Do humans have nine billion bases of DNA not found in Chimpanzees? This is the bold claim made by head science writer for the Institute for Creation Research, Brian Thomas, in a newly released video. There is no doubt that Brian is mistaken. After all, the human genome only has 3.2 billion bases! How could such an error… Continue Reading →
When Peer Review Lets You Down: A YEC Quote Problem
Where are the fact checkers in Young Earth Creationist’ (YEC) organizations? And why do simple errors and profound misconceptions of science persist among their ranks? I have commented multiple times that the YEC organization Institute for Creation Research (ICR) has a self-editing problem. As I have documented (Eg. The Case of the Shrinking Comet and the Age… Continue Reading →
Lack of Citations: The YEC Peer-Review System Goes Awry Again
When I read a research article I expect that article to include an introduction that prepares me to understand how the research I am about to read about fits with previous results. If the work doesn’t agree with prior research I expect some discussion about why the authors believe the work of others is in error… Continue Reading →
Blocked from Facebook – ICR Removes Another Form of Peer-Review
I am now blocked from commenting on the Facebook page of the Institute of Creation Research (ICR). This was no surprise to me, nonetheless I felt rather sad that they felt they had to cut me off. Below is a screenshot of the ICR meme on which I had made what I thought was a substantive comment. About 20… Continue Reading →
Penguin “Teeth” and “Modern” Birds: Ken Ham’s Misinformed Understanding of Fossil Birds
Errors repeated often enough take on the appearance of truth. This is what makes fake news so effective. It can drown out informed opinion and accurate information. At the root of many fake new stories are pieces of information that are either outright false but possibly surrounded with true statements or the facts they report… Continue Reading →
Bones of Contention II: Ape, Human or Fraud? Young Earth Creationists Respond to the Dinaledi Chamber Fossil Discovery
The largest collection of hominin bones ever found in Africa is causing massive waves in the anthropological world and beyond. When it was first announced, I wrote about how I thought some creationist organizations might respond to questions posed by hominin fossils and their geological setting (see: Bones of Contention: How Will Creationists Respond to… Continue Reading →
NH Notes: Did Wind and Dust Create a 15,000 Foot Mountain in Gale Crater?
Large depressions, layers of rocks, precipitated minerals in rock cracks, erratic rocks strewn about, mountains inside of craters: these are just a few examples of the diversity of landscapes on Mars that the Curiosity rover has discovered and been investigating the past six months. The mountain at the center of the crater that Curiosity… Continue Reading →
Best of NH
Below are some of my most popular and hopefully best articles that I have written for this blog. Articles are categorized into the following group with some articles cross listed: 1) NH Favorites 2) Popular Series 3) Geological context 4) Natural History 5) Creationism and the Church 6) Young Earth Creationism 7) Philosophy and History… Continue Reading →
Thoughts on Baraminology
A month ago or so I read an interesting article that got me thinking about the young earth creationists (YEC) view of the extent of the biblical term “kind.” I wrote up some comments which you can see below. Apparently there has been a creation study group that has actively been asking the question what… Continue Reading →
A Six-day Evolutionist? It depends on what you mean by evolution
Young-earth creationists like to talk about two types of evolution, one is real (microevolution), and the other is a lie from the pit of hell (macroevolution). They act as if their were a chasm between the two as large as the Grand Canyon. But when their literature is explored identifying where microevolution ends and macroevolution… Continue Reading →
Chimps, Orangutans and Gorillas Evolved from a Common Ancestor on Noah’s Ark
When the Creation Museum in Kentucky opens back up on June 8 they will have a new exhibit on great ape origins. There you will be able to learn how all gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and all species of fossil apes including australopiths share a common ancestor no more than 4500 years ago. Ken Ham has… Continue Reading →
Dissent with Modification: Young-Earth Creationists Deny and Accept Macroevolutionary Theory
How can a population of organisms reproduce and over some period of time diversify into hundreds of species each of which has its own menagerie of unique characteristics? This is a fundamental biological question for which many different mechanisms have been proposed as solutions over the past 200 years. Young-earth apologists say they have replaced… Continue Reading →
Vision 2020: Past, Present and Future of Naturalis Historia
Eight years, 445 published articles, several million page views—what does the future have in store? God-willing, much more but before getting to that future I must express my gratitude for those who have read and shared my writing, provided feedback and challenged my thinking. I began this blog as a way to communicate more effectively… Continue Reading →
Where is the Next Generation of Creation Scientists?
Where is the next generation of creation scientists? I don’t mean the next generation of believers in creation science but the next generation of young-earth experts who will continue the legacy of Morris, Austin, Humphreys, Woodmorappe, Wood, Bergman, Oard, Baumgardner, etc… I have to believe that this has to be a question that many of the… Continue Reading →
What has the Response been to “Replacing Darwin: The New Origin of Species”?
One year ago witnessed the publication of what Ken Ham and others at the young-earth ministry, Answer in Genesis (AiG), clearly hoped would provide a comprehensive, alternative approach to explaining the origin of species and, more generally, biological diversity within a 6000-year time-frame. As the bold title, “Replacing Darwin: The New Origin of Species,” proclaims,… Continue Reading →