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Iapetus, Charon Look Young for Their Age

July 18, 2007

Hard bodies in the solar system are supposed to be billions of years old. Why, then, do so many look smooth and young-looking? Two examples made news today: Charon So Smooth: Pluto has a moon named Charon (KAR-on) that apparently leaks beauty cream out of its interior. Live Science and Space.com report about a study […]

Dumb Ideas

News Reporters Knuckling Under to Darwinian Storytelling

July 17, 2007

The science news media are virtually going ape over a claim about how chimpanzees might have evolved into upright-walking humans: what is going on? It began with a paper in PNAS.1 Sockol, Raichlen and Pontzer measured the gaits of chimpanzees and humans and concluded that it is more efficient to walk upright than to propel […]

Amazing Facts

Cool Cell Tricks

July 16, 2007

Some cell parts act like acrobats, some like rescue workers, and some like I.T. professionals. Here are some recent stories about the tricks that living cells perform each day. Precision formation flying: The Scientist expressed amazement at the precision of key factors in development of the body plan in fruit flies. The levels of expression […]

Amazing Facts

Roadrunner and Largest Flying Bird Described from Fossils

July 15, 2007

A bird with a 23-foot wingspan was described in the BBC News. At an estimated 155 pounds, this bird probably had to jump from a height to get airborne and likely rode on thermals. The article says the bird rivalled in size some light airplanes. A diagram shows the Argentinean giant with wings upwardly stretched […]

Early Man

But Is It Evolution?

July 14, 2007

Every week the news media cheerfully present the latest finding that is claimed to be evidence for evolution. The following recent examples, though, might leave a perceptive reader wondering, “What’s Darwin got to do with it?” Slow? No!: If you thought evolution was a gradual process too slow to watch, get a load of this: […]

Education

The War of the Museums

July 13, 2007

Some evolutionists have become very alarmed at the opening of the new Creation Museum in Kentucky (05/26/2007). They are so alarmed, in fact, that they are using pro-Darwin museums to counter-attack. Scientific American published a lengthy article on the war of the museums. Elisabeth Landau quickly used terms to label creationism as pseudoscience: […]

Physics

The Daily Planet

July 12, 2007

This entry is not about birds or planes; it’s supernews from the solar system. Sponge Blob: Hyperion, an oddball moon of Saturn between Titan and Iapetus, was featured at Jet Propulsion Laboratory last week (see stunning image from Sept. 2005 at the Cassini imaging team website). Two papers in Nature July 5 analyzed its sponge-like […]

Uncategorized

Archaeology: Babylonian Clay Tablet Mentions Biblical Name

July 11, 2007

Jeremiah mentioned Nebo-Sarsekim and Nebuchadnezzar, and so did Babylonian scribes. The Times Online reported today, “The British Museum yesterday hailed a discovery within a modest clay tablet in its collection as a breakthrough for biblical archaeology – dramatic proof of the accuracy of the Old Testament.” An article in the Telegraph calls it “a fantastic […]

Fossils

Baby Frozen Mammoth Found Intact

July 10, 2007

The BBC News has a picture of a baby frozen mammoth that was found intact in northwest Siberia. The article says it is one of the best-preserved frozen mammoths ever found, complete with eyes, fur, and trunk. One investigator said, “In terms of its state of preservation, this is the world’s most valuable discovery” of […]

Mammals

Elephant Trunk Inspires Robot Arm

July 9, 2007

Scientists are trying to imitate the smooth, supple movements of an elephant's trunk.

Genetics

What Are Human Genes Doing in a Sea Anemone?

July 8, 2007

The genome of a sea anemone has been published, and of all things, this lowly animal has genes common to vertebrates, even humans. Science Daily began with a conundrum, “The first analysis of the genome of the sea anemone shows it to be nearly as complex as the human genome, providing major insights into the […]

Cosmology

Nature Celebrates Bizarre ‘Many-Worlds’ Cosmology

July 7, 2007

The cover of Nature this week (July 7) looks like a comic book.

Fossils

Greenland Was Forest Green

July 6, 2007

Greenland once had boreal forests like those in Sweden, reported Science Daily. Researchers analyzed the mud under 2 km of ice and found DNA from yew, alder, pine, grain, butterflies, moths, flies and beetles. According to the article, “the research is painting a picture which is overturning all previous assumptions about biological life and the […]

Amazing Facts

Mother-of-Pearl Inspires Materials Science

July 5, 2007

It’s not only beautiful, it’s strong. EurekAlert described how scientists are intrigued by mother-of-pearl, also called nacre, because of its strength: you can drive a truck over it and it will not break. It is 3,000 times more resistant to fracture than the aragonite from which the oyster makes it. 95% of it self-assembles in […]

Dinosaurs

Chinese Eat Dragon Bone for Health

July 4, 2007

Chinese villagers dig up dinosaur bones for health food. Yahoo News reported, “Villagers in central China dug up a ton of dinosaur bones and boiled them in soup or ground them into powder for traditional medicine, believing they were from flying dragons and had healing powers.” The article says the bones are calcium rich and […]

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