Piltdown Superman

Habitability out there, thataway, was a simple concept: A planet had to be the right distance from a suitable star. There also had to be some water. Secular cosmologists and astrobiologists (yet there are no aliens to study) depend on atoms-to-alien evolution to happen. Aside from the silliness of believing in abiogenesis despite  science and reason, these folks also have to deal with how the habitability zone becomes increasingly complex. It gets more complicated the way water is vital for habitability in more ways than scientists previously considered. Desert world scene, Pixabay / Gordon Taylor There are books and movies about desert worlds where water is a precious commodity. Computer simulations greatly increase the suspension of disbelief in audiences because a world without water could not evolve  — a substantial amount of water, at that. Also, the water would have to be at a minimum level. Such information should inspire people to be thankful to the Creator for the wor...

Off the coast of Australia is the island state of Tasmania, and off the coast of that is Mount Chappell Island (also called Hummocky). It is uninhabited private property used for sheep grazing. Some critters live there, one of which is the extremely venomous tiger snake. This snake gets its name from bands of color resembling a tiger, but there are color varieties. If you are uncertain about its identity, leave it alone — especially since that part of the world is chock full o' venomous things. Interestingly, that island tiger snake is a study in natural selection. Tiger snake, iNaturalist / Max Tibby (PD), modified at PhotoFunia Darwinists may be surprised that informed biblical creationists accept natural selection, and that it fits nicely with creationist models. Part of their confusion is from natural selection being a part of the evolutionary framework, but their adaptation by selection idea also requires mutations. Many creationists postulate that the Creator frontloaded liv...

While woolgathering the other day, I thought back to a small get-together at my prospector friend Stormie Waters' place. There were equine games. I knew Stormie's friend Ruby Slippers was skilled at horse riding, but in the speed, turns, and fine maneuvering, she and the horse were like a unit. In the heyday of the nineteenth century American cattle drives, riders and horses worked together. Such unity is common. Long ago, people were using horses for transportation (riding and pulling wagons), pack animals, and more. So why say there were not designed to be ridden? The Cowboy , Frederic Remington, 1902 We have looked at dysteleology  arguments (that something supposedly had bad design, so the Creator does not exist or is incompetent, therefore evolution) several times. Sorry, Wilbur, but the argument can be used about the horse. Of course. Although poor design imaginings are used to prop up evolution, they are theological opinions, not scientific, in nature. Interestingly, th...

Those other jellyfish get the media attention, what with their bell shapes, lack of brains, deadly stinging tentacles and such. What about the "immortal jellyfish" that scientists call  Turritopsis dohrnii ? Of course, they are 0.18 inches (4.5 mm) long, so they are difficult to see — but are in pretty much every ocean. Nothing physical is immortal, but T. dohrnii makes a good try though, barring accidents and such. They essentially regenerate themselves (no word if any carry sonic screwdrivers), reverting to an immature stage. Sometimes they even skip that stage. The process is amazingly complex. Turritopsis dohrnii , enlarged from Wikimedia Commons / Bachware ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) On a side note, it has been said that youth is wasted on the young... Can you imagine starting over as someone much younger but retaining the knowledge you have? Of course, these critters lack brains, so there's not a whole lot of knowledge to draw from as they progress. Sometimes the jellyfish e...

People know that a mongoose will win out against a cobra, not only because of its speed but it is also highly resistant to its venom. (Never mind that Snake and Mongoose funny car racers were friends off-track.) For that matter, house cats have speed and flexibility to dodge venomous serpent strikes . So what about a mouse? They are fast and can be fierce, and videos exist of them making cats back off. If you have a skill, may as well use it. Over yonder in Grand Canyon, the grasshopper mouse can be a fierce little hunter! Southern grasshopper mouse, WikiComm / National Park Service  (PD) "Hey, Jerry! What's fer supper?" "Well, I'm a mite tired of grasshoppers, but I hear tell there are tarantulas in these parts. Mayhaps a scorpion or two. I gotta find me some baked beans and coffee to go with them..." Sure, I got creative about the conversation. If you talked to a wild mouse and got too close, you might get your nose bitten by those sharp teeth. Like the m...

