Flash-Dater. Finding the age of ancient objects by radioactive Carbon 14 depends on supersensitive measuring apparatus. Professor Willard F. Libby, University of Chicago discoverer of Carbon 14 dating, uses a Geiger counter surrounded by a shield and other protections against intruding radiation. Chicago's Professor James R. Arnold announced last week an even more sensitive system.
The sample containing Carbon 14 (perhaps from a Sumerian tomb) is dissolved in a hydrocarbon fluid in a 4-in. tube. Radiation from its unstable atoms makes the liquid give flashes of light. They are too faint for human...