Piltdown Superman

Studies of how unborn children respond are fascinating, and I witnessed how one of my newborn children recognized my voice. I spoke, and he tried to turn his head in my direction! It has been recommended that expectant parents talk to their developing children; some also read to them. It has been discovered that babies have a built-in ability to learn  and are also ready to read . Naturally, it fits right in that they are ready to learn the language of the people around them. It was discovered that they learn it earlier than scientists thought. Baby feet in crib, RGBstock /  Jean Scheijen For that matter, it is known that children are far more adept at learning more than one language, but it is often difficult for adults to learn additional languages. It would be in the best interests for children of parents who do not speak the language of the country where they live to learn that country's language as well as the one their parents speak. That way, the whole family doesn't ha...

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...

There is a perennial wildflower that grows in temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere known as fireweed  in America, and  rosebay willowherb in Britain. It seems like an understatement to refer to land as disturbed  after fires or volcanic eruptions (or bombing, it has been called bombweed  in England), but fireweed is ready to reclaim the land. Fireweed is attractive, but may be sparse during good times for the land. Its method of distributing itself on disturbed land (above and below ground) is quite interesting. Fireweed, Flickr / Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Kristine Sowl (PD) When Mt. St. Helens erupted, the land was a mess and scientists watched for years to see how it would recover. Guess what showed up right quick-like? Yup, fireweed was observed  by 1985. Fungi also joined the land reclamation party. Add to this is that fireweed and other plants are food for wildlife — if they eat the right varieties at opportune times. One reas...

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...

As a child, I watched what we called helicopter leaves (maple tree seeds) spinning to the ground. Sometimes they were plentiful, so other kids and I would scoop them up and fling them in the air, watching them spin down again. Do kids play with Javan cucumber seeds? The Javan cucumber is misnamed, more closely related to the pumpkin. It is not edible and seems to live to reproduce. Gourds swell and get quite large. When conditions are right, they open up and release the seeds. The seeds are also large and can travel surprising distances. Alsomitra macrocarpa seed, Wikimedia Commons / Scott Zona ( CC BY 2.0 ) While birds, insects, and flying mammals are the obvious choices for studies related to flight, these seeds have garnered a great deal of attention over the years for biomimetics (applying things found in nature for human applications). The seeds have inspired several aircraft designs. In addition, wind currents around the gourds that take the seeds on their journeys are also stu...

As many people know, particles-to-painter evolution is fundamental to atheism. One can have a reasonable dialogue for a short time with a professing atheist on a few subjects, but must not criticize evolution. (Indeed, I remember a discussion where the atheist woman thought the Christian was going to criticize evolution, and began to arch her back and extend her claws. It was  civil before.) Most of the vocal proponents of evolution are atheists, but the quality of supporters has declined over the years. Blur of sun and trees image by Cowboy Bob Sorensen One can often judge the substance of a position by its proponents. (No, a comely face and dulcet tones do not make something correct, nor do wise-sounding words. Intelligent supporters may prompt someone to listen more closely to a claim, yes?) Quality opponents can give someone serious pause. In days of yore, Darwin's disciples were plentiful and famous. They presented what appeared to be valid science according to what was known...

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...

The internet can be considered a tool for information gathering, and like any tool, can be used for good or bad. It has helped promote atheism, which pretends to be about rational thinking. The internet also helped advance the Intelligent Design movement and biblical creation science. But the atheism that infested the internet was erroneously said to promote reason and science. It did not go well. Whether or not people actually became atheists and stayed with it, the damage was done and people became...soulless. Their thinking was mechanistic and reductionist . Waters are falling at the Falling Waters Preserve near Glasco, NY, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen Although atheists usually deny it, they are very religious. In their jumble of beliefs,  Scientism usually comes out on top. That view reduces humans and everything else into its components, and that hard sciences are the only path to reality. Such a worldview is saturated with absurdities and arbitrary definitions, not the lea...

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 ...

Although the secular science industry shuns evidence for design, occasionally its members slip up and imply that it actually happens. Design has been demonstrated when looking at biology from an engineering perspective which leads to better science. The word bullseye  can refer to a target at the center of the flower. It is inviting to bees. Researchers used the word blueprint , which implies an engineer, when they evosplained how  Hibiscus trionum developed its own bullseye and the way petals form to attract pollinating bees. Hibiscus bullseye, Wikimedia Commons / Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova  ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Getting bees to the pollen is an example of mutualism, benefiting both flower and bee. See? But evolution is supposed to happen without purpose. Mutualism here supposedly means that both parties evolved so they could help each other, and have this happen through random processes. That'll be the day! It's a much more reasonable conclusion that the Master Engineer makes...

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. ...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Animal rights extremists have been known to refer to the killing of animals as "murder," but that word does not mean what they think it means. Murder is the unlawful taking of a human  life. Humans are sentient. We have consciousness, intelligence, awareness, and all that good stuff. Some critters have consciousness, but not on our level. Corvids (crows, magpies, ravens, blue jays, and the lot) are considered very intelligent, yet they do not write music. Consider  panpsychism , where all living things supposedly have some consciousness. This includes plants. Dandelions, Pexels / Egor Komarov Plant consciousness would raise some questions of morality for some people. F'rinstance, many vegetarians and vegans choose their eating habits on what they consider to be moral grounds. If it turns out that plants have consciousness, they would have to be consistent and not eat those either! On the other hand, this scientist loves dandelions and points out t...

A rather baffling creature name is the triggerfish , but it has nothing to do with shooting. It has to do with spines. It has a larger dorsal spine that is locked upward by a smaller trigger spine. This can help it stay put in a hiding place, then it can "deflex" to release the trigger spine and then the dorsal. Hawaii's Reef Triggerfish is officially the state fish. It has an interesting jaw mechanism that defies evolution with its specified complexity. Humans use industrial linkage mechanisms to transfer energy, and this triggerfish has something similar in its jaw. Reef Triggerfish, Wikimedia Commons / Qyd ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) Everything in the assembly has to work, or the fish will not be able to work its jaw and become extinct. It all has to be there are working. Actually, other animals have similar mechanisms. This testifies to the design work of the Creator. Another testimony is how the system in the triggerfish can adapt over generations.  Yippie ky yay, secularists!...