Archive: Fall Colors, Goby Fish, Virus Motor, Planets, Hiking, St Luke, More
Fall colors and St. Luke: here are some of the stories we were reporting in October 2001.
Note: some embedded links may no longer work.
Fall Colors Lack Evolutionary Explanation 10/19/2001
Why do leaves turn a brilliant red in the fall? Aside from aesthetics, no one knows for sure. A feature story on the Scientific American website examines the various theories. Some feel the reds act as a sunscreen while recycling leaf tissues for winter food storage. Some think they protect the plant from free radicals. Others hypothesize that the red pigments help preserve water during drought, or repel insects, or advertise toxic substance to would-be predators. But in the end, none of these ideas explain why some plants have red all year, other plants do fine without red pigment, and why there are such varying degrees in between.
Do we have to have a Darwinian explanation for everything? Is there any room left for a Creator who might just create wonders because they are beautiful? Take a walk in the woods this fall and just enjoy it without stressing yourself out on what survival value the colors have. Darwinian tales are made by evolutionary biologists, but only God can make a tree.
Dark Matter Options Diminish 10/19/2001
“Astronomers appear to have a heavenly crisis on their hands, and it concerns material they can’t even detect,” says Ron Cowen in the cover story of the Oct. 13 Science News, “Dark Matters.” Since the 1930’s, astronomers have built most of their theories on the assumption that over 90% of the universe consists of unseen, unknown particles. Whether hot (fast moving) or cold (non-interacting), dark matter is the stuff that holds galaxies together and creates the early universe’s structure. But observations are accumulating that conflict with theory; for instance, cores of galaxies are not as dense as predicted, there are 1000 times too few dwarf galaxies as predicted, and the distribution of dark matter should be football-shaped, but would have to be spherical to match observations.
Astronomers have responded by coming up with two alternative theories: warm dark matter, or self-interacting dark matter. Recent observations by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, however, seem to rule out the latter. But the former appears too ad hoc to some. They hope continuing observations by Chandra may set constraints on the nature of the elusive material.
One gets the distinct impression reading such articles that astronomers are debating the composition and character of ghosts. How many of these problems are due to slavish devotion to the Big Bang theory and long ages? Maybe there is no dark matter and they will have to live with the universe as it is, not as they think it should be. Their models have so many degrees of freedom, though, that we should not expect a change of heart soon. Cosmology is a game where the only rule is philosophical naturalism, and no observation can be considered legitimate until it is confirmed by theory.
Ed Note: In the subsequent 23 years, all tests have failed. They still don’t know what dark matter is.
Virus Motor Packs DNA Under High Pressure 10/18/2001
University of California at Berkeley scientists have measured the force with which viruses stuff their DNA into protein bottles called capsids. A little molecular motor at the lid of the bottle is able to pack the coiled DNA with 60 piconewtons of pressure. On a human scale, that is ten times the pressure in a champagne bottle. The team is now studying whether the pressure is used to inject the DNA into the host bacterial cell, and whether the packing motor rotates as do some other molecular motors studied, such as the bacterial flagellum.
Think of this little motor packing a DNA molecule into a protein bottle, like stuffing a spring into a can. When the Jack in the Box pops open, surprise! This article uses the word motor two dozen times. It underscores the fact that cellular components are molecular machines.
Evolutionists are up a creek to explain machines by chance, but creationists, too, should be intrigued by the high level of design being found in viruses. We think of viruses as nasty disease-causing agents, and some certainly are today, but the vast majority are harmless and may be beneficial. Jerry Bergman has speculated that viruses performed a vital role in the beginning; for instance, they may have prepared a host to enter a new environment, or provided functionality to pass from one organism to another by lateral gene transfer. Whatever is theorized about their role in creation, they are turning out to be more intricately designed than we could have imagined.
Birds, the High-Efficiency Long-Distance Flight Champions 10/18/2001
A paper in Nature investigates the fuel efficiency of long-distance migratory birds, some of which can fly long distances of 4000 km or more with only a few short stops (click here for summary). How does a bird extract the maximum power from its fuel? Doesn’t increasing body weight by stocking up on fuel decrease flight muscle efficiency? Apparently, birds are better engineers than we thought, able to actually fly more efficiently when fully loaded. Scientists used wind tunnels to measure factors like lift, power, drag and metabolic power output.
A related study, also in Nature now proves that flying in formation also helps birds use 11-14% less energy. Scientists measured heart rates of great white pelicans to estimate the benefit.
