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Astrobiologists Explain Cambrian Explosion Using Invisible Data
January 7, 2011
According to PhysOrg and Astrobio.net, the skeletons to the Cambrian Explosion1 are hidden in the Precambrian closet, out of sight, even though the closet is open for inspection. We mustn’t be fooled into thinking there was a Creation event, because evolution was doing its work in secret, like magic: The first instance of biomineralization – […]
Primitive Humans Were Sailors
January 6, 2011
Greek archaeologists have found stone tools on Crete thought to be between 130,000 and 700,000 years old, reported PhysOrg. If so, the makers had to sail to get there. “Crete has been separated from the mainland for about five million years, so whoever made the tools must have traveled there by sea (a distance of […]
Never Say Die: Researchers Spend 37 Years Looking for Evolution in Darwins Finches
January 5, 2011
The Grants are still at it. Peter and Rosemary Grant have been studying Darwin’s finches since the 1970s, looking for evidence to support Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Their latest paper in PNAS produced results that were tentative at best.1 Up front, they had to admit that you can’t see the birds evolving. […]
Beavers: Natural Engineers Do It Better
January 4, 2011
A curious case of biomimetics was reported by Science Daily: engineers imitating beavers. River restoration is a big project in many states that would like to return their rivers to the way the colonists first found them. “When engineers restore rivers,” the article began, “one Kansas State University professor hopes they’ll keep a smaller engineer […]
Evolution by Gene Duplication Falsified
January 3, 2011
A common hypothesis in evolutionary circles is evolution by gene duplication. It posits that duplicated genes are free to evolve new functions without affecting the primary gene. This idea has been dealt a serious blow by a paper published in Complexity on Dec. 22.1 Joseph Esfandiar Hannon Bozorgmehr first dealt a falsifying blow […]
Embryonic Stem Cell Advocates Push Against Evidence and Ethics
January 2, 2011
An old preacher said, “It’s never right to do wrong to get a chance to do right.” That sums up in simple terms the ethical problems of using embryonic stem cells to cure human diseases, apparent in this quote from PhysOrg: The potent but hotly debated cells can transform into nearly any cell in the […]
Cell Division Involves Vast Array of Molecules and Processes
January 1, 2011
Scientists continue to probe the roles of individual proteins in the symphony of molecules involved in cell division. An article on Science Daily discussed work at Rockefeller University to understand one such protein named PRC1 that acts as a kind of molecular foreman for spindle orientation. The opening paragraph is the notable part: Just before […]
Year-End Closeout
December 31, 2010
The sun is rising on 2011, but we need to clear the deck from 2010. Here are ten 2010 headlines to acknowledge as the ball drops in Times Square, to avoid dropping the ball completely before moving on to 2011. Cells: Many cancer cells have an “eat me” tag, said Science Daily. Early Man: “Rodents […]
Plants Outsmart Darwin
December 30, 2010
There are wonders in plants that continue to be uncovered with the tools of science. Two recent papers in PNAS lend support to the feeling that plants are smarter than assumed. Trash collection: Humans usually only employ one trash collection service, but plants have two. Four Chinese investigators found redundant pathways in plant cells for […]
Adam Found?
December 29, 2010
Evidence of modern humans older than any ever discovered has been found in Israel – thus the teasing headline. The skeleton’s evolutionary discoverers would certainly discount any Biblical tie-in. Not that Adam was an Israelite, but like some later Biblical prophet, the find seems to be pronouncing doom on modern idolaters from the grave – […]
Christmas Stocking
December 24, 2010
Christmas is upon us, and then the new year. Many interesting news stories have come prancing from the roof with too little time to unwrap them. We leave them hanging on the mantle, with our astute readers able to pick the fresh oranges from the fruitcakes, the hot picks from the lumps of coal. Morality: […]
Brain Synapse Machinery Is Finely Tuned
December 23, 2010
The New York Times published a brief article on brain facts that is astonishing, when you think about all that goes on in thinking. Nicholas Wade reported on a new inventory of the proteins involved in the synapses, the key junctions between neurons. The research team, led by Seth Grant of the Sanger Institute near […]
Soft Tissue Fossil Treasure Trove Found in China
December 22, 2010
Live Science announced a major new fossil find in China with some 20,000 fossils. It was found in a 50-foot thick layer of limestone The fossils are exceptionally well-preserved, with more than half of them completely intact, including soft tissues. Apparently they were protected across the ages by mats of microbes that rapidly sealed their […]
Divining Dino Dining
December 21, 2010
Some of those big, fierce-looking dinosaurs—cousins to T. rex—could have been vegetarians. That’s a paradigm-shaking announcement being made by PhysOrg, Science Daily, and Live Science: “Meat-Eating Dinosaurs Not So Carnivorous After All.” The revision is based on information from the Field Museum of Chicago. A similar article on PhysOrg laments that one of […]
Secular Evolutionists Are a Small Minority
December 19, 2010
A new Gallup poll shows that only 16% of Americans subscribe to the view that “Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in the process.” About 40% believe in Biblical creationism (recent creation within 10,000 years); that percentage climbs to 60% among churchgoers. […]
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