Here is a fun fact: The Neanderthal valley was renamed in the 19th century for theologian Joachim Neander, who also wrote the hymn "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation." Interesting that a supposed evolutionary ancestor of humans was discovered in "his" valley. There is a prairie schooner-full of information showing that the Neanderthal people were fully human . Many of us have Neanderthal DNA. Information supporting their humanness keeps pouring in. A new bit of research was quite interesting and also puzzling to evolutionists. Neanderthal Woman, PLOS One / WikiComm /  Bacon CPH  (now deleted) ( CC BY 2.5 ), Modified at  PhotoFunia Apparently these bad boys were built for speed. Not marathons, but sprinting. They were considered slow brutes and adapted for extreme cold of the Ice Age in earlier years. Well, even the Ice Age climate there gets a rethink because not as many areas were in the deep freeze as previously thought. Genetics show that...

Something of interests to both secular and creation scientists is mutualism  (or symbiosis ), but believers in particles-to-parole officer evolution have a mighty difficult time explaining it. The usual response can be restated as, "It evolved." Not an answer , old son. Another form of mutualism is endosymbiosis , where one organism lives inside another and both are the better for it. Evolutionists believe that endosymbiosis was a vital step forward in the evolution of life. Basically, an archaeon (a kind of microorganism) gulped down a bacterium and evolution took a big step forward. Endosymbiosis, Wikimedia Commons / Signbrowser (PD) Got evidence? It's a mite difficult since we're talking about historical science, after all. Researchers first presupposed evolution (of course), and they injected a bacterium into a fungus. That happens in nature anyway, but they extrapolated madly backward in time and claimed they had evidence supporting this phase of evolution. Not ...

Science material prompts people to learn vocabulary, but reading "bivalve mollusk known as Corculum cardissa " is not a romantic description for heart cockle shells. Mollusk  is a large grouping that includes clams, oysters, and other things. Bivalve  are the mollusks that have a pair of hinged shells. Dinoflagellates  are single-celled organisms that live in water and have characteristics of both plants and animals. They are important in water ecosystems because of their oxygen production. Also, they have a unique relationship with heart cockles. Corculum cardissa , Wikimedia Commons / Jan Delsing (PD), modified at PhotoFunia These tiny creatures live inside the shell and do photosynthesis with the sunlight. Heart cockles benefit from what the dinoflagellates give off. This is another example of mutualism (or symbiosis ). Except...shells are opaque. There is a special process where a kind of window lets them have the sunlight they need. Darwin's disciples use the s...

Like a number of other critters, spiders exist on every continent except Antarctica. This may be disconcerting news to many people who fear and loath the arachnids. Let me make it worse: All  spiders have venom. Not that many are dangerous to humans, though. People fear spiders from horror stories, being startled at home by them, and by ignorance, but it is useful to put aside the heebie-jeebies and consider creatures for what they are. The Master Engineer displayed his skill in designing them. Golden orb-web spider ( Nephila pilipes ), Flickr /  Lip Kee  ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) Indeed, scientists are studying spider silk for our own applications (biomimetics). The black widow's silk is under scrutiny , others are being studied for their strength and,  surprisingly, nerve repair . Although evolution gets the glory as if it was a person, Darwin's disciples admit that they cannot backtrack a plan for their origin. That's because it's not a product of evolution, old son. Take...

Burrowing rodents known as pocket gophers  (the pocket part of the name could refer to pocketing  food in cheeks) are widely considered pests. Farmers try to grow plants, gophers burrow and eat them. Sometimes they pull the small plants down into their burrows. We recently saw how nature reclaims urban areas and devastation , so that may have been in the minds of scientists who saw volcanic ash from Mount St. Helens. They took a notion to see what gophers can do to help the soil for one day. The rodents said, "Challenge accepted." Pocket gopher, Wikimedia Commons / LeonardoWeiss ( CC BY 3.0 ) Our Creator has designed things to have an ecological niche, but obviously some critters get rambunctious. Even so, burrowing and recycling the soil by bringing deeper soil up and upper soil deep, could help seeds grow. Other creatures got involved in bioturbation, and the one-day pocket gopher project had results that show forty years later. Reporter Jules Bernstein relates experiments...

