News to Note, August 26, 2006

1. Penn State Live: No Hobbits in this Shire: Researchers say skeletal remains are pygmy ancestors

Two years ago, scientists discovered skeletal remains on an Indonesian island that were hailed as evidence of a new hominid species, Homo floresiensis. For example, National Geographic announced Hobbit-Like Human Ancestor Found in Asia. But now, an international research team has announced that no, this is not a human ancestor at all, and that instead, the skull of LB1 (the only fairly complete skeleton) is small because of a condition called microcephaly. The features of the skull are similar to the facial features of those who currently live on the island, and the other skeletal remains found similarly show no evidence of being fundamentally different from the skeletons of the Pygmies who live there today.

Once again, we see that a “human ancestor” has lost that status.

2. CNN: A 92-year-old's Adam and Eve story

It’s sad to read this story of 92-year-old Laura Lipari, who authored Gramma Shares Her Faith, a Q&A-format book about Adam and Eve. Although the book is supposed to contain “answers,” the CNN article notes that Lipari “sidestepped the debate of whether the Bible is literally true or a story meant to teach moral values;” she instead responded with, “Call it what you will … Do we believe some of the things that Darwin taught? Yes.”

If you’re looking for uncompromising children’s resources, check out the Children’s section of the Answers Bookstore.

3. Researchers Extract Stem Cells from Living Embryos

Researchers have developed a new technique that allows the harvesting of embryonic stem cells without destroying the embryo.

4. The New York Times: Evolution Major Vanishes From Approved Federal List

It seems that “Evolutionary biology” has disappeared from a list of acceptable college majors for the US government’s National Smart Grant program. “Disappeared” not in the sense of being formally removed by a Department of Education decision, but in the sense of suddenly not being on the list! The Department of Education is currently blaming the omission on a clerical error, but some individuals have expressed doubt that it was truly an accidental removal.

At Answers in Genesis, we do not oppose the teaching of evolution, as we have stated before—for example, in this week’s “Misrepresented (sigh) time and time again,” we wrote, “Because evolution is a worldview that permeates much of society, students need to know what it teaches.”

5. Response to Brett Younger

Brett Younger begins this opinion piece with an enjoyable anecdote from his high school chemistry class, but then launches into a problematic examination of science and religion and uses the “usual” arguments against young-earth creationism.

6. A "New" Big Bang (Theory)

A few scientists, most prominently Cambridge’s Neil Turok and Princeton’s Paul Steinhardt, have proposed a “revolutionary model of how the universe began,” which is angering traditional advocates of big bang model.