Un Reloj Marcha Atrás

The talk aims to bring high school students closer to the use of carbon-14 as a mechanism for temporal dating of fossil remains. It starts by giving a brief explanation about radioactive atoms and isotopes. It also explains what cosmic rays are and how they interact with the atmosphere to form carbon-14. The carbon cycle and its radioactive decay allow determining historical and prehistoric dates in organic samples of carbon-14. Finally, the success of this method is shown by naming some famous examples of carbon-14 dating, such as the Chinchorro and Otzi mummies, among others.