Archive for 22nd of May, 2009
Rehydroxylation Dating
May 22nd
I referred to this news story as being potentially the archaeological story of the decade on twitter. Potentially is a good weasel word, but if Rehydroxylation Dating can be independently verified then it could be a more important form of dating than radiocarbon dating. The reason it’s so exciting is that this method will allow archaeologists to date pottery. A couple of warnings before I start. I am not a materials scientist so it’s possible that if something seems odd that’s me messing up the description. The other is I am not on the research team – I’ve merely emailed some questions.
Late Saxon Pottery, but how late? Photo (cc) Wessex Archaeology.Pottery and other ceramics make up most of the data that you’ll find on an archaeological site. Unfortunately there hasn’t been an easy way to directly date it. The most common way is by style. Pot types and technology come into and out of fashion. Terra sigillata, Samian Ware, is particularly good for this as styles turned over rapidly. However, that no help if all you have is a fragment of cruddy Iron Age pot. Another method would be by association with organic material. If you find some grain in the same More >
I'm not sure what the rate of interest is
May 22nd
This entry is part of a series, Cancer Blogging»
The cancer blogging continues. See the introduction for more details.
Chemotherapy may have side-effects, so I was advised to visit a sperm bank. How badly did this go?
There’s four dimensions you can see. Three dimensions of space and an extra one of time. However that leaves some mysteries. For instance why is gravity so much weaker than the other forces? Physicists theorise there are more dimensions, possibly eleven, and gravity leaks into these. It’s thought that no-one has yet found if these dimensions exist. I can confirm they do. They’re integral to the layout of the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham, where the Andrology clinic has a sperm bank. The corridors twist and turn in a manner that would disorientate even the most eager topologist. That’s why I ended up in Opthalmic wing first and asked for directions. If you’re ever in a similar situation that’s a step you might want to avoid. I’m told there’s similar problem with people turning up for colonoscopies in the Elbowology department. (more…)
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