewind history and make statements about how things were in the past.
Because the world is constantly changing in ways that are predictable within certain margins of error. We can use this knowledge to, in a sense, rewind history and make statements about how things were in the past.
Change is how we measure time. A scientist can calculate the age of a rock by looking at traces of radioactive isotopes, and what they decay into, to determine how old it is. Other times, they can look at things that follow regular repeating patterns like tree rings and layers in ice cores. Building from this, you can tell about how old a sedimentary layer is by what fossils appear in it, since we have have figured out when some organisms appeared and went extinct. Archaeologists can know when a culture used certain kind of tool or practiced a certain art style.
Change is how we measure time. A scientist can calculate the age of a rock by looking at traces of radioactive isotopes, and what they decay into, to determine how old it is. Other times, they can look at things that follow regular repeating patterns like tree rings and layers in ice cores. Building from this, you can tell about how old a sedimentary layer is by what fossils appear in it, since we have have figured out when some organisms appeared and went extinct. Archaeologists can know when a culture used certain kind of tool or practiced a certain art style.
Change is how we measure time. A scientist can calculate the age of a rock by looking at traces of radioactive isotopes, and what they decay into, to determine how old it is. Other times, they can look at things that follow regular repeating patterns like tree rings and layers in ice cores. Building from this, you can tell about how old a sedimentary layer is by what fossils appear in it, since we have have figured out when some organisms appeared and went extinct. Archaeologists can know when a culture used certain kind of tool or practiced a certain art style.
you kind of answered the question IN your question. Since the world changes stochastically, we can look at a thing and say “This is from a time when we didn’t have the use of iron.” or “this is from a time when giant ferns ruled the world.”
you kind of answered the question IN your question. Since the world changes stochastically, we can look at a thing and say “This is from a time when we didn’t have the use of iron.” or “this is from a time when giant ferns ruled the world.”
you kind of answered the question IN your question. Since the world changes stochastically, we can look at a thing and say “This is from a time when we didn’t have the use of iron.” or “this is from a time when giant ferns ruled the world.”
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