Piltdown Superman

While visiting Ruby Slippers to discuss the upcoming nuptials of our mutual friends Stormie Waters and Roland Meadows, I was distracted by her pet chameleon. It was a real one, not an anole sometimes sold as a chameleon . This one was fully grown. It was feeding time, which is interesting. Ruby puts worms and crickets into the cage every other day, and I was there at the right moment. She opened the top and dropped them in. "Liz" was the name of the female lizard, and I saw an eye move and focus on lunch. Panther chameleon, Wikimedia Commons /  Charles J. Sharp  ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) "Liz is interested. Watch and see if she —" A blur of motion and I was surprised at how fast the lizard zapped up a cricket. "There you go," said Ruby. "I'm amazed at how they were designed to have such specialized vision  and that it works with precision shooting of that sticky tongue. There's also a suction cup kind of thing on there." "Yes, clearly some sp...

Believers in descent with modification evolution are locked into their paradigm, so they have difficulty doing much more than telling stories that fit. They put on their evolution glasses and interpret what they see through those lenses. Few ask if evolution happened in the first place, being content to evosplain how they think traits developed. Using critical thinking skills, people can see that stories about insect evolution actually lack science. The same kind of thing happens when discussing phasmids  — that group of insects that resemble leaves and sticks. Malayan jungle nymph, Flickr / Tyler Karaszewski ( CC BY 2.0 , slightly modified) There is no traceable evolutionary history for insects. Proponents use words and descriptions that include words like "probably." They also go against evolutionary doctrine by saying why  a characteristic supposedly evolved. The disguises and body part arrangements of phasmids are mysterious to evolutionists, but biblical creationists b...

As any well-schooled child knows, there are rankings in science. Someone makes observations and makes a few predictions for a hypothesis. This can graduate to a theory if it is well-substantiated with facts and testing. A law is something that summarizes observations and is unchanging under certain conditions. Charles Darwin had speculations or a hypothesis of evolution at best, but not a theory — and definitely not a law . Some owlhoots took a notion to fabricate a new law to explain how life as they see it has increasing complexity. Police cars at night (slightly modified), Unsplash / Acton Crawford This fundamentally-flawed thinking involves evolutionary presuppositions. Also, it has deep time assumptions. Add to this the thought that some laws take up where others fail, such as Newtonian rules getting replaced by quantum mechanics or relativity. No, those two things only apply in special circumstances, but there is no "replacement" going on. These scientists think evoluti...

It looks like requirements for habitability on extrasolar planets are getting more complicated, even mystical. The planetary habitable zone concept was simple, where water was a must , the right kind of star, proper distance from it, and a few others to make the Goldilocks Zone. Not only are hopes of finding lucky planets in that zone dimming , there is speculation that for a planet to be able to support life, it must have life. Sounds like the concept is folding in on itself, but it is being considered. HD 149026b (Smertrios),  NASA  / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle (SSC) (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) Study on it a spell: Living things have an impact on their environments. (For example, beavers help ecosystems and supposed climate change . Also, creatures under the ground have tremendous effects.) Researchers examined the energy that critters produce, which is significant — and it was from a limited number. Someone wondered if the need for an ecosystem is an ar...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  The age of Gentlemen of the Rails — hobos — is mostly gone, but they had a long run mainly from the end of the American Civil War to the 1940s. These guys would hitch rides on freight trains and try to find short-term jobs. Television and movies had various portrayals of them that probably should not be taken as based in fact. Also, they were willing to work, unlike traveling tramps or sedentary bums . While itinerant workers like this were found worldwide, most were American. Locomotive 721 Entering Railroad Yard, Texas & Pacific Railway Company, Flickr / DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University The main reasons for the decrease in hobo migrants involved more economic opportunities appearing after WWII, but also the fact that steam engines were being replaced. Steam (choo choo) trains were a mite easier to climb aboard. It could be from a jerkwater town , a big city trainyard, or anything in between. With that bit of background done, we can ride...

