How different is the surface of Mars today compared to one thousand, a hundred thousand or a million years ago? The photo below was snapped by the Curiosity Rover which has spent several years trekking across an ancient lake-bed inside a large crater on Mars. It is a barren, forbidding but strangely familiar and beautiful... Continue Reading →
Is Historical Science Reliable? An Exploration of the AiG “Origins” Science Label
Young earth creationists frequently speak of two kinds of science which they refer to as "origins" and "operational" science. These terms are possibly akin to what scientists may call "historical" and "experimental" science. What is this "origins" science and how does origins science play a role in the discussion of the Age of the Earth?... Continue Reading →
Curiosity Rover Update: Diverse Geological Formations on Mars
The Mars Curiosity Rover continues to make its way through the basin of Gale Crater on Mars.  I’ve provided periodical updates on its progress as it makes its way toward a large mountain in the center of the crater. For the past six months the rover has not moved much, spending its days using the... Continue Reading →
Origins of a Tropical Island II: The Long Road from Lava to Colonization
Imagine a tropic island paradise with beautiful beaches and thousands of plants and birds. Chances are you are imagining an island that formed as the result of volcanic activity. Examples would include the Caribbean islands, the Polynesian islands, and the Hawaiian Islands. But imagine what those islands looked like when they first formed. Rather than... Continue Reading →
Trillions of Stone Age Artifacts: A Young Earth Anthropology Paradox
Trillions of stone artifacts cover the surface of the African continent. The product of the manufacturing of stone tools by hunters and gathers over long periods of time, these stone artifacts literally carpet the ground in some places in Egypt and Libya. Just how much Stone-Age produced rock could be strewn across the African continent? Trillions and trillions... Continue Reading →
Global Flood on Mars: Where Did the Water Go?
News of evidence that Mars was once host to a volume of water equivalent of the Arctic ocean on Earth has been hitting the newswires. This might sound like new news but this is really just a more comprehensive analysis of work that has been ongoing for several years. Preliminary analysis had already suggested that... Continue Reading →
Origins of a Tropical Island: Instant Paradise or a Long Chaotic Process?
In November of 2013, over 600 miles south of Tokyo, a volcanic eruption formed a new island. That new island continued to grow for over a year, eventually joining itself to the neighboring island of Nishino-shima, a volcanic island formed long ago. Today, volcanic activity continues to cause this new ocean-island to expand bringing it... Continue Reading →
Forams and Diatoms: Testing Young Earth Flood Geology Hypotheses
Diatoms with their symmetrical highly-photogenic glass houses may get most of the attention but the foraminiferans (forams) present some formidable competition. In my recent article (Life in a Glass House) I revealed that the glass-house remains of diatoms are conspicuously absent from the bottom two-thirds of the geological column. This raised a rather uncomfortable question... Continue Reading →
The Little Rover that Could: Opportunity Thinks it Can for 11 Years on Mars
Eleven years into a three-month primary mission the Opportunity rover is still making discoveries on Mars. Talk about exceeding your specs! That is eleven years of observations of rocks, craters, sand dunes, weather conditions and the occasional glance into the skies to do some astronomy. To celebrate its 11th anniversary the rover has just climbed to... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: Every Breaking Wave – Concretions Resist the Sands of Time
"Every breaking wave on the shore Tells the next one there'll be one more" Bono and Edge, U2 "Every Breaking Wave" 2014 I was in San Diego a few weeks ago attending the Evangelical Theological Society conference. I will report on that later but today I bring you a few pictures I took before hopping... Continue Reading →
How Rare are Stone Age Artifacts? A Visit to a Stone Tool-Making Center at Kathu, South Africa
Hundreds of millions and possibly billions of stone artifacts sit just under parking lots and homes in Kathu, South Africa. A small sample of those artifacts were examined a few years ago in a vacant lot scheduled to be developed into a shopping plaza. A simple trench and pits dug in that lot revealed a... Continue Reading →
Curiosity Rover Update: Driving into a Sedimentary Wonderland on Mars
The Mars Curiosity Rover continues to make its way through the basin of Gale Crater on Mars. Â I've provided periodical updates on its progress as it makes its way toward a large mountain in the center of the crater. Â Recently it has driven down almost 1000 feet to arrive at nearly the lowest elevation point... Continue Reading →
Smoking Gun Evidence of an Ancient Earth: GPS Data Confirms Radiometric Dating
While writing about the origins of the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley I was confronted once again with one of the most striking pieces of evidence for an ancient earth that I am aware of. Take a look at the figure below. This figure shows the smoking gun. Smoking gun evidence of what? That the earth's plates... Continue Reading →
The Age of the Reptiles: A New Dinosaur Fossil Trackway Near Moab
Moab will have yet another dinosaur attraction coming this fall. More than 200 reptilian footprints scattered over an area less than a football field have been uncovered after a resident discovered a few tracks while hiking. Dinosaur tracks are known from dozens of locations in this area but this site is unusual because of the... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: Bent Rock on Display – The Sideling Hill Road Cut
The road cut through Sideling Hill in Maryland on I-68 is one of the best displays of roadside geology east of the Mississippi River. Â Having spent considerable time in the western US it doesn't seem that impressive to me but since I've been deprived of seeing geological strata for the past year I took a... Continue Reading →