Motley Origins News

Here is a collection of unrelated
articles on creation or evolution
of interest to our readers

Readers of these pages might find information worth pursuing in a dozen recent posts at science news sites. These articles represent just some of the variety of subjects we follow at Creation-Evolution Headlines.

Pseudoscience: Astrology shown to be no better than random guessing (19 Aug 2024, New Scientist). Random guessing is bad. This rules out astrology as scientific, unless it is bio-astrology (16 May 2024). That form of random guessing can bring in millions of dollars in NASA funds.

Fossils: Early Mammals Lived Longer (7 August, University of Bonn). Jurassic mammals lived “with lifespans of eight to fourteen years instead of just one or two as in modern mice” according to evolutionists at the University of Bonn. This quote shows how evolutionists can use evidence of devolution to prop up Darwin:

“Our findings suggest that the distinctive life history patterns of mammals, characterized by high metabolic rates and extended parental care phases for example, have evolved over millions of years,” Dr. Elis Newham explains, “The Jurassic period appears to have been a crucial time for this shift.”

Culture: On the origin of academic traditions — and some alternatives for debate (22 July 2024, UC Santa Barbara). Amelia Liberatore doesn’t seem to catch the self-refuting nature of her claim. If academic traditions evolve in a Darwinian way (i.e., random and purposeless), doesn’t that include academic reporting? Doesn’t that make her job pseudo-science?

The field of science aims to be objective, repeatable and justified in its choices and methods. These principles are what distinguish accepted scientific findings from pseudo-science. Yet the experience of learning and working in the field of science, including graduate school activities and scientific conferences, might not always follow the same principles. These practices and gatherings of scientists may be just as organic and random as evolution.

Have the traditions of science — rituals of poster presentations and tenure positions — evolved by chance? Would the origins of these practices pass the scientific test of repeatability? To echo Stephen Jay Gould (and Cher): if we could turn back time, would the same practices emerge? What other practices could have emerged?

Epigenetics: Discovery of a hidden epigenetic clock in mitochondria reveals a ‘lifespan limit line’ (25 Aug 2024, Phys.org). Have scientists at Eötvös Loránd University found a countdown timer that puts a limit on how long a species can live? Can this timer be reset?

Evolution: Scientists use evolution to bioengineer new pathways to sustainable energy, pharmaceuticals (26 Aug 2024, Univ of Illinois). “Using evolution as a guiding principle, researchers have successfully engineered bacteria-yeast hybrids….” Sad to see a crew of young researchers still confusing Darwinism with engineering. It’s a reflection of the biased education they’re getting from K-grad school.

Dark Matter: Another blow for dark matter as biggest hunt yet finds nothing (26 Aug 2024, New Scientist). Another expensive project has failed to find WIMPs. The test was five times more sensitive than previous searches. How much longer do taxpayers want them to continue what till now has been a fruitless quest? Oddly, Lawrence Berkeley Lab downplayed the failure and celebrated the precision of the instrument!

Ethics: ‘Who are we to say they shouldn’t exist?’: Dr. Neal Baer on the threat of CRISPR-driven eugenics (25 Aug 2024, Live Science). A book review on CRISPR shows promise and perils of the gene-editing ‘dual use’ technology, which could tamper with the human germ line. For the perils, see Richard Weikart‘s new book Unnatural Death: Medicine’s Descent from Healing to Killing.

Dinosaurs: Matching dinosaur footprints found on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean (23 Aug 2024, Southern Methodist U). Here’s a puzzle worth tracking down. The tracks on both sides of the Atlantic were not made by the same individual, but look similar regarding geological context and species. Plate tectonics implicated?

Climate Change: Scientific consensus can strengthen pro-climate attitudes in society (26 Aug 2023, Univ of Wien). Didn’t anyone teach these academics that science is not consensus? Don’t they know it is not the business of scientists to influence public attitudes on controversial topics? Just the facts, ma’am.

Mind: Just 10 minutes of mindfulness daily boosts wellbeing and fights depression (23 Aug 2024, Univ of Bath). These researchers again present “mindfulness” as a supposedly secular meditation technique, without any warnings of the risks of serious psychosis (see 23 July 2024). Let the reader beware.

Moon Youth: Geologists discover hidden magmatism at the Chang’e-6 lunar landing site (27 Aug 2024, Univ of Hong Kong via Phys.org). Intrusive magmatism has been inferred on the far side of the moon. Professor Li emphasized, “Their petrogenesis and timing are unclear, and this research would dramatically help to understand their origin mechanism.”

Cambrian Explosion: Correlation and stratigraphic implications of the lowermost Cambrian small shelly fossils from new sites of South China (22 Aug 2024, Luo et al, Journal of the Geological Society). This open-access paper claims that small shelly fossils in Siberia show “a gradual transitional evolution between the Cambrian and Ediacaran biotas.” Let’s see if the claim can stand up to a Günter Bechly analysis.

Biomimetics: Rice bioengineers develop lotus leaf-inspired system to advance study of cancer cell clusters (23 Aug 2024, Rice Univ). The superb hydrophobic surfaces of lotus leaves have again inspired bioengineers to imitate it, this time toward developing “a system for culturing cancer cell clusters that can shed light on hard-to-study tumor properties.”

Environment: Fall of the wild: why pristine wilderness is a human-made myth (23 Aug 2024, Nature Book Review). Paleontologist Douglas Erwin disabuses readers of the notion of unspoiled wilderness. According to a new book Nature’s Ghosts by Sophie Yeo, no part of the globe has escaped the human touch.

Imaging: Tiny beauty: how I make scientific art from behind the microscope (17 June 2024, Nature). This gallery of stunning micrographs shows how Steve Gschmeissner, using enhancement and coloration, “images tiny creatures and viruses to show the public an unseen world.” Take a look and be amazed!

Tell us in the comments if you like this kind of digest of topics instead of the longer articles on single subjects, or both.