A mummified fossil of common species of hadrosaur was found recently in South Dakota that showed that this particular hadrosaur had a rooster-like fleshy comb on its head. Many hadrosaurs have exotic extensions of their cranial bones but this evidence that even the “boring” hadrosaurs had fleshy projections suggests that the hadrosaurs were an even... Continue Reading →
Piles of Fossil Poo: Providing a Peek into the Past
One headline reads “Giant Prehistoric Toilet Found” another refers to the discovery of an ancient latrine. Don’t know how I missed those a few weeks ago. Surely had I seen that headline I would have had to clicked on it to find out what that was all about. The actual title, The oldest known communal latrines... Continue Reading →
Invoking Super-Speed Evolution: How to Squeeze 10,000+ Bird Species onto Noah’s Ark
There are about 10,000 species of birds alive today. Almost 200 additional species have gone extinct since the year 1500 and there are innumerable fossil species of birds in the geological column. One of the persistent challenges for modern young earth creationists is how to fit the diversity of life on the Noah’s ark. Answers... Continue Reading →
The Answers in Genesis Atheist Billboard Campaign
By now you have either seen or heard about the Answers in Genesis billboard campaign targeting atheists. In very prominent billboards in major cities including Times Square in New York City, the message is proclaimed to their atheist friends, Thank God Your Wrong. A considerable amount of digital ink has been spilt on internet discussion... Continue Reading →
Dragon Tales, UFOs and the Creation Museum
Since its inception, one of the Creation Museum’s most provocative exhibits has been one that places dinosaurs and man side by side. While this is anachronistic to most people at least everyone agrees that dinosaurs really lived at some time in earth’s history.* This year the Creation Museum added a new exhibit where you can... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: Inverted Valleys – A Question of Age
Inverted valleys formed from lava "rivers" and ancient stream beds are one of many unusual geological phenomena found in Utah. The rocks speak in Utah and they speak very clearly because they readily reveal so many clues about their origins since they are so visible to us. Some of the most powerful testimonies of... Continue Reading →
My Interview with a Martian: A Story of Origins
Everything has an origin.* Some stories of origins are relatively simple (eg. Niagara Falls) while others are much more complex (eg. the Grand Canyon). The study of origins is the study and reconstruction of past events. We have eyewitness accounts of some events from the past but mostly we use circumstantial evidence left behind as... Continue Reading →
A Tour of The Dinosaur Trail of Mill Canyon (Moab, UT)
What museum can you go to where you can see real dinosaur bones, you don't pay any fees, you can touch all the exhibits and there are no security cameras watching your every move (at least I don't think there are:-)? The answer is The Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail near Moab, Utah. This outdoor "museum"... Continue Reading →
Dinosaurs, Dragons and Ken Ham: The Literal Reality of Mythological Creatures
Image you are living in 200 BC in the Middle East region and you come by the skull to the right as you plow your field or when you explore the local cave complex. What if you are wandering the desert in Egypt and happen upon the bones in the second figure. Or what about... Continue Reading →
A Horse is a Horse According to Answers in Genesis
In 2013 a remarkable DNA sequence was revealed by geneticists studying ancient DNA. It was the nearly complete genome extracted and decoded from the remains of a tooth from a horse preserved in permafrost sediments buried in the Yukon region in Alaska. This partially fossilized bone was estimated to be more than 500,000 years old. ... Continue Reading →
Evaluating the State of Creationism: Creationist Finances
Evaluating the state of creationism in the evangelical church today is a difficult task. Gallop polls suggest little changes among Americans regarding their views of origins but the generic nature of the questions make these results challenging to interpret. I have looked at web site traffic, publication records and other metrics of the reach... Continue Reading →
Reflections on the 2013 PCA General Assembly and the Age of the Earth
Dr. Jason Lisle of the Institute of Creation Research (ICR) gave a seminar entitled “Astronomy Reveals Creation” at this year’s PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) General Assembly. Some billed this as the young-earth follow-up to a seminar given at previous year's PCA assembly by Dr. Greg Davidson who presented evidence supportive of an ancient earth.... Continue Reading →
A Trip to the Joggins Fossil Cliffs in Nova Scotia
Family vacation with the Duffs always includes some geological sights. In 2007 we visited Prince Edward Island and had a wonderful time but the there just wasn't enough geology there to satisfy my curiosity so I took us on a 2 hour detour in Nova Scotia. After a lot of "are we there yets" and... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: Gall Mites in Amber Similar but Not the Same As Today
Today Creation.com (Creation Ministries International) published a story about the amazing preservation of clearly identifiable gall mites. My Facebook feed proclaimed the following: "Gall mites magnificently preserved in amber ostensibly 230 million years old are just the same as mites found alive today" with a link to the story HERE. The gist of the article... Continue Reading →
The Fake Fringes: How I Fell Victim to an Internet Parody
This is a bit embarrassing but I think instructive so I am going to share how I discovered that I have been utterly fooled by a parody web site for many years. Last week I wrote about the importance of understanding that even fringe groups have fringes (see: Human Fossil Footprints: Exploring the Fringes of... Continue Reading →