“updated” Science
News, Stem
Cells, “more”
Science Bites
File (update
upd The Cosmos upd Microbiology upd Paleontology upd Fossil Evidence
upd Climate Change upd Stem Cells new Cautions & Questions
Creation and Evolution are
Complimentary!?
Our Christian Faith, Design are not in opposition to the Facts of Evolution.
Intelligent Design focuses on Origins and embraces the facts of evolution.
Evolution focuses on Changes of the Species
and does not formally address Origins.
Evolutionary
Origins are Theory,
typically taught as an extrapolation of natural selection and adaptation backwards in time.
Most scientists interpret the fossil evidence as speciation via adaptation.
Many scientists interpret the fossil evidence as extinction via natural selection.
Evolution-Design
Agreement/Difference (animated)
Evolution Theory
Supportive Scientists more scientists
1.
The overwhelming majority of galaxies are
“clusters” from which the rest of the universe cannot be seen.
2.
The earth is uniquely position on the
edge of one spiral arm of our galaxy to uniquely view the rest of the universe
and be protected from cosmic forces.
3.
new The Universe is expanding at an accelerated pace. A search for hypothetical “dark
matter” and “dark energy”
is underway to account for the observation.
It may be driven by a process that mimics dark energy. “Matter” only makes up 4.5% of the universe. (Scientific American Sep 2009)
4.
new A search for sub-atomic particles (quarks, leptons, axions, neutralino,
W & Z bosons, gluons) is underway in support of
postulations related to the theories of the “Big Bang”, dark matter and energy.
5.
A Massive Void was
discovered within the universe requiring adjustments to theories related to the
Big Bang.
6.
new A variety of cosmological theories (Quantum Emergence,
Multiverse, Cyclical, Folded, Punctuated) are gaining
support with some indicating the universe could “pop” into being seemingly “out
of nothing”, fully “mature”.
7.
new Various aspects of the Big-Bang theory
are self-contradictory as dark energy could inhibit universe formation. If acceleration continues, the universe will
spread out so far we won't be able to see it, and then it will burn out.
8.
“new The idea that we
can understand something as vast in both space and time as our universe is, on
the face of it, preposterous.”
(Scientific American Sep 2009)
The
evidence supporting a “self-sustaining”
universe
still eludes man.
1.
The human genome has been mapped 100%
but only makes up 1.2% of our DNA
and continues to “refined”.
2.
An onion and grain of rice has much larger
genome.
3.
~3% of the “Junk
DNA” has now been found to be common amongst
mammals.
4.
Humans are less than 1% “Identical” to Chimpanzees while composed of 94%
of the “Identical Genetic Material”.
5.
new The New Fossil discovery of “Ardi”
indicates chimps are descendents from man, not the other way around!! (check
out the video!).
6.
The dramatic
variability we see within species may be “pre-coded” within the remainder
of the DNA and “turned-on” at various times.
7.
The “genome” portion of the DNA codes
for proteins, which are the fundamental building blocks of cells. There is no such thing as a “simple cell”.
8.
Proteins are long chains of “left-handed” amino acids assembled by the
RNA based on information in the DNA.
9.
It is unclear how the regulatory
process accesses the correct DNA segments to guide development of
cells, blood, tissue, organs, limbs etc. to form an entire, coordinated
“system”.
10.
1.
upd A wide array of different Adult Stem
Cell procedures have been successful
and problem free. Embryonic research is
still regarded as promising but continues to be problematic.
2.
A rare form of malignant infantile
osteoporosis was cured by using stem cells from the father’s
blood.
3.
A 58-year-old woman’s damaged heart
was “renewed” using stem cells generated from her bone marrow
with no “rejection factor” risk.
4.
