2009 | Page 23 of 24

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For His Birthday, Darwin Loses His Tree

January 22, 2009

The “tree of life” is the central icon of Darwinism. Charles Darwin’s only illustration in the Origin of Species was a drawing of organisms descending from a common ancestor in a branching tree pattern. It has been reproduced, expanded, embellished and decorated into a primal symbol of what science believes about biology. Why, then, are […]

Biomimetics

Minerals Can Fool Astrobiologists

January 21, 2009

Look at this picture on National Geographic News. Looks alive, doesn’t it? It’s only a mineral. The article contains a gallery of five micrographs of minerals that form curvy crystals. They’re called biomorphs (a word simply meaning life-like shapes). “Until now scientists had thought rounded crystals, such as those found in seashells and […]

Birds

Feather Evolution Proved?

January 21, 2009

Another claim of feather evolution was reported in PNAS.1 Creationists have long claimed that the evolution of feathers from reptilian scales is an intractable problem for Darwinists (example: 1994 article from Creation magazine). Does the paper provide incontrovertible proof that feathers had evolved in dinosaurs before birds took flight in the air? Beipiaosaurus, […]

Fossils

Fossil Fumbles Damage Darwinism

January 19, 2009

Three recent fossil finds are rearranging Darwin’s tree of life. Pro-Darwinists will interpret this as pruning; Darwin skeptics will interpret it as uprooting. Shark heads: “The earliest known braincase of a shark-like fish has shown some assumptions about the early evolution of vertebrates are ‘completely wrong,’ experts say. That’s what National Geographic said. Read all […]

Origin of Life

Time for Mars Life Again

January 16, 2009

Methane detection around Mars is giving new life to claims there is life on Mars. Space.com #1 and Space.com #2 explain why NASA scientists are looking to see if the methane can be explained geologically or biologically. Some news sites, like The Sun, go over the top with claims life has been discovered. Only the […]

Dumb Ideas

Monkey See, Darwin Do

January 15, 2009

Science Daily thought so. In an article adorned by a picture of macaques enjoying a hot spring, the title read, “Primate Culture Is Just A Stone’s Throw Away From Human Evolution, Study Finds.” The studious studiers were researchers at the Primate Research Center in Kyoto, Japan. They discovered what children already know: monkey […]

Bible and Theology

Darwinists Cannot Deny Disturbing Implications

January 15, 2009

A common attitude among scientists is that they are not responsible for what people do with their discoveries. Facts are facts, after all, and nuclear energy can be used to power a city as well as destroy it. Is this a truism or a half-truth? Are there cases where a scientist is responsible for what […]

Origin of Life

Darwin Blogs on Origin of Life

January 14, 2009

He may not blog himself, but Darwin has disciples who blog for him. There’s bound to be a lot of blogging this year with Darwin’s 200th birthday next month and the 150th anniversary of the Origin of Species this November. Science began a blog called Origins with some entries from their Jan 8 issue. Two […]

Amazing Facts

Biology Now Includes Fluid Dynamic Construction

January 13, 2009

There’s an old legend that Tibetan monks built a wall by levitating heavy stones with sound by beating their drums and gongs. Something not quite so fantastic but still amazing is done by cells in the embryo. Scientists have filmed zebrafish embryos using beating cilia to build little stone structures that they use for balance. […]

Astronomy

Dating Stars as Models

January 12, 2009

Many have dreamed of dating a star, but the way astronomers do it is less glamorous. For one thing, they need to know how old she is first, and how good a model she makes. In a Perspectives piece for Science,1 David R. Soderblom of the Space Telescope Science Institute explained the requirements for stellar […]

Darwin and Evolution

Darwin in the Air

January 11, 2009

Darwin Day euphoria must be in the air. There have been several news stories with Darwin or Evolution in the title, but little to his credit in the substance of the article. Evolution inaction: The human immune system is, by any account, Science Daily, however not only called it a case of “Evolution in Action,” […]

Amazing Facts

Watch for Flying Giraffes (and Convergent Evolutionists)

January 9, 2009

Imagine giraffe-sized animals that could fly. They lived. National Geographic News has an illustration of an extinct pterosaur, tall as a giraffe, that was able to leap into the air and flap its wings for sustained powered flight. Live Science discussed work by Michael Habib [Johns Hopkins U School of Medicine] on the […]

Astronomy

2009 Is Looking Up

January 8, 2009

Astronomy is looking up this year; in fact, it’s looking heavenly. The United Nations and the International Astronomical Union have designated 2009 the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009). The IYA2009 website explains, The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) will be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, highlighted by the […]

Politics and Ethics

Should Darwinists Play Games with Government?

January 7, 2009

For years now, evolutionary biologists have been employing “game theory” to try to understand human social behavior. Presumably, game theory applies just as well to robots and ants as it does to humans – any population in which the whole benefits from collective behavior of individuals. The latest example of evolutionary game theory […]

Terrestrial Zoology

Darwin Missed the Pink Iguanas

January 6, 2009

The news media are excited about pink iguanas found in the Galapagos Islands. The rare type was discovered accidentally in 1986 but received almost no attention till now. Reports with pictures can be found on Live Science, PhysOrg, New Scientist and the BBC News, based on the paper by Gentile et al in PNAS.1 […]