News to Note, July 14, 2012

1. Protests by Giant's Causeway's New Visitor Center

Controversy? What controversy? Giant’s Causeway’s new visitor center becomes target for protest.

2. Migrating Flatfish Eye

Migrating flatfish eye expected to flummox creationists.

3. Creation Museum Dinosaur Appears in Smithsonian Brochures

Creation Museum dinosaur makes a surprise appearance . . . on Smithsonian brochures.

4. Looking for Hints for Life on Mars

Looking for hints-there-might-ever-have-been-life in all the right places … on Mars

5. What Australopithecus sediba Ate

Bits of plant material from Australopithecus sediba’s teeth sneak a peek at diet.

And Don’t Miss . . .

• “Upset Atheists” was the recent topic of Dr. Jay Wile’s blog as he discussed three stories we’ve also covered in News to Note—the case of a Creation Museum model dinosaur that hitched a ride on the Smithsonian flyer, the Giant’s Causeway controversy, and the tiff between evolutionists Richard Dawkins and E.O. Wilson.1 (Wile is perhaps best known among homeschoolers as the man who founded the Apologia science textbooks.) While complimenting the general quality of the Creation Museum, Wile alluded to his differences with Answer in Genesis on some key issues. In his blog, he wrote, “While there are things in the Creation Museum with which I strongly disagree, overall, I found it [the Creation Museum] to be significantly more scientifically accurate than most museums, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Thus, it’s not surprising to me that they [the Smithsonian] found one of the Creation Museum’s dinosaur models to be an accurate depiction of a dinosaur.” In response, a reader wrote on his blog asking him, “Can you give some examples of things the Creation Museum is wrong on? My family is planning to visit in the near future, so I would appreciate some forewarning.” Wile’s posted answer mentioned his objection to the view, based on Scripture, that Answers in Genesis takes on the origin of animal death. Moreover, he misrepresents the context of a Creation Museum exhibit intended to demonstrate how the undermining of biblical authority from the pulpit to the pew has had a disastrous effect on young people in our churches. Be sure to read AiG President Ken Ham’s discussion of Wile’s points in his blog today.
• The media frenzy over a Christian school textbook that likened the Loch Ness Monster to a possible plesiosaur has prompted Ken Ham to point out the hypocrisy of secularists who conveniently ignore the untenable theories that emerge from their own side of the table. His blog includes the idea that aliens seeded life on earth (promoted by Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA), the belief that aliens built the pyramids, the idea that ape-like creatures somehow acquired the genetic information to transform into human beings, and the idea that life randomly arose from non-living components in violation of the Law of Biogenesis. He lists additional outdated icons of evolution that remain in many textbooks even after evolutionists consider them outdated (perhaps because they have such imaginative appeal to children?). The recent push for changes in Korean textbooks was prompted by the latter, by the way, inciting ire in many evolutionists. Read more in “Ken Ham Irked by ‘Hypocrisy’ of Secularists Over ‘Loch Ness’ Story.” For more information, see News to Note, June 30, 2012.