Archive: Moon, Cannibalism, Stem Cells, Religious Doubts, Censorship
These 23-year-old stories from CEH showcase the variety of subjects we have reported on since our first year.
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Moon Made Easy . . . Not 08/16/2001
According to Nature, moon making is easy: just get an asteroid the size of Mars to impact the early earth at the correct oblique angle. Scientists at Southwest Research Institute used a more sophisticated 3D computer model to get the right amount of material into orbit, but “the problem will remain that giant impacts are inherently improbable, and the Solar System’s chaotic nature makes it impossible to re-run history and get the same outcome.” Says David Stevenson of Caltech, “None of the scenarios for the Moon’s formation is highly likely.” Scientific American adds that the simulation did not take into account the phase of the material. New Scientist reminds us that without the moon, earth would not be the habitable planet we know.
Our moon is a lifesaver. It’s the perfect agitator to cleanse our oceans with tides and contribute energy to our dynamic atmosphere, to say nothing of its being a beautiful companion for romantic nights. How did a Mars-sized chunk arrive at just the right speed and angle to create the moon? Even if not impossible, it’s one of many cosmic coincidences that make our life-blessing planet seem too improbable to be the work of chance. And consider, our moon is just the right size and distance to give us the occasional treat of a total solar eclipse. There’s no place like home.
Cannibals: Eat the One You Love 08/16/2001
Beth Conklin, an anthropologist at Vanderbilt University, has written a book entitled Compassionate Cannibalism in which she argues that cannibalism not always a barbaric act against enemies but, at least among the Wari’ tribe of the Amazon rain forest, a way of showing respect to loved ones who have died.
How do you like your uncle done? While we’re at the rationalization game, let’s examine the noble motives of those on death row. After all, anthropologists have rationalized the behavior of adulterers and rapists in evolutionary terms. One would think that reinterpretation of vice would never go so far as cannibalism, but, as Conklin argues, we just need to see it from the natives’ point of view. Everyone is beautiful in their own way – except missionaries, who interfere with their grieving customs by telling them about everlasting life in Christ.
Physical Constants Changing? 08/15/2001
According to Scientific American, the venerable fine structure constant, one of the fundamental constants of physics that relates the fundamental forces, may have changed by 10 parts per billion in the last 6 billion years. New Scientist reports that maybe the speed of light has changed as well, claiming this turns traditional physics on its head. Astrophysicist John Webb is quoted as saying, “If it holds up, it surely has to be one of the more important discoveries in fundamental physics.”
08/22/2001: Dr. Jonathan Sarfati writing for Answers in Genesis urges caution in responding to this claim.
This is a very unexpected announcement; constants have been assumed to be inviolable. Some creationists have posited constants that change over time, such as the speed of light, as a possible explanation for the appearance of age in the universe. Although the proposed variation is very slight in this case, this development bears watching. Be cautious, however for all who will claim that this supports their pet theory, whether theistic or atheistic. Some are already saying this supports string theory, for instance. The evidence is too indistinct to form any conclusions at this point; it’s also hard to separate the measurements from the assumptions used to interpret them.
Skin Acid Keeps You Intact 08/15/2001
Researchers at SFVAMC have found why your skin is as acidic as a bowl of crushed tomatoes. When your skin breaks down phospholipids into fatty acids, it keeps you from drying out, and helps hold your skin cells together so you don’t flake away, reports EurekAlert.
Just one of those many marvels that has to be just right or you would die.
Stem Cells Found in Skin 08/14/2001
In the wake of President Bush’s decision to limit embryonic stem cell research, good news has come from Canada that might soften the demand for the controversial source of these potent cells that can grow into any type of tissue. Researchers at McGill University have found stem cells in adult skin, reports Scientific American online news. If demonstrated for humans as well as mice, this could provide a noncontroversial source for stem cells without the ethical concerns of destroying embryos. This new source also bypasses difficulties with tissue rejection, since it provides cells from the patient’s own body. Nature explores the differences and issues regarding these alternatives to embryonic stem cells.