There is nothing more pleasant than a cold glass of dihydrogen monoxide, even though it is often used as a solvent or to cut through rock. (Expensive alternative term for water there. Baffle your friends.) As anyone in searching for extraterrestrial life knows, water is essential. When put under tremendous pressure and tightly focused, waterjets cut through rock and metal. It is a solvent because it dissolves quite a few substances. Earth is mostly water, though most of it is not in drinkable form. The human body contains a large percentage of water. Small waterfall on river, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen The three basic states of matter are solid, gas, and liquid. Interesting that there is a huge — indeed, yuge  — range of temperatures in the universe, but water is only liquid within a few degrees. Earth has the right kind of star to let water exist in this important state. Water's specific heat characteristic helps keep the temperature of this blue marble rather steady. Oh yes...

One way to spot a fool is when someone says or believes, "There is no God." This is also seen through life choices as if the Creator and Judge does not exist or care (Psalm 14:1). While believers in molecules-to-microbiologist evolution may have been taught only evolution, they are still without excuse (Romans 1:18-23). Perhaps their efforts to deny the truth are increasing, as there is quite a bit of silliness passed off as evolutionary research. Consider the inane logic in studying nitrogen networks. Aminotransferase monomer, Wiki Comm / Deposition authors - Mcphalen, C.A., et. al . Visualization author - Synpath (PD) Amino groups get transferred from amino acids to keto acids — a very important function. These amino groups are the building blocks of proteins. Using tendentious tree of life formulas and the scientific principle of Making Things Up™, some owlhoots decided that "all of life" worked together to create the complex nitrogen network. No evidence, thoug...

Although it seems less frequent nowadays, cancel culture  is a method of punishing those who dare to go against the prevailing viewpoint. I believe that people want to be "right" or in the "best" movement, whether it is religious (including atheism), a political party, or something else. Those who disagree are shunned and even canceled. A form of this happened when C. Richard Dawkins was "deplatformed" at the University of California, Berkeley. He said something people did not like about Islam. He has said other things that caused people to dislike him. These come about because someone goes against the trend. Image from "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" by Sidney Paget , Strand Magazine , 1904 (enhanced at iLoveIMG ) Creation science and the Intelligent Design movement are unwanted on social(ist) media, and many times atheists try to have it stamped out. Calls for trolling raids, feculent comments, ridicule, and more are common fare ...

Those with Atheism Spectrum Disorder suppress evidence for the existence of God that is clearly seen (Romans 18:1), needing to repeat the mantra that things only appear  designed. They would have to count many Darwin beads and chant very fast when seeing hidden layers of complexity. In medical science and other areas of biology, advances in technology enable us to view microscopic things we never realized existed, such as cellular machines. In the trees, under the soil, in the oceans are amazingly complex worlds testifying of the Designer. View of Onteora Lake, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen George Washington Carver was a Christian and a creationist. He prayed for wisdom, and God guided him to discover about 300 uses for the peanut. The peanut . It was designed to have many uses. Indeed, Proverbs 25:2 tells us that God has concealed things, and kings discover them. They are not hidden because he does not want them found, but concealed so his work is gradually seen in many areas. H...

At one time, people had souls. Some classical philosophers called it perception. Nowadays, secular scientists and philosophers are almost making their research into a comedy by their conflicting views. Many deny the existence of consciousness but still try to find it in the brain. Someone named Mr. Gordons referred to humans as "meat machines." Alan McComas is a neurosurgeon, one of many people to think they have a location for consciousness in the brain — which he says is an organic machine. Brain as a machine,  MR LIGHTMAN  at FreeDigitalPhotos.net His comparison may seem reasonable at first, but it has some problems because his criteria can make many things into "machines". Also, McComas thinks those clumps of neurons called hippocampi are where consciousness resides. This idea falls apart as well. The truth is that we are created in the image of God, each one with a soul (or consciousness), and it is not a part of the container in which it resides. Over centurie...

