First developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicago by Willard Libby, the technique is based on the decay of the carbon-14 isotope. Radiocarbon dating has been used for historical studies ...

Scientists had also found that some of the nitrogen in the atmosphere was turned into carbon-14 when hit with cosmic rays. Thus, an equilibrium was reached, the newly formed carbon-14 replacing ...

Carbon-14 continually forms in the atmosphere as a result of cosmic radiation, Panyushkina said. Eventually, carbon-14 reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. "After a few months, carbon-14 ...