This should be great news for those who have been following the debate, and shows that there is always a better way than killing a life to save a life.
Religious Doubts Jeopardize Elderly 08/13/2001
Contradicting earlier studies that associated religion with better health among elderly patients, a Bowling Green University researcher found negative influences among those struggling with religious questions about their condition:
Bowling Green State University psychologist Kenneth Pargament and his colleagues looked at 595 individuals-mostly Christians-aged 55 or older who had been hospitalized between 1996 and 1997. Patients who reported among other things feeling alienated from God or believing the devil brought about their illness, the researchers found, were associated with an up to 28 percent increase in risk of dying during the two-year follow-up period. Other factors, such as gender, race and diagnosis, did not predict mortality. People who feel that God is punishing or deserting them, team member Harold Koenig of Duke University notes, “are in trouble-and doctors need to know about it.” Says Pargament, “This study reminds us that religion is a rich, complex process, one that represents a potent resource for people facing problems and one that can, at times, be a source of problems in itself.”
The report is summarized in Scientific American online news.
One totally wrong conclusion to infer from this story is that Christianity is bad for your health. It would be more accurate to say that bad theology – or unconfessed sin – can hurt you. Proverbs 17:22 says “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Christ brings comfort and hope for those who hurt. Jesus said to those who trust His compassionate forgiveness and grace, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Notice how this peace gave confidence to Samuel F. B. Morse and Michael Faraday in their old age.
Teacher Reassigned Not For Credentials But Beliefs 08/10/2001
The Marysville school board is in a quandary. They hired a biology teacher who (they should have known) had a controversial past: he dared to question Darwinism, and suggested life is so complex it cannot be explained by chance, and indicates an origin by intelligent design. Although Roger DeHart had an impeccable record as a biology teacher, the Washington school decided to reassign him to geology where the question of intelligent design was less likely to be an issue, says HeraldNet.
It doesn’t matter what your qualifications or experience are; the litmus test is whether you will pledge allegiance to Darwin. DeHart said, “I’m denied as if I was black or gay . . . . This is happening because of an ideology, not because of anything else but an ideology, and the fact you can reassign someone based on an ideology. ”
Master On-Off Switch for Genes Found: A Second Genetic Code? 08/10/2001
Researchers at the University of Virginia have been studying a type of protein structure called chromatin that surrounds DNA, and believe it acts as a switch to turn genes off or on. If so, this is another source of information, like a second genome, that helps regulate DNA genes. Dr. C. David Allis, a biochemist, states: “We believe that what is telling the cell to make those choices is an overall code that may significantly extend the information potential of the genetic DNA code. For some time, we have known that there is more to our genetic blueprint than DNA itself. We are excited that we are beginning to decipher a new code, what is referred to as an epigenetic code.” The story was reported by SciNews.
This is a problem for evolution on two fronts: it increases the complexity of the cell enormously (again), and it creates a conundrum about how the DNA and the protein became interdependent – the old chicken and egg problem. If the DNA codes for the chromatin, how can it be expressed if the chromatin wasn’t there from the start to activate the gene?
Plants Debut Twice as Early 08/10/2001
Using a genetic “molecular clock,” scientists have estimated that land plants and fungi proliferated on earth much earlier than previously believed, reports Scientific American. Assuming that the mutation rate is constant, biologists at Penn State examined 119 genes of animals and plants and concluded that plants arrived not just 480 million years ago, but 700 million years for land plants and 1300 million years for fungi. “Their results proved startling,” the report says, but it adds that the early debut may have absorbed more CO2 and thereby cooled the planet and boosted oxygen levels to stimulate the evolution of higher organisms.
This story is built on faulty assumptions and a prior commitment to evolution. It is nothing more than storytelling in scientific garb. In actuality, it illustrates the problems evolutionists create trying to fit their own findings with their beliefs, and how they spin-doctor each new anomaly into a plug for Darwinism.