I have to believe that when Henry Morris formed ICR he envisioned hundreds of scientists today actively applying the creation model to the historical sciences not just mouthing support for it. That former obviously hasn't happened despite the proliferation of creation science organizations with their significant financial resources and publishing capacity Creationists list hundreds of PhD scientists who are creation scientists but this is not the same as saying there are hundreds of creation scientists doing creation science.
Creation Science Organizations: Past, Present and Future
Over the years I have maintained an eye on the ever-changing organizational structure of several creation science ministries. The growth and in some cases retraction of some organizations is not unlike what happens to many non-profit or other para-church organizations. The growth of para-church organizations is frequently caused by one of two main drivers: a dynamic personality... Continue Reading →
Non-Martian Rocks on Mars: Finding Small Meteorites on another Planet
Previously we explored some meteorites that have been found on Earth that are very likely from Mars (Finding Mars on Earth). Only a small percentage of the meteorites found on Earth are from Mars with a few more (over 100) originating from the moon. The remainder presumably come from the far reaches of the... Continue Reading →
Curious Geology: Stunning Images Reveal a Complex Mars
The data flowing from Mars has been impressive the past two weeks. Each day brings hundreds of new images many of which contain scenes like no others ever sent back to Earth before. I have followed the travels of previous rovers and looked at 10s of thousands of pictures they have beamed back over... Continue Reading →
Creation Debate in the Adventist Church
A reader recently brought the articles linked below from a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) website to my attention. I found them interesting not just because they present a good overview of the challenges that the Greenland ice cores present to young earth creationism but because it raised my own awareness about current discussions in the... Continue Reading →
The Salty Sea Part IV: Dr. Wile’s Use of the Salt Chronometer
This is part of series of posts on the Sea Salt Chronometer. Other posts in this series are: The Salty Sea and the Age of the Earth: Confirmation Bias The Salty Sea Part II: A Young Earth Salt Chronometer? The Salty Sea Part III: Are the Oceans Getting Saltier Over Time? The Salty sea Part... Continue Reading →
The Salty Sea Part III: Are the Oceans Getting Saltier Over Time?
This is part of series of posts on the Sea Salt Chronometer. Other posts in this series are: The Salty Sea and the Age of the Earth: Confirmation Bias The Salty Sea Part II: A Young Earth Salt Chronometer? The Salty Sea Part III: Are the Oceans Getting Saltier Over Time? The Salty sea Part... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: A Diverse Array of Mushrooms in the Backyard
I would like to take a small diversion from my usual material on this blog to do a little backyard natural history. Our new home has almost a half acre of grass which abuts to our neighbors yard which is several acres of hardwood forest. In researching our home I found out that our... Continue Reading →
The Salty Sea Part II: A Young Earth Salt Chronometer?
In Part I of this series I looked briefly at some recent encounters in which the salty sea is being discussed as a chronometer of sorts for determining the age of the earth. But how is this salt chronometer actually claimed to work? An article from ICR entitled, The Ocean’s Salt Clock Shows a Young World and includes the following:
Diverse Geological Landscapes Found on Mars
Curiosity has beamed back some really remarkable images from Mars in the past couple of days. The site for its landing was chosen because it appeared from satellite images that there was layered rock and some diversity of chemical signatures at different elevations but the pictures taken from ground level reveal a more spectacular and... Continue Reading →
The Salty Sea and the Age of the Earth, Part I – Confirmation Bias
According to young earth creationists, there isn't enough salt in the oceans if the earth is old. Recent references to this argument have spurred me to look a little closer at how it is being used today. What I find is that it appears to have only a purely rhetorical use as the actual data about the ocean'salinity suggests that the amount of salt in the sea is a useless tool for indicating the earth is old or young.
The Mars Curiosity Rover: A Geological History Detective
How could anyone not be curious about Mars Curiosity rover? NASA gambled by playing up the "7 minutes of terror" landing, using social media very adeptly to get a huge audience right in the middle of the Olympics. Failure of the rover to safely land surely would have been a crushing blow to the... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: Exploding Termites – Sacrifice for the Good of the Whole Organism
One of the stranger behaviors of termites was reported this past week and a summary can be found in a note in Nature. This report contains a description of exploding termites! How, and probably more intriguing, why would a termite explode and commit suicide?
Geological Context II: Neanderthals and the Italian Supervolcano
There are thousands of sites with either human remains or artifacts (stone tools usually) that are known across southern Europe and many are found in locations where they are found in layers stacked on top of each other like in caves or flood plain locations along rivers. But, the exact pattern of Neanderthal and modern human population migrations and changes is not my main interest.
The Frequently Overlooked Geological Context of Hominid Fossils
The human fossil record is probably one of these least understood yet frequently discussed topics in the Christian church. I have neither the expertise nor the desire to attempt to resolve the debate over whether particular fossils represent human ancestors or not. I understand that human origins is a sensitive topic, especially within the conservative evangelical church... Continue Reading →