Fluctuations Show Radioisotope Decay Is Unreliable

By Brian Thomas, M.S.
Special to ASSIST News Service

DALLAS, TX (ANS) -- Radioactive isotopes are commonly portrayed as providing rock-solid evidence that the earth is billions of years old. Since such isotopes are thought to decay at consistent rates over time, the assumption is that simple measurements can lead to reliable ages. But new discoveries of rate fluctuations continue to challenge the reliability of radioisotope decay rates in general-and thus, the reliability of vast ages seemingly derived from radioisotope dating.

Illustration from www.icr.org

In 2009, New Scientist summarized a discovery at Brookhaven National Laboratories that revealed a statistical correlation between the distance to the sun and fluctuations in the decay rate of a radioactive silicon isotope. The data showed that silicon-32 decayed more slowly in the winter, and then sped up during the summer. A 2010 Stanford University report reflected similar fluctuations in the decay rate of other elements.1


To see whether or not nearness to the sun somehow affected these radioisotope decay rates, researchers laid a solar proximity plot atop the silicon decay plot, and they showed a close match.

Since that time, investigators have yet to discover a satisfying physical mechanism explaining how the sun might accelerate the decay of radioactive atomic nuclei.2 For example, although at the time of the Brookhaven and Stanford reports solar neutrinos were implicated, it appears that neutrinos are just too small and too few. The chances seem too slim for enough neutrinos to collide with enough radioactive atoms to have caused the observed fluctuations.

However, a new report on a separate isotope has again correlated radioisotope decay acceleration with nearness to the sun.3 The investigators locked radioactive radon-222 gas in a lead chamber and compared radioactive readouts taken from both inside and outside the chamber. The experiment was designed to test whether or not changes in radon decay rates are due to atmospheric effects such as gases mixing. The researchers found instead that significant changes were cyclical and corresponded to the relative positions of the earth and the sun.

They wrote, "Combining these observations implies a strong inter-connection between the seasonal and diurnal patterns. This in turn again implies a mutual connection to the rotation of earth around its axis and its rotation around the sun."3 The radon decay rates accelerated during the daylight hours and during the summer. Other rate fluctuations were irregular and remain mysterious.

Some unknown factor affects certain radioisotope decay rates. If this, or a similar factor, altered nuclear decay rates of the systems that are routinely used in rock dating, then any "age" determination provided by this method would have been compromised. And this is exactly what the Institute for Creation Research's project Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth (RATE) reported in 2005.

In particular, RATE scientists found that radioisotope decay rates had been accelerated by orders of magnitude in the past and that one or more such acceleration events vastly inflated the apparent age of rocks (i.e., the age derived from the assumption that radioisotope decay has been constant through time). For example, RATE found a high accumulation of helium, a product of radioisotope decay, still trapped inside small crystals.4 If evolutionary ages are accurate, the helium should have leaked into the atmosphere millions of years ago. RATE researchers also found radiohalos and fission tracks, which are microscopic scars in minerals. Such scars could only exist if the parent isotope's decay rate had been dramatically accelerated.5

Nobody yet knows what (or who) accelerated nuclear decay in the past, just as nobody yet knows what mechanism causes the sun-related decay of silicon-32 or radon-222. But science clearly shows that radioisotope decay rates have not been constant or reliable enough to support the standard geological ages assigned to earth materials.

References
1. Thomas, B. The Sun Alters Radioactive Decay Rates. ICR News. Posted on icr.org September 3, 2010, accessed July 25, 2011.
2. Chaffin, E. Nuclear Half-lives and Changes in the Strength of the Nuclear Force. Presented at the Third Annual Creation Research Society Conference at Trinity Baptist College, Jacksonville, FL, July 23, 2011.
3. Steinitz, G., O. Piatibratova and P. Kotlarsky. 2011. Possible effect of solar tides on radon signals. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 102 (8): 749-765.
4. Humphreys, D. R. 2006. A Tale of Two Hourglasses. Acts & Facts. 35 (12).
5. Snelling, A. A. 2005. Fission Tracks in Zircons: Evidence for Abundant Nuclear Decay. In Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative, volume 2. Vardiman, L., A. A. Snelling and E. F. Chaffin, eds. El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research and Chino Valley, AZ: Creation Research Society.

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Brian Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research (www.icr.org).

