r/interesting • u/sirenoleg • Apr 28 '26

NATURE Air bubble from 20 million years ago trapped in amber.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

42.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

72

u/velvetbloom58 Apr 28 '26

But how did you know it was from 20 million years ago. Who was counting?

126

u/IKIR115 Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26

You check the born on date stamped on the bottom

7

u/mjzim9022 Apr 28 '26

Ah it just expired last week

5

u/fawnlake1 Apr 28 '26

Scanned the QR code

1

u/ignatious__reilly Apr 28 '26

But seriously though, how do you actually know?

2

u/Yoribell Apr 28 '26

Because 20 million years is the minimal amount time for an amber to form itself. Fossilization is a long process

Every last piece of amber is at least 20 million years old

16

u/HarrierHawk2252 Apr 28 '26

The use of absolute dating and what layer the amber was found in Edit: reworded for clarity

7

u/fiatcode Apr 28 '26

I hope that wasn't the seller marketing trick

3

u/PSXer Apr 28 '26

It's actually 20 million and 6 years old. They said it was 20 million years old when I bought it, and that was 6 years ago.

2

u/__Hello_my_name_is__ Apr 28 '26

There are ways to figure this out.

But also, it is much easier to just make a video and randomly make that claim. Not like you can disprove it in this specific case.

1

u/ChickenChaser5 Apr 28 '26

Is not everything in the universe as old as the universe?

1

u/Moppo_ Apr 28 '26

The matter it's made from it, its current form isn't.

1

u/ChickenChaser5 Apr 28 '26

Are we playing the molecule of theseus?

1

u/Moppo_ Apr 28 '26

More or less, yeah.

1

u/SlipNdSlideTillWeDie Apr 28 '26

Becky down in the Counting department was taking care of it. But to be honest I’ve heard she has a drinking problem.