A couple of days ago, I was out riding and happened upon my friend Hammond Suisse out riding fences. He would find a place where the fence had a flaw, and either fixed it or made a note to come back later with more equipment. We rode together a spell, and conversation turned to how I had been fighting off a lingering cold. Hammond said, "We have an amazingly complex immune system that God engineered for us. After the fall of man, it gets overwhelmed sometimes." He glanced at a scrape on his arm. Arms and hands, Pexels / Daria Liudnaya (modified at PhotoFunia ) "Seems to me that I got something in common with immune systems." "How so?" I asked. "We're both riding fences. You know, doing work that's often unseen but sure is important. Churches, stores, companies have often unseen people doing work to keep those things going." He glance down. "I better clean that up. Good thing I'm almost done," he added. Then he asked, "...

It seems like something out of an animated film, but the story is rather real. Imagine that an octopus sidles up to a fish that was going about its business, then presenting a proposition. The goal is to work together and do a bit of hunting. Octopuses continue to amaze scientists with their abilities and intelligence. The octopus is normally a loner, yet it socializes with the fish. It is interesting that both parties have a say in the conspiracy and its execution. Octopus, Unsplash /  Diane Picchiottino An octopus researcher appealed to the non-answer of convergent evolution in an attempt to explain their brains. But secular scientists cannot explain where octopus traits originated, nor can they explain why these loners would cozy up to a companion — especially when it can hunt very well all by its lonesome. Efforts to cling to naturalism use bad logic and fake science; evolution has nothing to do with it. Design by the brilliant Master Engineer is the logical conclusion from wh...

This post on the human brain is from an Intelligent Design site, so I thought you might appreciate a heads up. When it comes to the brain and the mind (remember that the brain is not the mind, the mind uses  the brain), secular scientists have conflicting views on consciousness — the soul, if you will. In many cases the brain can adapt. People can have brain portions missing and still function  because of what is called plasticity. In extreme cases of epilepsy, surgery is performed to split the brain. Illustration of split and normal brains, WikiComm / Soccernumber1 ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Literally splitting the brain sounds like a death sentence. However, the adaptability and (in my view) mysterious ways people can still function with damage kind of offset feelings of alarm for the patients. In fact, most have no ill effects after the surgery. Others may have some that diminish. Now back to the confusion of secular views. Make up your minds (heh!), is there consciousness or not? S...

Here is a creature that is easy to wave away, but people should appreciate the work that the Master Engineer put into it. For that matter, it is notoriously difficult to swat. One reason is that it is so small that the air from a striking hand buffets them. Another reason fruit flies are difficult to swat is because of their vision and the design of their eyes. The fruit fly brain has been mapped, and some of its 140,000 neurons involve the eyes. Such a mapping feat could not have been accomplished until recent years. Fruit fly, Flickr / John Tann ( CC BY 2.0 ), modified at PhotoFunia Researchers had to start small, as humans have 80 billion neurons. They found over eight thousand types of neurons in different classes based on functions. Various ones would send signals from the brain to certain areas. It shows that human understanding of the Creator's work is very incomplete, such as how some connections seem random, and that neurons take unexpected routes. This research may have ...

In the secular science industry, the peer review process seems more like a "good ol' boys" club than the dissemination of objective scientific information. While gatekeeping keeps out much of the riffraff, it also protects favored views from contrary data. Although creation scientists do publish in peer-reviewed journals , they cannot get material refuting evolution, supporting the global Genesis Flood, and so on published. Not only is evolution protected, but leftist views on climate change and other things are shielded. The peer-review process has numerous flaws that bother even secular scientists. Made at  Redkid.net I've got some bad news for you, Sunshine: Scientists are not the bastions of integrity and impartiality that many people think. They are human and subject to wicked urges just like the rest of us. Peer review has cheating, ethical problems, a reproducibility crisis , and other flaws. There appears to be a rebellion in the works. Some want it scrapped. ...

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...