News to Note, April 5, 2008

1. Scientists Mixing Human and Animal Embryos

It’s no April Fools’ joke: British scientists have created embryos that combine human and bovine elements.

2. Tablet Holds Eye Witness Account of Asteroid Impact

An ancient clay tablet may describe an eyewitness account of an asteroid impact—an impact said to have inspired the biblical account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

3. BBC News: “Astronomers See ‘Youngest Planet’”

British astronomers have picked up signs of an extrasolar planet that may be less than a few thousand years old—a far cry from the ten-million-year age given to the next youngest planet.

The planet, which is on its way to resembling a Jupiter-like gas giant, is 520 light-years from earth and orbits the star HL Tau. One hypothesis is that the planet has formed according to the most popular model of planetary evolution: gravity pulls debris closer together, eventually cobbling a planet out of dust and gas.

Another hypothesis, however, adds a twist to the tale of this planet’s origin: the scientists report that about 1,600 years ago, a star, XZ Tau, in the same region may have passed closely by HL Tau, making the disc of debris around HL Tau unstable and triggering the planet’s formation.

While astronomers will never know for sure what caused the creation of this planet (other than that the material was part of God’s creation on Day 4 of Creation Week), it is fascinating that while secular astronomers speak on the order of millions and billions of years, there are plausible explanations for the origin of stellar objects on a far more recent timetable. (Also, for those not familiar with creation theories on the transit of distant starlight, be sure to see the links below for additional information.)

4. Birds Able to Cooperate and Solve Problems

A team at the University of Cambridge has found that pairs of birds can solve a problem “as well as” pairs of chimps, reports BBC News.

5. Marv Knox and His View of Creationists

The two photographs on a Baptist Standard editor’s piece on fundamentalism are of rioting Shi’ite Muslims and a smiling Ken Ham (AiG president) next to a dinosaur at the Creation Museum. We’ll let you guess how the author, Marv Knox, feels about creationists.

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