Something about the sun affects radioactive decay rate

[nancylebov]

There are seasonal and flare-based changes in the rate of radioactive decay rate, and a 33-day cycle which is plausibly related to the rotation of the solar core.

I'm not sure whether there might be longer changes which could affect radiocarbon dating.

Link thanks to shadesong.

Comments

[madfilkentist]

Unless something has a much more significant effect than what's being seen here, the changes in decay rate would be overshadowed by the inherent uncertainties in radiocarbon dating.

[redbird]

The article I read on this said that one thing they want to do next is look for some Southern Hemisphere data (or run some tests in the south if need be), in case the amount of radiation reaching the surface is a factor.

As I understand it, radioactive dating should be okay: a variation on that time scale will balance out over any time period that we're interested in here.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

But what if there are longer-term variations? Or a gradual monotonic change?

Curiouser & curiouser.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Changes in neutrino flux?

Maybe there's a stimulated emission effect similar to lasers?

Interesting area to explore, that's for sure.