From Bill Straub
I read your article on apparent seasonal changes in radioactive decay rates (17 November, p 42). If I understand Jere Jenkins and Ephraim Fischbach’s paper correctly, they have detected a statistically significant but tiny decrease in the rate of beta decay of manganese-54, as correlated with solar flare activity.
“Aha!” say the young-Earth creationists, decay rates just ain’t what scientists say they are. Using the same decay discrepancy figure, they will claim that the conventionally accepted 4.54-billion-year age of Earth should be adjusted down to – wait for it – 6000 years.
Pasadena, California, US
