Carbon-14 analysis is a radiometric method that quantifies the abundance of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 (¹⁴C) in organic or carbonate samples to infer age, carbon turnover, or source attribution. It typically employs accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) or, less commonly, beta-decay counting to measure ¹⁴C/¹²C or ¹⁴C/¹³C ratios relative to standards, correcting for isotopic fractionation and background contamination. Methodological steps include chemical pretreatment to isolate target carbon fractions, combustion or hydrolysis to CO₂, graphitization or conversion for AMS targets, and calibration of radiocarbon ages using internationally agreed calibration curves to account for temporal variations in atmospheric ¹⁴C.
The wooly mammoth from Taimering (Bavaria, Germany), discovered in 2020, was buried in a former Ice Age pond after its death. Pollen findings and radiocarbon dating confirm that the mammoth lived and died during the harsh ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jun 3, 2026
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Madagascar is home to seven species of baobab trees, of which six are found nowhere else on the planet. Many of the trees have been alive for well over 1,000 years. The ancient trees have become symbols of Madagascar itself. ...
Environment
Apr 20, 2026
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31
A unique collection of prehistoric bowhead whale bones, dating back 11,000 years, reveals a previously untold story of the relative impacts of humans on nature. The time series of ancient fossils show that commercial hunting ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 17, 2026
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Ice cores taken from glaciers reveal the air pollution of the past, using atmospheric particles incorporated in snow that fell on the glacier and became ice. Now, scientists have extracted a record of thousands of years' ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 13, 2026
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For the first time, scientists have used DNA preserved in ancient sediments to examine how a major natural disaster affected animal populations. A new study of a catastrophic volcanic eruption during the Ice Age has found ...
Ecology
Mar 11, 2026
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How is carbon metabolized and processed in different ecosystems? In a study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, researchers led by Joely Maak, the study's first author and researcher in the Cluster ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 9, 2026
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For decades, scientists have relied on tree rings to estimate how long trees can live. But new research suggests that this widely used method may have been underestimating the lifespan of many flowering trees—sometimes by ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 3, 2026
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Scientists have long relied on tree rings to learn about ancient solar storms—rare bursts of high-energy particles from the sun that can disrupt satellites, power grids, and communication systems across the planet. When these ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 29, 2026
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Cities around the world are working to limit emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases, but there have been few ways of measuring whether those gases are actually decreasing in any given municipality. In new research, ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 3, 2025
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A peatland complex in the Congo Basin which is known to be a globally important carbon store is twice as old as previously thought, according to a new scientific study.
Ecology
Jul 29, 2025
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