Just how long can DNA survive after the death of a cell or without cellular activity to maintain itself? I addressed this question a few months ago (Young Earth Creationism and Ancient DNA) and suggested that we would learn much more in the coming year. Already we have seen multiple complete genomes from fossil bones... Continue Reading →
Last night in a public broadcast Ken Ham announced that enough funds have been obtained to break ground for the huge "evangelistic project" - the Ark Encounter. The event was clearly designed to put-to-rest rumors that Answers in Genesis has run into money problems and that the project is in trouble. I do think they rightly pointed... Continue Reading →
Our perceptions of the age of an object are frequently based on our common experience but I have found that for many people those common experiences are of little help when it comes to examining objects for which a person has no experience at all.  A couple of years ago this really hit me as... Continue Reading →
Last week I pointed out that the Bible provides no support for Ken Ham's contention that massive numbers of species have formed following their departure from Noah's ark 4500 years ago (YEC Biblical Evolution: I Have A Book That Says Otherwise). Â Now I'm following up with "observational" evidence from DNA sequences to test whether the... Continue Reading →
A story is breaking today of a significant fossil find made almost a year ago but kept under wraps until the data could be properly evaluated.  What has now been revealed is that over 100 footprints were found in newly uncovered rocks along a shoreline of England.  Study of these footprints has led to... Continue Reading →
Imagine trawling for fish and when you pull up your nets you find a massive bone or a huge tooth along with your catch. For over 100 years fishermen in the North Sea between Britain and Denmark have found such items in their nets but it wasn’t until the 1980s that their value, monetarily and... Continue Reading →
When I last updated you on the excursion that the Curiosity rover has been making across the floor of Gale Crater on Mars I noted that the images it has been beaming back had been getting rather routine. Â But the rover has slowly been moving downhill toward what seems more and more likely to have... Continue Reading →
We live in a new golden age of fossil discoveries. It seems that every week a new and dramatic fossil find is revealed. This fossil renaissance can be attributed to the opening up of new fossil sources, particularly China and Mongolia but also South America and to improved technology for retrieving and analyzing fossil remains.... Continue Reading →
In case you hadn't noticed it's been a bit cold this winter. Â Here in Ohio we have already had more days below zero (Fahrenheit) than the last couple of years combined. Â Today I walked into my daughter's room and noticed that some beautiful ice crystals had formed on her window. Â This is a... Continue Reading →
A visit to Badlands National Park in South Dakota feels a bit like going to see a miniature replica of the Taj Mahal instead of seeing the real thing after you have hung out for a week in Moab UT and traveled around southeastern Utah.  But that isn't to say that it isn't worth seeing.  On... Continue Reading →
One of the great privileges of my job is that I get to participate on committees of graduate students. This allows me to get up close and personal with data from sub-disciplines of biology that often extend far from those of my particular expertise. You know by now that I carry a particular fondness for... Continue Reading →
A colleague has a fossil scallop in his office that he collected while teaching a field course on Chesapeake Bay biology. Â He pulled this scallop from the cliff wall at Calvert Cliffs near Calvert, Maryland. It is particularly impressive not only for its size (more than 5 inches in diameter) but also for its condition.... Continue Reading →
Do our past experience influence our lives in the present? Â Of course they do. Â Usually it is our past interpersonal experiences that we think of as shaping us today but our natural environment also can play a big role as well. Â This second collection of photos from family trip to the western US last summer... Continue Reading →
It is cold and snowing outside and it is supposed to get much colder. Â I feel so far away from when I was standing at the overlook of the Goosnecks of the San Juan River in 99 degree heat taking in the desert southwest. Â Six month later I'm still sorting through my pictures... Continue Reading →
Anyone who has spent time in a desert has probably noticed many dark streaks or patches on the rocks. Â I expect that most people simply look at these dark streaks and think they are simply stains like a stain on a cement driveway or that line of rust color running down a wall from a... Continue Reading →
Naturalis Historia 