Science: the inexact science

I can believe this shark is old:

It appears that its skin is beginning to decay while it is still alive. This article explains that the shark’s age was determined by assigning one year to every centimeter of the shark’s length. It then amazingly claims that the shark is 512 years old, while the headline proclaims it was “born before Shakespeare”! That is an astounding revelation and makes the mind really begin to think about all of the things that have occurred throughout history while this creature floated around the oceans. That all come to a screeching halt when reading this sentence:

Experts used its length - a staggering 18ft - and radiocarbon dating to determine its age as between 272 and 512 years old, according to a study in journal Science.

This goes from being an amazing story to not much of a story at all. That’s essentially claiming to have discovered a 170-year-old human, only to later admit that the person may only be 90 (which used to happen to Strom Thurmond quite often). I wonder if such imprecise measurements could be used in other professions. 

Track & Field Judge:

“The runner for Kenya has set a new world record in the 1-mile run with a time of 2 minutes and 48 seconds, but the time might have actually been 4:02.”

Police Chief:

“The suspect is between 4’2” and 6’11” with either long or short hair between the ages of 25 and 62, and is either black or white.”

Pilot:

“Today’s flight from New York to France will be approximately 3 hours.”