These papers give you a sense of the complex math and engineering required to fly a machine for a long distance with enough fuel (but not too much) to get there, when there are trade-offs between weight and efficiency. How did a little birdbrain figure this out? The paper uses the typical evolutionary lingo that nature selected the right parameters. Presumably, millions of unlucky birds had to drop into the ocean before they got it right.
Mouse Jitteriness Correlated With Food Abundance 10/17/2001
Pamela Mueller and Jared Diamond of UCLA, in a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, studied five species of mice and found correlations between the abundance of food (net primary productivity) and the critters’ antsiness, as measured in basal metabolic rate.
This glorified high school science project is listed in the category evolution but proves nothing. They start with mice and end with mice; so what? Some mice are jumpier than others and bite more; so what? Some people act that way, too. Let’s correlate that with NCI (net coffee intake). All this paper does is observe adaptation, not evolution.
Jared Diamond, who has written vitriolic anti-creationist rhetoric in popular science magazines, is doing his part to shore up the evidence for evolution in a scientific journal, but accomplishes nothing here. Microevolution does not reinforce Darwinian evolution from amoeba to man. Even so, this paper is riddled with doubt about what their observations prove.
Feeling Depressed? Go Take a Hike 10/17/2001
Researchers at Texas A&M University are confirming another common-sense notion that physical activity is good for you, both physically and emotionally. According to the news release echoed in EurekAlert, participants in vigorous outdoor activities like backpacking, canoeing and rock climbing were not only physically fit, but were better able to handle stress and had a more positive mental outlook. Doctors found more stress hormones in the bodies of couch potatoes, and found that the physically fit were better prepared to handle unexpected challenges.
Creation-Evolution Headlines is a proud partner of Creation Safaris. After reading the news on this computer screen, get up, stretch, and go take a vigorous walk. The Creator has made us an integrated whole–body, mind, and spirit–with each part influencing the others. Don’t neglect any of your well-designed systems.
Follow the chain links on Health for similar stories, especially a study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine on March 27. Even the sights and sounds of nature can have a calming effect, as we reported May 8 and March 23.
Female Goby Fish Strut Their Stuff 10/16/2001
Most studies on sexual selection have focused on male coloration, but a paper in the Oct 16 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences investigates a species of fish where the female has the bright coloration. Two Scandinavian researchers found that the males flirted more with the females that had bright orange underbellies, whether or not they were fat.
This paper should not have passed peer review; if it were a creationist theory it would have been laughed off the stage. These scientists are imposing their sexual fancies and thinking on dumb little fish. Aren’t fish color blind, anyway? What does an orange belly have to do with fitness? If this is a law of science, why aren’t all species getting gaudier all the time, both male and female? If gold is the magic color, why haven’t all fish evolved into goldfish? The paper is full of wiggle room and doubt. For example:
- ….empirical studies addressing social and sexual selection in females are either scarce or completely lacking in most major taxa.
- In most other taxa, including fish, female ornaments are almost unstudied and the evolutionary reasons for female beauty largely unknown.
- This scenario does not explain the evolution of color characteristics whose expression may vary among reproductive females.
- The only extant study conducted in such a system on convict cichlids (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum) revealed no male preference for females with more bright ventral coloration.
- Why are male two-spotted gobies so sensitive to female belly coloration? One possibility is that belly coloration acts as an amplifier of female fecundity. To a human observer [emphasis added], the orange belly of an ornamented female is a highly conspicuous trait, with a high contrast to the fish body and to the habitat background. By adding color to an already round belly filled with mature eggs, females may facilitate male evaluation of fecundity [emphasis added]. But why are not all mature females equally colorful? If the amplifying trait is costly to develop, it may at the same time be informative of female quality….It remains to be demonstrated which aspects of quality, if any, might be signaled through bright carotenoid-based coloration in female two-spotted gobies.
- It remains to be demonstrated what benefits males may gain from being choosy.
- Studies of relationships between ornamentation, parasites and immune parameters in females are very few and should be encouraged.
- The demonstrated male preference for female coloration does not preclude a function of female ornamentation in contest competition among females.
- We suggest that more attention should be directed at the largely unstudied phenomenon of female “beauty” in fish and other animals.
So after 150 years of Darwinism, nobody has studied female sexual selection, the data are contradictory, it could be this or it could be that, and we can’t possibly know what the little fishies are thinking, so let’s impose our human likes and dislikes on the fish (what does “beauty” mean to a fish, for crying out loud?).