Scientists are constantly prodding and scrutinizing brains, human or otherwise. Naturally, our own brains have a special interest. Many secularists deny the existence of consciousness. Other scientists know that the brain is not the mind but the mind uses  the brain. When my wife was stricken and there was no hope, I gave the order to terminate life support. When I was talking and reading to her, I thought I saw a flicker of response in her eye. The doctor said nothing could be happening, but others and I disagree. Information on uncommunicative comatose patients may support us. Brain graphic by  yodiyim  at FreeDigitalPhotos It was not long after she died that I came across the article linked above. To take it further, studies show what is being called covert consciousness . Comatose people show signs of consciousness as revealed by testing and brain scans. Efforts are being made to increase care for those people (see " We’ve Discovered 'Covert Consciousness' — But Now ...

To use a bit of reification, nature does not like to be controlled. (It could be that the second chapter of Genesis had a couple of hints about this, as Adam was supposed to tend the garden and not let it do whatever.) After Mt. St. Helens erupted, arthropods , fungi , and other humble parts of nature began to reclaim it. The island of Surtsey was formed from a volcano and now critters are living there. Over the years, plant roots grow and crack concrete. When left alone, nature tries to reclaim desolation and also urban areas. Remnants of cement works at Sojourner Truth State Park, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen Some critters are making themselves at home in cities. Peregrine falcons like the tall buildings so they can go into power dives after some tasty pigeon meat, coyotes are becoming more frequent in American cities (occasionally breeding with pet dogs), and others living things are seen in cities. Our Creator provided his creation with genetic diversity so organisms can adapt. ...

There is a complication situation in medical science regarding the machine model.  Humans are treated like machines, and to some extent that is true. We have repeating cycles in numerous areas and treatments are similar in each person. My heart triple bypass was one of many for the surgeon. (Indeed, Mr. Gordons referred to humans as meat machines  — a term which would circumvent "preferred pronouns" and "misgendering".) But treating people as mere machines is degrading, and there are questions of ethics and morality. Medical science, Pexels / Tara Winstead There was a time that many of us can remember when a medical practitioner was someone that wanted to try very hard to facilitate healing, or at least to do no harm. Not so much anymore. To be blunt, with atheism dominant in secular indoctrination centers (also known as schools), too many medical folks degrade humans. Instead of seeing the wonder of the engineering principles involved in the creation of the human b...

Geckos are a special class of reptile, and they are found on every continent except Antarctica. There are many species in a wide variety of habitats, so it is not surprising that they come in a range of sizes. The smaller geckos are considered good pets. They are also of interest to scientists pursuing the field of biomimetics. That is, taking ideas from what is found in nature, developing them for human use, then crediting the puny god of evolution instead of the Creator. In the case of geckos: The way their feet stick to smooth surfaces. Tokay gecko, Wikimedia Commons / Richard Ling ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) The tokay gecko would be a challenging pet. They can bit rather hard, are fast — and have a loud, obnoxious call that someone imagined sounded like "tokay," hence the name. Let the scientists deal with those things as they remove the latest escapee from the ceiling. Gecko feet and the way they can adhere to a surface, then release at will, is fascinating. Tokays provide bigger...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  There are many ways in which living things communicate, none of which can be explained by Darwin's acolytes. For example, facial expressions can indicate how someone is feeling and may even be a signal to other people. Chimpanzees have vocal patterns that resemble those of humans, but they are not language . Our Creator gave animals the means to communicate with each other on basic levels and occasionally with us. Impressive as they may be on occasion, animal communications do not compare with human language, which testifies of the Creator . The Card Players ,  Paul Cezanne, 1892 Remember how I said that the Intelligent Design community has serious limitations ? They have a "big tent" approach, and I believe that many are theistic evolution Deists. Most ID folks seem to believe in deep time and even guided  evolution. There are other things as well, so it becomes difficult to tell where some of them are coming from. When perusing Evolution News a...

