News to Note, April 17, 2010

1. Dissension Within Evangelical Ranks Over Evolution

To USA Today, at least, it’s hot news: dissension within evangelical ranks over evolution. To us, it’s just one sad result of compromise.

2. Our Universe Inside Black Hole of Another Universe?

Is our universe inside a black hole belonging to another universe?

3. Evolutionary Researchers Reinforcing Creationist Perspective?

The evolution of the genetic code remains one of the most speculative, mysterious vignettes in the grand tale of evolution. On that subject, have evolutionary researchers made headway, or do they just reinforce the creationist’s perspective?

4. Caterpillar Communication from Ambulation?

Could caterpillar communication have come from ambulation?

5. Answers in Genesis and the “Spreading of Ignorance”

“Dedicated to the spreading of ignorance”: should that be the new Answers in Genesis motto? Apparently so, according to a Leicester Mercury-published opinion.

6. And Don’t Miss . . .

• Famous philosopher—and former atheist—Antony Flew passed away late last week following a long illness. The academic eventually renounced atheism, though he accepted only a “deistic” view (believing God to be uninvolved in human events).
• Can you have true morals without religion? In a well-argued op-ed, Jim Wallace argues that ethics classes at the expense of Scripture classes make no sense.
• Is a billboard with a Bible verse against South African laws?
• Jewel scarab beetles can distinguish between circularly polarized and unpolarized light—the difference exploited in many modern 3-D movies. Talk about design!
• Answers in Genesis staff astrophysicist Dr. Jason Lisle represented Answers in Genesis, itself a representative of one of “the two most popular streams of thought” on Genesis among Christians, according to a Christian Post article on the Large Hadron Collider.
• Most of us probably recognized that flocks of flying birds function by complicated rules, but new research helps us understand more about what rules.
• Are “mixed-race individuals” more attractive, on average, than others? We completely disagree—there is only one human race, and we all have a “mixed” ancestry! Of course, it may be that individuals closer to Adam and Eve’s complexion—probably a mid-brown shade (as we depict in our Creation Museum)—are on average perceived as more attractive.
• The solar system is relatively “peaceful,” concludes a recent study on planetary formation—more evidence that we occupy a special haven in the universe, specially designed for life.