You are watching evolutionary research in action. This is how evolution gains an appearance of scientific respectability; Darwinists publish wishy-washy papers like this and can claim the literature is full of evidence for evolution. A thousand buckets of sand do not give you a solid foundation.
Solar System Exhibits Chaotic Motion, But Not Too Much 10/16/2001
A Japanese paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explores the extent of chaos in planetary orbits. The authors explain that small bodies are clearly subject to chaotic influences, whereas the major planets, though not exempt, seem remarkably stable for long periods of time. This is partly due to the large separation between them compared to their masses, but much remains poorly understood. They state:
These recent advances are the beginning of a quest to tease out the critical properties of our solar system (and its subsystems) that give it the curious character of being only marginally chaotic or marginally stable on time spans comparable with its current age. It is but a part of the quest to understand what processes of formation (and perhaps initial conditions) led to this remarkable system in nature and how common such systems are in our galaxy and the universe.
This subject is of interest to astronomers and geophysicists for setting constraints on our ability to extrapolate backward and forward in time, to ascertain or predict positions of planets or to correlate dates in the geological column with orbital influences.
The old Newtonian mechanists used to assume the heavens were as reliable as clockwork, and bragged on their ability to predict almost anything from mathematical laws of physics. Now we know that initial conditions and perturbations can have dramatic effects, making it all but impossible to predict future motions. (This also explains why the old urban legend about running the solar system orbits backward to find Joshua’s long day is not possible.)
Our solar system is carefully balanced set of coincidences. A little chaos is OK, but a lot of chaos could have ruled out life. Notice how these scientists are awestruck at our “remarkable system in nature.”
Bones of St. Luke Found? 10/16/2001
DNA analysis of bones alleged to be those of Luke, writer of the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles in the Bible, have been performed by molecular biologists, says Scientific American summarizing a new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The analysis of DNA from two teeth shows they are about three times more likely to have a Syrian origin than a Greek origin. The story claims to highlight “the value of using genetic data to confirm history.” (Note: Scientific American incorrectly states Luke was born in 150 A.D. in Syria, whereas the original paper says he died in that year.) Uncertainty remains, however, about other possible birthplaces, and the actual identity of the individual.
Dr. Luke was a historian of the first rank; the accuracy of his writings have been repeatedly confirmed by archaeology. He was a traveling companion of Paul and died probably much earlier than 150 A.D. Can this method really tell that much? Couldn’t a Syrian be born in Greece or somewhere else? As interesting as the dating of relics might be, we are beyond honoring relics. It is far more important to listen to Luke’s message than analyze his bones, even if they were his (which this scientific paper cannot establish). Brother Luke is in heaven, with a clear view of the risen and ascended Christ, of whom he wrote under inspiration of the Holy Spirit after doing diligent research from eyewitness accounts.
Meteorite Might Hold Clues to Life 10/16/2001
According to the Rochester News, local professors are studying the Tagish Lake meteorite that fell in British Columbia last year for clues to the origin of life on earth. This meteorite contains carbon but no amino acids; others are said to have had amino acids. “The sticking point is to get from simple molecules, like amino acids, to the complication of life,” said Sandra Pizzarello, a chemistry professor at Arizona State University and another member of the research team. “You just put the puzzle one piece at a time in place.”
This is a priori reasoning. Evolutionists are convinced life did evolve from chemicals, so they are on this slow, painstaking project to piece together evidence to show how it evolved. There is a HUGE difference between amino acids and life, however; so huge it could never be bridged by natural processes acting under the laws of science we already know.
To get an idea of what evolutionists are up against, check out these animations of ATP synthase, a molecular motor used in all living things (these are simplified animations that do not show all the parts involved). These motors are made up of thousands of amino acids, all left-handed, that are arranged into a precise sequence and work together as a 6000rpm motor, cranking out ATP molecules (used in all life processes), at over 90% efficiency. Unless all these complex parts exist together simultaneously, the motor will not work at all. This is one of many such molecular machines in the cell that must be present to have life. Yet here we have researchers looking for little individual amino acids, thinking that if they find some they are getting closer to understanding the origin of life. Amino acids are no closer to life than a child’s alphabet blocks are to an encyclopedia.
Baboons Capable of Abstract Reasoning 10/14/2001
Who knows what abstract reasoning lurks in the hearts of baboons? The psychologist thinks he knows. According to EurekAlert, psychologists writing in the Journal of Experimental Psychology performed experiments in which, after thousands of tries, baboons were able to associate like things with rewards.
Big deal. I had a horse once that figured out how to unlatch the barn door with her lips to get to the hay.