1992 – Volume 19-2

    Fossils and Compassion

    Early in the history of paleontology, a university professor with an interest in fossils was tricked into collecting fabricated objects as fossils and published a book illustrating these false productions. As a result, Johann Beringer was ridiculed unmercifully. This is not a good example to follow. We all make mistakes, and we should show compassion when we find errors in the work of others. Published in Origins v. 19 n.2.

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    Sociobiology: The Evolution Theory's Answer to Altruistic Behavior

    Evolution theory is based on competition and struggle for survival, but some animals act in a way that favors reproduction of other individuals and reduces their own competitive status. The theory of sociobiology wants to explain this altruistic behavior as having a genetic basis, so that individuals with the gene tend to help other individuals with the same gene,.This maintains the gene in the population. The idea that human behavior is genetically determined is controversial. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 2.

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    Life in the Deep Rocks and the Deep Fossil Record

    Microorganisms can exist in rocks several kilometers below the surface of the earth. Recently a number of reports indicate that these organisms are much more common than previously surmised and that vast regions of the underworld may be inhabited. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 2.

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    The Search for Relatives

    A review of the book, The Early Evolution of Metazoa and the Significance of Problematic Taxa. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 2.

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    An Age-Old Question

    A review of the book, The Age of the Earth. Presents the standard interpretation of radioisotope data. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 2.

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    Reactions

    Response by Gerald Aardsma to letter to the editor by Robert Brown regardng the article, Correlation of C-14 Age With the Biblical Time Scale (Origins 17:56). Published in Origins v. 19, n.2.

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    Annotations from the Literature

    A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 1991, covering topics such as Permian trees, molecular genetics, epigenetics, inheritance of paternal mtDNA, water and formation of petroleum, water in mantle rocks, impacts, Ordovician volcanism, molecular phylogenies of ratites, termites, cichlids and sabertooths, osteocalcin in dinosaur bones, fossil flowers, origin of life, Precambrian predation, stromatolites, Cambrian Explosion, quality of fossil record, rapid speciation, tree biogeography, Miocene ape, fossil dermopteran, Asian marsupial, dinosaurs, mammal-like reptile. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 2.

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