Hungarian Parliament Passes Europe's Most Restrictive Religion Law

By Michael Ireland
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

Hungarian Church

ALEXANDRIA, VA (ANS) -- In a move reminiscent of its Soviet Communist past, Hungary last night passed a restrictive religion law showing that its dictatorial mindset has not yet fully abated.

Although Communism officially ended in Hungary over 20 years ago, the Hungarian Parliament Monday night after midnight, procured for the country the title of ‘Worst Religion Law in Europe’ when it adopted its new "Law on the Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion, and on Churches, Religions and Religious Communities."

"I am both saddened and disappointed by the adoption of such a draconian law," said Joseph K. Grieboski, Founder and Chairman of The Institute on Religion and Public Policy (www.religionandpolicy.org/cms ) .

"I have known and worked closely with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, most recently on the new constitution, and expected much more from him. The law is a danger to all Hungarian society and a terrible indication of the state of democracy in the country," Grieboski said in a media advisory.

Noting the passage of the bill, the pastor of an Evangelical church, stated: "This is the greatest discrimination against evangelical Christians since the fall of Communism. This is just the first step against real, active, Bible-believing Christian groups. During Communism we were oppressed and persecuted, but we didn't expect the same from a so-called 'Christian' government."

Budapest Church

According to the Institute, more than one hundred currently registered religious organizations will be retroactively stripped of their status as religious communities and "de-registered" as religious organizations, losing key rights and privileges provided to registered Churches.

The Institute says only fourteen religious organizations will retain their registration status, while all others in the country will be forced to reregister.

The Institute media advisory says that religious organizations that have been "de-registered" may not use the name "Church" and will also lose their status as a religious organization if they are not "re-registered" through burdensome proceedings.

In addition, the Institute says that "re-registration" can only occur if a minority religious community meets onerous duration levels designed to suppress minority religious freedom in complete contravention of European Human Rights Court's and OSCE's standards.

The Institute advisory states that the amendments added to the legislation “further restrict the rights of religious communities in Hungary by imposing illegal national security restrictions.

“Such amendments violate fundamental international human rights law and international human rights instruments that Hungary has signed and ratified.”

The Institute goes on to say that under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), “national security does not form a proper basis to impose restrictions on religious freedom. National Security is consistently excluded from the list of permissible grounds for restricting freedom of religion in all major international interests.”

It further states that according to the most surprising amendment, the competent authority to recognize a religious organization is now the parliament, with a two-third vote, rather than the courts or a ministry.

The Institute says: “A religious organization seeking recognition must now request the registration from the Minister who will initiate the request to the parliament. After the two-thirds vote by parliament, the religious organization is added to the list of recognized religions and an order is sent to the Court to register the organization within 30 days.”

In the media advisory, the Institute explains that in January 2011, twenty-four members of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Committee on the Honoring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States (Monitoring Committee) signed a Motion for a Resolution entitled "Serious Setbacks in the Fields of the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Hungary."

The Resolution expressed the Parliamentary Assembly members "serious concern with respect to recent developments related to the rule of law, human rights and the functioning of democratic institutions in Hungary."

Last week, two Co-Rapporteurs from the Council of Europe traveled to Hungary to investigate these serious setbacks in human rights in Hungary and to report to the Monitoring Committee as to whether a formal human rights monitoring procedure should be initiated.

The Institute stated: “The passage of this draconian Religion Law is the latest and most disturbing example of this serious setback of human rights and the rule of law in Hungary. The legislation contravenes OSCE, European Union, Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights and United Nations standards because it clearly discriminates against minority religious groups.

“Today, THE INSTITUTE once again urges the Monitoring Committee to take action to initiate a human rights monitoring procedure to ensure compliance by Hungary with the Human Rights Convention and other Council international instruments that it has signed and ratified.”

"In the midst of celebrating the break from its Soviet past by crafting a new constitution, erecting a statute of Ronald Reagan, and opening the Tom Lantos Human Rights Institute, the Government of Hungary has thrust the nation back into a system of repressive and restrictive legislation with this new law," Grieboski commented.

He added: "My only hope is that similar to the case of the media law in January, the Government will realize the terrible mistake it has made and return the law to Parliament for revision, and ideally put it in line with international and European human rights standards."

Latest Analyses of Hungary Religion Law:

Click here http://tinyurl.com/6yvbhng  to read THE INSTITUTE's Executive Summary on the draft religion law in Hungary.

Click here http://tinyurl.com/6fpudnp  to read THE INSTITUTE's Expert Analysis on the draft religion law in Hungary.

Michael Ireland is Senior Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior Reporter