Focus: news of interest about creation and evolution
Saturnian surprises
New discoveries unearthed by the Cassini-Huygens space mission to Saturn continue
to challenge evolutionary cosmologists.
Photo: NASA
For example, Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, has long been known to have an
atmosphere, but its composition puzzles long-age cosmologists. The sun’s UV
radiation breaks down methane (CH4), and the hydrogen would escape Titan’s
weak gravity. In fact, methane should last only for about 10,000 years. And a major
by-product should be an ocean of liquid ethane hundreds of metres thick. Yet Titan
still has methane clouds, while large areas of liquid ethane are nowhere to be found.
Also, Cassini found two more moons orbiting Saturn. However, they are ‘a surprise
because such small bodies, just 3 or 4 kilometres across, should have been obliterated
long ago by collisions with comets’.
Astrobiology Magazine, <www.astrobio.net/news/article1478.html>,
17 March 2005.
New Scientist, 21 August 2004, p. 5; 20 November 2004, p. 9.
Although the evidence is obviously consistent with a young (6,000-year-old) universe,
evolutionists are committed to billions of years. So they try to explain away the
data, e.g. by postulating methane sources. Why? Perhaps because without long periods
of time, evolutionary theories collapse!
Mammals had dinos for dinner
The fossilized remains of a small dinosaur (psittacosaur) have been found in the
belly of a fossil mammal named Repenomamus robustus. This specimen and
another newly-discovered large Repenomamus fossil are a real surprise for
evolutionists because evolutionary assumptions say that mammals living during the
so-called ‘age of the dinosaurs’ couldn’t possibly have been big—rather,
that mammals had to be small to avoid the huge reptiles.
Nature, 13 January 2005, pp. 116–117, 149–152.
While a surprise for evolutionists, it’s no shock to creationists—mammals,
dinosaurs and man originally were all created on Day 6 of Creation Week, and so
all lived at the same time. For further information, see Dino
dinner hard to swallow?
Mature galaxy shock
Astronomers have discovered the most distant massive structure yet found in the
universe—a massive galaxy cluster that appears to be in a ‘very advanced’
state of development. However, because it’s so distant, they believe that
the light must have taken a long time to arrive here. Therefore the light must have
started a long time ago, so we are looking at a feature not too long after the supposed
big bang.
Photo: NASA
This was unexpected, because there shouldn’t have been enough time after the
big bang for it to form—at least not naturally.
‘We have underestimated how quickly the early Universe matured into its present-day
incarnation,’ said astronomer Piero Rosati, of the European Southern Observatory.
‘The Universe grew up fast.’
A press release highlights the amazement: ‘The discovery of such a complex
and mature structure so early in the history of the Universe is highly surprising.’
European Southern Observatory, <www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2005/pr-04-05.html>,
17 March 2005.
World Science, <members.aol.com/mlucen/050302_univ.htm>, 8 March
2005.
No surprise for Bible-believing Christians—God created stars and galaxies
in mature form on Day 4 of Creation Week. See also Creation 26(3):15, 2004.
Atheism in decline
British philosopher Antony Flew, long renowned as ‘an intellectual ambassador
of secular humanism’, has turned his back on atheism.
He says it is impossible for evolution to account for the fact that a single cell
can carry more data than all the volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
The Washington Times reports ‘a growing consensus’ among philosophers,
intellectuals and scholars that atheism is in decline worldwide. But this does not
mean that ‘re-Christianization’ is occurring—instead Flew and
others merely believe in some form of intelligence behind the design of the universe.
The Washington Times, <www.washtimes.com/world/20050303-115733-9519r.htm>,
9 March 2005.
It is one thing to believe in one god—but apart from Christ, no-one can be
saved (Acts 4:12; James 2:19), and this is a deficiency of the Intelligent
Design movement—see CMI’s views on the Intelligent
Design Movement.
Worms devour bones
Two [so-called] ‘primitive’ species of marine worms have been found
which feast exclusively on the bones of dead whales.
Researchers say that the bone-devouring worms have existed almost as long as whales,
which [they say] evolved about 50 million years ago.
Science, 30 July 2004, pp. 668–671.
The challenge now for evolutionists is to explain why there are so many beautifully
preserved fossil bones, obviously not devoured by these worms. Answer: the
global Flood and its aftermath would have provided the necessary conditions, as
explained in Creation 26(4):10–14,
2004.
Resurrected reef-dwellers?
An international scientific team has reported that the world’s oceans contain
far more cold-water coral reefs than previously thought.
‘We are finding not only new species of corals and cold-water corals in new
locations but associated organisms, like snails and clams, that were believed by
palaeontologists to have become extinct two million years ago’, said Professor
André Freiwald, of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
‘That was a real surprise, and we expect many of these surprises in the future
as we undertake more scientific missions.’
BBC News, <news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3773919.stm>, 21 October
2004.
An evolutionary interpretation of the fossil record might imply that certain creatures
have been extinct for millions of years—so when these creatures turn up alive
and well, it’s a huge surprise. But a biblical interpretation of the fossil
record clearly indicates the vast majority of fossils were buried during the global
Flood of Noah’s day and its aftermath, only around 4,500 years ago. So when
‘living fossils’ are encountered, it’s really no surprise at all.
