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 →
NH Notes: Dino Doo-Doo (Coprolites) and the Genesis Flood
Yep, dinosaurs are known by more than just their bones. I have been reading quite a few research papers about dinosaurs as I prepare to write a long set of posts about Dr. Schweitzer and the significance of soft-tissue preservation in dinosaur bones. During this reading I got distracted by a discussion about dinosaur coprolites... 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 →
Implications of Artifacts and Bones on Ancient Human Butchery Practices
A recently published study is making news the last couple of days. It regards evidence obtained from remains of preserved bones of human scavenging and/or hunting practices. The site of the dig is a hillside in southern Kenya where, in less than an acre, more than 3700 fossils and more than 2000 artifacts have been recovered... 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 →
The State of Creationism as Viewed by Google Trends
Just how much interest is there in various forms of creationism and has that interest been increasing or decreasing? There have been many polls that that have addressed this question over the past several decades. These polls generally suggest that attitudes toward the age of the earth, the origin of man and evolution have not... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: Answers in Genesis and a Mountain of Extraterrestrial Dust
How long would it take for falling dust to accumulate into a mound 2 1/2 miles tall? Answers in Genesis has commented (Wind, not water, may have built the Martian Mount Sharp) over the weekend on the same research article that I referenced in my post last week (NH Notes: Did Wind and Dust Create a... Continue Reading →
Human Fossil Footprints: Exploring the Fringes of Creationism
A friend of mine recently gave me a book that he had found at a local library book sale knowing that I have an interest in creationist' writings. The book, Evolution and Human Fossil Footprints, was written by an Aaron Judkins. I assumed the focus of the book would be on the Paluxy “man” tracks in... Continue Reading →
They Have the Gene but Blood is Not Sweet Nectar to the Vampire Bat
In my class yesterday I reviewed a paper selected by my students that explored the sweet tasting abilities of bats. We learned that most, but not all, bats can taste sugar like other mammals. I did not know much about mammalian taste receptors (that is one problems with letting students pick the topics!) and I... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: Fossil Wasp Cocoons in Dinosaur Eggs – Evidence of a Complex Ecology
What happened to huge dinosaur eggs that were either abandoned or broke prematurely? You might think that this is a question that is impossible to answer, but dinosaur eggs have been discovered with intriguing evidence of scavenging of various forms. I recently came across a report from 2011 that I thought was especially interesting... Continue Reading →
Consider the Ostrich: Adapted for the Present World? – Part III
Does Genesis require that ostriches were flight capable in the prelapsarian world? If you have read parts I and II of this series you might think that I have overlooked one very important clue about the origin of ostriches: the Genesis creation account. You could suggest that a logical argument can be made that the... Continue Reading →
Of Kinds and Common Ancestors: Comparing Mitochondrial Genomes of Mammals
A few days ago I shared some thoughts about the significance of genetic differences that are observed between humans and primates (How Similar is Similar, Part I). I said that it was important that genetic similarity numbers that are frequently used to make a case for genetic uniqueness need to be assessed in the context of... Continue Reading →