Come along and see the world's largest egg. Much larger than any dinosaur egg ever found.
It was laid by a giant flightless bird that looked something like its cousin, the ostrich, and weighed as much as a ton. Aepyornis thrived in its island home of Madagascar until humans arrived less than 1500 years ago. It became extinct sometime during the 17th century.
A display by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is set to give thousands of visitors an insight into the fascinating world of ‘carbon dating’ during Science Week at the Australian Museum.
As part of a Science Week program called Science in the City, senior scientists from ANSTO will be on hand at the display from Thursday May 17 to Wednesday May 23 to explain how ions propelled at one-tenth the speed of light are being used to solve historical mysteries.
One such mystery involved the identification of a giant egg, 80 cm in circumference, found by schoolchildren in the sand dunes of a Western Australian beach. Using carbon dating techniques, ANSTO scientists identified the egg as being 2000 years old, supporting the conclusion that the egg was from the extinct, prehistoric Madagascan Elephant Bird.
ANSTO scientists have accurately analysed many precious artefacts from ancient empires around the world, including Thai jewellery and Charlemagne's Crown. They have also applied their dating techniques to a diverse range of other subjects such as Aboriginal rock art and vintage red wine.
Carbon dating is a method of determining the age of objects up to 50,000 years old. The object must contain material that was once a living organism; for example, wood, bone or pollen. ANSTO's Australian National Tandem Accelerator for Applied Research (ANTARES) is Australia's largest facility for carrying out carbon dating.
The tandem accelerator is able to determine the age of artefacts by counting the number of carbon-14 atoms present in the sample. Carbon- 14 is a naturally occurring radioactive element that has a half-life of 5730 years, so the older the sample, the fewer the number of carbon-14 ions that will be present.
The ANSTO display is at the Australian Museum opposite Hyde Park on College Street in Sydney. The exhibition is open from 10 am to 3 pm weekdays, and from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm on the weekend.
Published: 16/05/2001