‘Dinosaur fish’ lady dies
Photo by Warwick Armstrong
Newspapers have marked the passing, at age 97, of Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer. In
1938, she alerted the scientific world that the coelacanth fish was alive and well.
Before that time, it had been thought extinct, having died out about ‘the
time of the dinosaurs’. The species was named Latimeria chalumnae
in her honour.
The Telegraph, <www.telegraph.co.uk>, 1 March 2005.
Interesting to see the ‘living fossil’ coelacanth fish still given a
high profile, even though its discovery was both a disappointment and a challenge
to evolutionists.
A disappointment because living specimens showed it was a fish, not a creature making
the evolutionary transition to land, as had been proposed on the basis of coelacanth
fossils. A challenge because, according to evolutionary dating assumptions, coelacanth
fossils are, like those of dinosaurs, not found in rocks less than ‘70 million
years’ old. But the continued existence of this fish makes sense if the fossil
record largely reflects the order of burial in a global Flood, around 4,500 years
ago.
So when sceptics taunt: ‘If dinos and humans lived together, then why don’t
we find their fossils together?’ one may simply respond: ‘Whales and
coelacanths live together, so why don’t we see their fossils together?’
See Creation 22(2):56, 2000, also
Q&A: Fossils.
Hot spider silk
Photo by Pat Eckersley
Spider silk is the strongest fibre in the world, a hundred times stronger than steel.
(It even eclipses Kevlar, the material from which bulletproof vests are made—see
Creation 23(2):20–21, 2001.) It
is also very stretchy.
Now researchers have found that spider silk is also heat resistant to a surprising
degree. They tested silk strands of the large orb-weaving spider Nephila edulis
from -60–150°C (-76–302°F). From the icy cold to very hot,
the strands could still stretch by at least 20% before breaking. They did weaken
above 150°C, but didn’t disintegrate till 370°C (700°F).
So it seems that spider silk would make excellent material for stitching nerves
and tendons, especially as it can be heat-sterilized first.
New Scientist, 22 January 2005, p. 16.
Could such a material—able to withstand such temperature extremes—have
come about by chance? Not likely, as Romans 1:20 makes clear.
Gecko ‘glue’
A gecko can stick to almost any surface because of the superbly crafted structure
of its soles—very fine hairs have tips that are even more finely divided.
(See Creation 23(1):54–55, 2000).
Ingenious scientists have copied this structure to make a powerful adhesive (Creation
26(1):22–23, 2003). Somehow this adhesive
manages to stay clean, unlike sticky tape, which soon picks up dirt and becomes
useless.
Gecko foot researchers have now shown how. They coated the gecko feet with dirt,
yet it sloughed off completely within five steps on a clean surface. It’s
all to do with the geometry of the fine hairs. The dirt particles are too small
to be in contact with enough hairs to overcome the attraction to any surface. So
the hairs, in effect, repel the particles towards the surface.
Lead researcher Dr Kellar Autumn ‘is convinced the possibilities are infinite.
Imagine bandages that leave no residue. Gecko-inspired climbing equipment. Cellular
phones that never shatter.’
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 January 2005, pp. 385–389.
New York Times, <www.nytimes.com>, 4 January 2005.
Surely the gecko’s foot needed a Designer!
Gushing oil surprise
The earth’s underground oil reserves are generally thought to result from
organic matter (dead plants and animals) accumulated over millions of years. Therefore,
one would expect production from oil wells to decline as oil is pumped out.
But instead of declining, seismic analysis and other tests at many oil wells around
the world (e.g. Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, Uzbekistan and the Middle East) show
that oil reserves are being replenished from some deeper and previously unknown
source.
So, some researchers are now saying that crude oil may be a natural non-biological
product and therefore ‘not a stepchild of unfathomable time and organic degradation’.
They suggest that streams of methane gas rapidly rise from huge concentrations deep
in the earth. These form into crude oil at the mantle-crust interface, roughly 6,000
m (20,000 ft) below the earth’s surface.
Researcher Dr Thomas Gold says that oil is a ‘renewable primordial soup continually
manufactured by the earth under ultrahot conditions and tremendous pressures. As
this substance migrates toward the surface, it is attacked by bacteria, making it
appear to have an organic origin dating back to the dinosaurs.’
American Assoc. of Petroleum Geologists, <www.aapg.org/explorer/2002/11nov/abiogenic.cfm>,
18 August 2004.
World Net Daily, <www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38645>,
27 May 2004.
In the past some have objected that the 1,600 years from creation to the Flood was
insufficient time to produce enough biomass (plants, animals) to account for the
earth’s oil reserves. Note that there are strong arguments against that objection
(see Coal: memorial to the Flood). If it turns out that
the oil is of non-biological origin, the ‘not enough time’ argument
becomes irrelevant anyway.
‘Peaceful pill’ prescription?
Renowned Australian euthanasia campaigner (and atheist) Dr Philip Nitschke has announced
he will take 30 people to a secret ‘pharmacy workshop’ in New South
Wales. Pharmacists will teach the group to make their own ‘peaceful pills’,
which can be taken at any time to end their lives.
ABC News Online, <www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1239813.htm>,
10 November 2004.
It seems more and more people are unaware—or choose to ignore—that our
lives do not belong to us, but to God (Genesis 1:26, 1 Corinthians 6:20). No surprise in a culture which
has been led to believe that ‘science’ has undermined the authority
of the Bible.
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