News to Note, June 27, 2009

1. Kin Confusion

For all the years of proclaiming chimpanzees as our closest living evolutionary cousins, some evolutionists think we may actually be more closely related to orangutans.

2. Dinosaurs on a Diet

Dinosaurs: large, terrifying, and surprisingly lightweight?

As far as extinct animals go, dinosaurs are easily the most widely discussed and inspire the most fascination. The mere word conjures up images of the menacing carnivore T. rex towering overhead. But as we have frequently pointed out, the average size of all dinosaurs was probably about like a large sheep or bison—which makes the logistics of fitting dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark all the easier.

3. Water Speculation over Saturn Moon

Scientists have found [indirect evidence of liquid water, which can be spun through evolutionary interpretations as indirect evidence of] life on one of Saturn’s moons!

4. Trio of Design Reminders

Three stories this week provide salient reminders of the design apparent in creation—whether it be in structures we’re just beginning to understand, or in engineers taking cues from nature to construct their machines.

5. MSNBC/Discovery: “Neanderthals Made Mammoth Jerky”

Neanderthals, though so often treated as subhuman, left a growing amount of evidence to remind us of their humanity.

A new study in the Journal of Archaeology considers what Neanderthal techniques would have helped them survive “the often chilly conditions of Northern Europe.”

6. And Don’t Miss . . .

• The lamprey is a strange creature—now found to be even stranger because it loses a chunk of its genome as it develops. An indirect effect of the Curse?
• A trailer for the provocatively named film Creation was released earlier this month. The film depicts Charles Darwin’s struggle between working on his anti-God idea of origins and respecting the piety of his wife, Emma. (We must admit to cringing at some of the dialogue, which seems to present a one-sided account of Darwin’s dangerous idea.)
• A University of Leeds press release offers another quiet mention of how “problematic” and “unreliable” molecular clock dating methods are. But as is usually the case, no one mentions the inaccuracies of the old method until a new one is devised to replace it.
• Scientists at the University of Texas–Austin announce a new automated computing method, SATé, designed to map the “trees” of evolutionary relationships. But this method seems to ignore the many inherent problems in trying to match such trees to the facts.
• Mutations are more common in warmer environments, reports BBC News. Of course, the “evolutionary” results of such mutations are up for debate.
• Archaeologists have discovered an ancient musical instrument that would have been “especially challenging to make.” (The article does not report how the instrument was dated.)
• A new report on what is “always held up as the perfect demonstration of Darwin’s theory of evolution”: natural selection acting on peppered moths. But the famous peppered moth photographs were fraudulent. Besides, natural selection acting on existing characteristics does not account for the appearance of totally new characteristics. Read an in-depth look at this supposed “perfect demonstration” in Much Ado About Moths.
• Dr. Stephen C. Meyer has released a new book called Signature in the Cell, which the press release describes the book as showing “how each successive attempt to solve the mystery of the origin of life has exposed the Achilles’ [heel] of evolutionary science: its inability to account for information apart from mind.” Meyer is a major figure in the Intelligent Design Movement who was featured in Ben Stein’s film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
• A muddled press release from Chicago’s Field Museum presents research on tiny cheilostome bryozoans—but one must wade through the Darwinian spin to learn the actual research. What is clear is that evolution is presupposed in comparing bryozoan individuals that have distinct body differences—and in alleging that they have evolved separately from their identical kin 90 to 100 million years ago in the fossil record.
• The Associated Press reports on “scientists” studying their “foes”: us! The comments from the paleontologists who visited our Creation Museum are not scientific, however, and instead concern whether we are “demonizing” those who believe in millions of years. Thankfully, the article also gave space for comments from our own Dr. David Menton.