Additional means to produce long
lasting stems cells lines that are malleable and highly replicating are being
discovered on a regular basis: from your skin,
the female “egg” cells;
from sperm cells
1.
upd Climate Change has wide agreement
by many scientists. At the same time
some are changing their opinion, including the lead “Global Warming” scientist
in
2.
new
3.
new Greenland
“average” temperatures trends have conflicting profiles of increase, decrease
and flattening depending on the time period examined, looking at the averages
or difference from average. In general
they are cooler than before, either flattening or showing a slight rise.
4.
new Significant
Greenland climate
change has occurred cyclically in history and the ice sheet is not expected
to melt “completely”. Africa has
experienced it as well.
5.
new The Antarctic
had record ice melting in 2007 followed by record freezing in 2008 (largely
un-reported). Links to NASA and
Temperature Station Reports available.
6.
The Hole in the ozone layer over
7. If
we do nothing about limiting our greenhouse gasses the surface ocean
temperature will rise .5 degrees in 20 years. (New Scientist 2007)
8.
If we stop all greenhouse gas
production the surface ocean temperature will rise .5 degrees in 60 years.
9.
Climate models have been being
progressively refined and now show a 6”-18” potential ocean rise over 120
years.
(New Scientist 2007)
10.
Massive undersea vents have been
discovered, 95% of the deep ocean floor is yet to be explored. (New Scientist 2007)
11.
new NOVA series “Becoming
Human” indicates that a large lake in east
12.
Greenhouse gasses contribute significantly
to the warming of the ocean surface temperature.
13.
Twenty-three massive “super-volcanoes” have been
discovered which can project 10,000 times the ash and gasses of
1.
upd Multiple fossil finds have been
discovered and publicized related to the theory that dinosaurs had feathers and evolved
into birds.
2.
Studies are under-way to uncover how
much species variety is “pre-coded” within the
DNA
Is the high-order information for birds and dinosaurs already coded in the DNA with Evolutionary Natural Selection and Adaptation fine-tuning it into the many varieties?
The fossil record
“leaps” onto the geological stage during the Cambrian period in its fully
developed form, many of which still exist today. The overwhelming majority is plant life.
Carbon-14 is used to
date organic materials back to around 60,000 years. Salt water appears to skew the readings
easily resulting in recent lava flows, mortar, and freshly killed seals to have
artificially ancient dates.
Radiometric dating
is used to date igneous rocks back to the hundreds of millions of years. They reportedly have an accuracy rating of
2%-4%. Samples co-located in adjacent
strata from the Grand Canyon
resulted in “ages” that differed
by 52% to 143% of the “youngest” sample, 2 of which were from the same basalt
flow and just 2 ft 9 in. from each other.
upd Debate surrounding these results and
other anomalies
continues. New dating methods are being
used in recent finds, comparisons to older dating methods have not yet been
disclosed.
Evidence of Man's missing links such as Java
man have been consistently proven to be based on fragmentary or incorrect
evidence, and in several cases outright frauds. Most align strongly with the
anatomical structure of Orangutans while also containing some resemblance to
human anatomy.
upd “Lucy” has been the prior “gold
standard” in arguing that man’s ancestors are primates. Lucy is a mosaic of skeletal fragments as is
the new find “Ardi”
which is older, more complete and walks upright.
new The recent find for “Ardi”
indicates chimps may have evolved from “man”, while others say it is just
another “ape”
fossil.
new NOVA’s Nov. 2009 “Becoming Human”
series highlight finds for Toumai
and Selam as some of man’s
ancestors “conclusively proving Bi-Pedal evolution” and “man-like”
features. Other scientists disagree.
new The media
represents new fossil findings in artistic
illustrations that support the popular thinking of the day. Early representations are presented with much
fan-fare and publicity. They then get
dramatically revised or
completely discounted quietly over subsequent years.
new The pictures of the evolutionary
progressions of horses lacks fossils for the intermediate forms.
upd Example: Interpretation of fossils
to have had feathers,
new illustrations of Velociraptor.
What follows are the artistic renderings and some actual fossils
for comparison.
