2009 | Page 2 of 24

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Messy Genomes: Did They Evolve?

December 14, 2009

The genomes of most eukaryotes are riddled with introns – intragenic regions – that have to be cut out by sophisticated DNA-transcribing machinery so that the true gene sections (called exons) can be spliced together. Introns can vary from 20 base pairs to over 500,000 – significantly impacting the energy required to duplicate the genome. […]

Physics

Iapetus Mystery Moon Solved

December 14, 2009

Iapetus, that black-and-white moon orbiting Saturn that has mystified astronomers for 338 years, may finally be understood. The dark material did come from outside – not inside. The exogenic theory has won. It’s been coated with dust from outer moons, but that’s not all: uneven heating has moved the ice around on the surface, accentuating […]

Birds

Contenders Vie for Stupid Evolution Quote of the Week

December 13, 2009

Creation-Evolution Headlines needs reader feedback to rank this week’s winners. Some of these articles are so over the top, giving Darwin credit for anything and everything, it’s a wonder the Darwinists themselves don’t censor them – just to avoid public embarrassment. Evolve! Sing Along: New Scientist is letting you take part in the evolutionary process […]

Dinosaurs

Darwin vs. the Fossils

December 11, 2009

What could be more iconic to evolution than dinosaurs and the horse series? Museums often display skeletons of these animals as proof of evolution. The real story told in scientific papers is often very different. Two recent studies present major, serious challenges to Darwin’s theory. Horse series: The old straight-line chart of horse evolution from […]

Media

Comparative Legacies of Two Rocket Pioneers

December 10, 2009

Wernher von Braun developed rockets in Germany that were used by the Nazis, then came to America, became an American citizen, and pioneered the American space program, including landing man on the moon. Qian Xuesen developed rockets in America then moved to China, where he joined the Communist Party and pioneered the Chinese space program […]

Health

Science Flipflops

December 9, 2009

Science says… on second thought, science says the opposite. Or, we’re not sure what science says. The following recent stories show that things you thought science had proven may not be true at all. What’s next? Take testosterone for fairness: The image of the testosterone-crazed, egotistical, reckless, raging road warrior is all wrong. At least, […]

Astronomy

Galaxy-Spangled Banner Unfurled

December 8, 2009

The Hubble team has unveiled a new deep field image of distant galaxies, the “Hubble Ultra Deep Field Infrared WFC3/IR.” The image, available at the HubbleSite, was taken with the new Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) installed during the latest servicing mission. It’s been 5 years since the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (03/09/2004; […]

Darwin and Evolution

The Evolution of the Future

December 7, 2009

Evolution, being an unguided process, would seem the last thing one could predict. That hasn’t stopped some evolutionists from speculating what an evolutionary future will bring to our planet and our species. Carl Zimmer, a blogger for a Discover Magazine blog, is one such speculator. He also wrote the final essay in the Origins series […]

Amazing Facts

Microscopys Golden Age Is At Hand

December 6, 2009

Like test pilots breaking the sound barrier, microscope makers are breaking a light barrier some said was physically impossible: the diffraction limit. Within the next 5 to 10 years, we may see more and more images of phenomena at the molecular scale – not with electron microscopes, but with light microscopes in real time. What […]

Genetics

How One Bright Young Scientist Challenged the Junk-DNA Paradigm

December 5, 2009

A young snowboarder turned to science and turned the consensus on its head. PhysOrg, in “Turning trash to treasure,” told the story of John Rinn (Harvard Medical School), who challenged the paradigm of “junk DNA” and discovered a new class of functional molecules: lincRNAs (large intervening non-coding RNA). He found important functional molecules “in a […]

Dumb Ideas

Evolutionary Explanations Assume Evolution Explains

December 4, 2009

The facility with which some evolutionary biologists appeal to almost magical powers of evolution to explain anything and everything is revealed in some recent science articles. Whatever needs explaining is due to evolution – evidence or not. These four examples can be considered representative of the genre. The evolution of shopping: Both PhysOrg and Science […]

Amazing Facts

Taking Inspiration from Nature

December 3, 2009

In the previous entry, Darwin inspired some geologists, even though he was wrong. Here are some news stories showing nature inspiring engineers with wonders right under their noses. Aerodynamic seed: A plant in Java has seeds that are perfect gliders. The BBC News said of the Alsomitra vine: “The seeds, which are produced by a […]

Uncategorized

Darwin Was Wrong About Geology

December 2, 2009

Field geologists have revisited a site Darwin visited on the voyage of the Beagle, and found that he incorrectly interpreted what he found. A large field of erratic boulders in Tierra del Fuego that have become known as “Darwin’s Boulders” were deposited by a completely different process than he thought. The modern team, publishing in […]

Early Man

Whats Natural for Humans?

December 1, 2009

Should humans do what comes naturally? What comes naturally? And what do we mean by natural? Nicholas Wade in the New York Times said, “We May Be Born With an Urge to Help.” He began with the same question: “What is the essence of human nature?” Then he discussed evidence that infants have […]

SETI

Is SETI Morphing Its Mission?

November 29, 2009

Look at the mission statement at the website of the SETI Institute: “The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature, and prevalence of life in the universe.” What happened to the aliens? The word “intelligence” is not found in their mission statement. It sounds indistinguishable from the mission […]

Messy Genomes: Did They Evolve?