[identity profile] mmcirvin.livejournal.com 2006-01-15 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"That time was four-and-a-half thousand billion years ago, back when the Solar System formed; so what we hope to know from these particles is essentially what the Solar System looked like at that time, and essentially what we're all made of.

I think someone was trying to remember the difference between traditional British and American number scales, and tripped up. To BEFORE... THE BEGINNING... OF TIME!!!