Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR 97523 January 8, 2003
All matter is made of atoms, according to modern scientists.
Atoms are made of a nucleus, and electrons which move around
that nucleus.
The nucleus is made mostly of protons and neutrons with
many other particles which have been identified and named. In a
stable nucleus the proton number is the same as the number of
electrons while the neutron number can be varied.
However, if the number of neutrons get too large or too small,
the nucleus becomes unstable. In order to gain stability, the nu-
cleus releases energy and pieces of matter, this is the source of
radioactivity and is called radioactive decay. Most is harmless to
living things, but it can be measured with Geiger counters.
In the atmosphere there are many nitrogen atoms and occa-
sionally a cosmic ray from space will change a nitrogen nucleus
into an unstable carbon-14 nucleus. Normal carbon is carbon-12,
and carbon-14 changes to carbon-12 by radioactivity. The carbon-
14 atom will still react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide
which in turn will react normally.
The amount of radioactive carbon dioxide is very small but is
measurable and maintains a fairly constant percentage of the total
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide is picked
up by plants during photosynthesis and all animals get a constant
percentage by eating the plants or eating other animals which eat
plants.
The percentage of carbon-14 in the body of a plant or animal
remains constant until they die, then the carbon-14 percentage
begins to drop as it changes to carbon-12.
In 1947, Willard Libby first proposed his theory concerning
the process of using carbon-14 to measure the age of ancient or
prehistoric life. His procedure is based on some built-in, un-
provable, assumptions, but it has been tested on materials which
have known ages and has proven reliable.
The percentage of carbon-14 in the atmosphere, and in living
organisms, is measurable for the present time. The rate by which
carbon-14 decays to carbon-12 is also fairly constant and is able
to be calculated mathematically.
The assumptions are: 1. That the amount of carbon-14 in the
atmosphere of past ages is the same as now; 2. That the rate of
radioactive decay has remained relatively constant during the in-
tervening time. The process of determining the age of an object, is
simply measuring the percentage of carbon-14 present in the
specimen, then comparing this to the percentage in a similar ma-
terial of today. This will show how much carbon-14 has changed
to carbon-12, and consequently how much time was required to
make that change. It is considered only reliable up to 60 thousand
years.
Only in America:
... can you get a pizza in
big cities faster than you can
get an ambulance ...
... are there handicap
parking spaces in front of
skating rinks ...
... do drug stores make
the sick walk all the way to
the rear of the store to get
their prescriptions, while
healthy people can buy ciga-
rettes at the front ...
... do people order double
cheeseburgers, large fries, and
a diet cola ...
... do banks leave both
doors open, but chain the pens
to the counters ...
... do we leave cars worth
thousands of dollars on drive-
ways, and put our useless junk
in our garages ...
... do we use answering
machines to screen calls and
then have call waiting so that
we won’t miss a call from
someone we didn’t want to
talk to in the first place ...
... do we buy hot dogs in
packages of 10 and buns in
packages of eight ...
...do we use the word
“politics” to describe the
process so well, as “poli” in
Latin means “many,” and
“tics” means “bloodsucking
creatures” ...
... do we have drive-up
ATMs with Braille lettering.
Page 9
BISCUIT FIRE REPLANTING - Members of the Boys & Girls Club in Cave Junction last week
became the first to plant 175 native trees along riparian areas burned by the Biscuit Fire. The
work was done at Ronnie Chittum’s place on Illinois River Road near Selma. Peter Brister
(top) is shown planting alongside burned shrubs; and Kayla Starbuck (below in foreground)
with (from left) Karen Garcia and Brister. Also on the project were Brandon Sells, Justin
Norvell and Canyon Glenn.
(Photos by Forestry Action Committee.)
(Continued on page 13)
Fresh Dungeness Crab - $2.88 lb.
Fresh Atlantic Salmon Fillets- $2.98 lb.
Maine Lobster Tails - 4 to 6 oz. - $17.98 lb.
Cooked Prawns - $5.98 lb.
Raw Tiger Prawns - 16-20 ct. - $8.58 lb.
Raw Tiger Prawns - 26-30 ct. - $6.39 lb.
Fresh True Cod Fillets - $4.89 lb.
Fresh Red Snapper Fillets - $4.48 lb.
Salad Shrimp 5 lb. bag (approx.) $2.98 lb.
Scallops - $5.98 lb.