A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2005, covering topics such as mutations, Upheaval Dome, Homo floresiensis, origin of life, dinosaur blood vessels, petrification of wood, carbon 14 in coal, and radiohalos.
Ever since it was discovered in 1861, Archaeopteryx lithographica has been a controversial fossil. Its remarkable finding has provided certain credibility to Darwin’s theory of evolution. Archaeopteryx has a mixture of characteristics found in birds, reptiles, and theropod dinosaurs, and for that reason, scientists are divided regarding its origin, flight capacity, and position in the alleged evolutionary sequence from reptiles to birds.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2003, covering topics such as bird conservation, convergence in corals, biogeography, banded iron formations, Cretaceous and Permian mass extinctions, Mediterranean evaporite, Homo floresienses, Archaeopteryx brain, fossil patterns, fossil insect, fossil hummingbird, fossil mammals, and speciation. Published in Origins n. 57.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2003, covering topics such as frog biogeography, moas, the hoatzin, magic bullets in creationism, intelligent design, gene duplication, snail variation, Cambrian lagerstatten, extraterrestrial impacts, hotspots, carbonates, mitochondrial Eve, pseudogene function, mutations in bacteria, fossil diversity patterns, feathered dinosaurs, the fossil Microraptor, intermediate fossil Ichthyostega, problems with the evolutionary tree, and mitochondrial DNA differences. Published in Origins n. 58.
The known history of birds appears consistent with the idea that they were created. These new and spectacular avian fossils suggest is that the original creation produced a much greater variety of birds than previously imagined.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2003, covering such topics as fish biogeography, chicken teeth, wings of stick insects, evolution as a religion, tests of common ancestry, Black Sea flood, gene duplication, paleoclimate, Permian bacteria alive?, Triassic bird footprints?, historical science, and parallel speciation. Published in Origins n. 55.
The geological column is not something you can find in the rock layers that form the crust of the Earth. It is more like a map. It is a column-like representation of the general order of the rock layers over the surface of the Earth.
The purpose of this research was to examine the contact for evidence of what is thought (14 million years of erosion) to have elapsed between the laying down of the last flow of most of the Columbia River Basalts and the deposition of the wind-blown glacial silts of the Palouse soil. Published in Origins n. 53.
Most animal phyla, including those with soft bodies, appear in Cambrian sediments, in a pattern called the Cambrian Explosion. This pattern is exactly opposite of that predicted by Darwin's theory, but is readily explained in the context of creation and a global catastrophe. Published in Origins n. 53.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 1999 (mostly), covering topics such as fox domestication, biogeography, a polyploid mammals, gene duplication, inbred cattle, pseudogenes, Missoula Flood, protein evolution, origin of life, dinosaur skin, quality of the fossil record, fossil burrows, Cambrian explosion, Neanderthal DNA, problems in phylogenetics, Australopithecus face, Galapagos tortoise phylogeny, the hoatzin bird, lateral gene transfer, limits to change, shark phylogeny, rift lake cichlids, and homeobox genes. Published in Origins n. 52.
Several attempts have been made to explain the biblical flood as a local event, but none of them is consistent with the biblical description of the global flood. Published in Origins n. 52.
How can we accommodate the paleontological record with Scripture? If our approach to science is as it should be, we can acknowledge that there are still many unanswered questions for all sides, and we should have no fear of deeper investigation in science the data are not all in.
A ring of volcanic and earthquake activity is being felt around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. Volcanologists, with the help of modern technology, are able to monitor dormant and active volcanos in the Pacific Rim, identify indicators of increased activity that may lead to eruptions, and issue early warning to communities living along the Pacific Coast.
Catastrophism and uniformitarianism have played a major role in the interpretation of the history of earth. The first assumes rapid, unusual, major geological events, while the second asserts with the contrary concept of small, slow, and prolonged changes.
Attempts to account for the He-4 in Earth's atmosphere on the basis of diffusion of radiogenic helium from the crust and thermal loss to outer space yield unreasonable models. Published in Origins v. 25, n. 2.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 1998, covering topics such as boat-building by Homo erectus, biogeography of baobab trees, dispersal by hurricane, design in the genetic code, molecular machines, the problem of homology, peppered moths, lateral gene transfer, Antarctic fish hemoglobins, mammoth phylogeny, origin of life, diversity of Ordovician fossils, patterns of diversity in fossils, bryozoan carbonates, fossil insects and plants, fossil record of vertebrate tracks, body size in North American mammals, Precambrian sponges, Cambrian traces of dinoflagellates, fossil flowers, fossil bird taphonomy, decay of shrimps, catastrophic burial of dinosaurs, fossil whales, and Adam, death and sin. Published in Origins v. 25, n. 2.
Polonium radiohalos are best explained by diffusion of by-products of radioactive decay of uranium and thorium, and not as evidence of supernatural activity. Published in Origins v. 24, n. 2.
FOREWORD
byClyde L. WebsterPh.D. Senior Research Scientist Geoscience Research Institute
Very few things capture one's imagination quicker than finding a fossil while on a nature walk or even a walk through a museum. There is an almost mystical drawing power associated with fossils. Questions of What? Where? When? Why? and How? immediately flood one's mind, and in some cases may remain there forever,…