The science of genetics was pioneered by Gregor Mendel (peas be upon him), who would have had no idea of the trouble it would bring to evolutionary conjectures. Like in other things, bigger does not necessarily mean better because bigger genomes do not mean better  (more evolved). There are misotheists who deny that DNA is a code despite what secular scientists admit, probably because this testifies of the Creator. Indeed, DNA is a language. Researchers have found that this language is more complicated than realized. It has syntax; grammar. DNA, Pixabay /  Gerd Altmann (Geralt) As you probably know, the DNA code used in genetics is comprised of only four letters: A,G,C, and T. The way they are arranged codes for amino acids and does other things. Epigenetics ( above the code) regulates gene expression. To complicate matters and further frustrate evolution, the arrangement of the letters and even spacing adds further control to how DNA works. Human languages change over time. ...

If you take a great notion to head south — way, way south past Australia — you will encounter Antarctica. No country owns it, but there are named regions. It is primarily used for scientific research. A notable curiosity on Taylor Glacier is Blood Falls. People who played the violent (but unremarkable graphics by today's standards) game Doom II may remember a map called Bloodfalls. The one in Antarctica exists and was given its name because the water does indeed look like blood. It is flowing because it has salt. Lots of salt. Blood falls, Victoria Land, East Antarctica, Flickr / DLR German Aerospace Center ( CC BY 2.0 ) Interestingly, Wickedpedia is yet again promoting deep time and evolution, so their article on Blood Falls includes some contradictory remarks. The red color is due to iron oxides. There is an ecosystem of microbes living in it that don't care that the area has no oxygen to speak of. The article mentions a "poorly understood interaction" relating to...

Although underrated, humans have an amazing ability to detect various smells. What animal has the best ability to do this? It depends on how it is measured. Elephants can distinguish the greatest variety of smells , and some other animals may also rate highly. But they have not yet been tested. Dogs are legendary as trackers of fugitives and missing persons, and their sooper sniffers have been utilized to sniff out cadavers, bombs, drugs, cancer, and even fossils . Now things are getting even more interesting. Labrador nose, Freeimages /  huzzah Let's pause riding this here trail a mite. People can pick up on smells, and this child thinks that maybe certain abilities have faded over the years since our creation. We smell or otherwise sense something but only have a vague awareness in the backs of our minds. This may be misconstrued as a psychic ability when it was originally something we were created with. Smell could be a big part of that. After all, odors trigger emotions, memori...

On more than one occasion, I have encountered Darwin's disciples online who say that if there is a little  evolution, there must eventually be a lot of it. That is, favorable mutations accumulate until something becomes a new creature, made by nature. It may seem plausible at first. Biblical creationists accept natural selection and speciation. Some refer to small changes microevolution . However, it is recommended that we educate other creationists to avoid using micro- and macroevolution ; one is horizontal  change, the other is unobserved vertical  atoms-to-astronaut change. Esopus Creek near Mt. Tremper, NY, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen What people who believe in such accumulations of traits do not realize is that they are showing their lack of knowledge; there are built-in biological limits to change. Clearly, many evolutionists try to substitute Nature, Evolution, Natural Selection, and other things for the true Creator. Yes, people use nature, evolution, and natu...

As established in previous posts, it is good to find methods of enhancing human performance, alleviating suffering, and all that good stuff. Sometimes it takes the form of metal and plastics, and even computerized devices such as insulin pumps . Science and technology are quickly growing in these areas. Transhumanism  goes beyond the good things, becoming a religion in itself. (Like atheists, many deny that their belief system is a religion by ignoring most dictionary definitions.) It is based on a form of evolution where we are our own creators. A.I. Cyborg adored by mindless masses* I keep banging on that ol' drum that worldviews need to have internal consistency to be taken seriously in the first place. This evolution has teleology (purpose, which is supposed to be heresy to fundamentalist evolutionists), and they also believe in a self-determined salvation boldly going into the future where there are no flaws. There are several views in transhumanism. One has human consciousnes...