Evolution Question 50
50. Age of fossils in the past was generally determined by radio-carbon method and other methods involving radioactive elements found in the rocks. More precise methods, which were used recently and led to the revision of the evolutionary periods for different groups of organisms, includes
[2004]
(a) study of carbohydrates/proteins in fossils
(b) study of the conditions of fossilization
(c) electron spin resonance (ESR) and fossil DNA
(d) study of carbohydrates/proteins in rocks
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Answer : c
Hints & Solution
(c) ESR, Electron Spin Resonance measures number of charges occupying deep traps in crystal band gap. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) or Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) is a spectroscopic technique which detects species that have unpaired electrons, generally meaning that the molecule in question is a free radical if it is an organic molecule, or that it has transition metal ions if it is an inorganic complex. Because most stable molecules have a closed-shell configuration without a suitable unpaired spin, the technique is less widely used than nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The EPR was first discovered in Kazan State University by Soviet physicist Yevgeniy Zavoyskiy in 1944