You decide if popular scientific thought is reading what it “wants” to see into the evidence!
#1: The “Claim” and “Artistic rendering”:
By Ker Than
Updated:
C - F = Turkey Vulture
Is B = C??
Note:
Recent reports have since recanted this interpretation.
Velociraptor “New Pictures” (click for
source):
Velociraptor “Traditional Pictures”:
“Big”
Change from a few small bumps”??
How
accurate are the publicized artistic renderings versus the fossil evidence for
feathers?
How pronounced
is the evidence? Where are the
skeptics?
Are there other ways to
interpret “feathered” evidence?
Other
info:
"The lack of quill knobs does not
necessarily mean that a dinosaur did not have feathers," said lead author
of the study Alan
Turner.
Check out Wikipedia on Velociprators, Feathered Dinosaurs
– then search the web to find images of the actual evidence and compare them to
the artistic renderings.
Did Dinosaurs
evolve into birds or were the “feathered” varieties disadvantaged and
experience extinction faster?
Is the
high-order information already coded into the DNA waiting to be “turned-on”
by “yet-to-be-understood” regulatory processes triggered by evolutionary
adaptation and natural selection?
#2: The “Claim” and “Artistic
rendering”:
The “Actual Fossil”:
"That doesn't mean
birds aren't descended from dinosaurs, but the transition is very
complicated," Xu added.
How
conclusive is the evidence?
There is much room for scientific debate!
It is not surprising that initial reports frequently get
proven to be “something else”!
Scipionyx is the “Best”
finding near
Only Igneous rocks can be dated through
radiometric dating. The dating methods
report accuracies of 4%-5%, but multiple samples from the Grand Canyon reported very large
variances when compared against each other even though the samples were
carefully handled to avoid “pollution”.
Other scientists indicate the accuracy of the various methods has been
tested and are not in doubt.
Frequently geologic features are dated based
on fossils found in the area, while fossils are frequently dated based on the
geological strata found in the area (Toumai
and Selam).
There are few complete skeletons found. Lucy,
Ardi, and Selam are partials composed of
fragments found in the same vicinity; their proximity is rarely disclosed. Many such as Toumai consist of only the skull,
or partial skulls.
Fossils provide little evidence of what the
live creature’s covering and soft-tissue were truly like. Illustrations are conjectures, subject to the
artistic license and
preferences of the scientist or reporting organization and often change over
time. Entire creatures are usually depicted
when only a skull, a few bones or even a tooth are found (e.g. Nebraska Man).
Man’s historical lineage is nearly
exclusively presented as evolving through primates. The opinions of other scientists
are rarely presented (see the article and video on “Ardi”). Chimps may have evolved from man instead.
Most science news and reports present their
findings in a manner that leads the average person to conclude what is being
represented is fact when it is often one scientist/group’s opinion. Frequently some “facts” will be presented
clearly early on, followed discreetly by the “hypothetical” or “theoretical”,
unclear what portions fall into which category.
Inclusion of other scientific opinions is rare.
As the reports are typically unchallenged and
regularly presented by the media without clarification, popular opinion begins
to accept them as “fact”.
Theories:
Big Bang, Speciation, Evolution of Horses (no intermediate fossils found),
Primates, Man; many Geologic events, Climate Change etc.
Hypothesis: Origins of
the universe (including some parts of the Big-Bang theory); Cosmic formation of matter, planetary, galactic systems;
many sub-atomic particles, dark-matter, dark-energy; origin of organic matter,
a single cell, RNA, DNA, sustainable self-replication; many Geologic Events,
Climate Change etc.
Facts: Natural Selection and Adaptation; Electrons,
Protons, Neutrons, and some sub-atomic particles; Laws of Entropy and Thermodynamics (E=MC2),
RNA assembles Amino Acids to construct Proteins necessary for specific cellular
purposes per the DNA; evidence of large scale cataclysmic events, rapid Climate
Change etc.
