News to Note, March 10, 2007

1. Paleontologists Find Medium-Horned Dinosaur, Ecstatic

Question: what caused Utah paleontologist Jim Kirkland to claim, this week, “Lo and behold, evolutionary theory actually works”? Answer: a new species of dinosaur that had horns longer than some dinosaurs, but shorter than other dinosaurs.

2. Robotic Study Shows Differences Between Walking and Swimming

European scientists formerly “puzzled” over the workings of a key episode in the story of evolution have developed a salamander-esque robot in an effort to elucidate an answer to the puzzle. The key episode is the alleged water-to-land transition that evolutionists indicate was the starting point for millions of years of terrestrial evolution.

3. DNA Transfer Utilized by Evolution?

Evolution is speeding up, according to a Rice University team studying a process known as horizontal gene transfer. The team believes that “microbes are accelerating evolution by constantly transporting whole chunks of DNA that may represent new and beneficial functions—like resistance to disease” from one organism to another.

4. PhysOrg.com: “Early Mars had underground water system”

In the latest of evolutionists’ ongoing efforts to convince the public (and themselves) that Mars really, truly had life once upon a time, scientists suggest this week in Nature, that “sulphate-rich sediments” found in Mars’ “Meridiani Planum” were deposited by groundwater seeping above the surface. Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with colleagues, proposes the idea in lieu of the hypothesis that the deposits came from a sea once covering Meridiani Planum. Andrews-Hanna, et al., point out that Meridiani Planum is not a basin and could not have held sufficient water for a sea.

Of course, what is the source for the continual speculation concerning water on Mars? “Water is one of three essential ingredients for life as we know it, along with energy, such as sunlight, and elements like carbon and oxygen.” Evolutionary scientists may search the universe for an accidental origin of life, but all the while the truth is closer than they are willing to believe!

5. Rats: Thinking About Failing

This week, a new animal joins our showcase of “underestimated animal geniuses”: the humble lab rat. It seems that lab rats working for University of Georgia neuroscientist Jonathon Crystal and graduate student Allison Foote are smart enough to undergo “metacognition,” or thinking about thinking, an intellectual behavior previously observed only in such lauded-for-their-brains animals, such as monkeys and dolphins.

6. Lopsided Snakes

One of this week’s examples of “evolution” in action is Pareas iwasakii, the Japanese snake. According to LiveScience, this snail-sucking snake “has evolved an upper jaw with more teeth on the right side than the left” that allows it to tug snails out of their shells more efficiently (based on the usual curvature of snail shells). The snake uses this method (which you can watch on video) because its jaws are too weak to crush snail shells. When faced with snails whose shells curved in the less-usual way, the snakes were more challenged and took longer to “free” the snails from their shells.

7. They Agree: Name-Calling Is Wrong

The terms “stone age,” “primitive,” and “savage” are offensive and “should not be used to describe living peoples,” reports the BBC on an Association of Social Anthropologists ruling. The association claims the terms “ha[ve] serious implications for [the] welfare” of these groups.

8. One News Now: “Answers in Genesis founder labels claims in ’Jesus Tomb’ as nonsense”

OneNewsNow.com reports AiG–USA president Ken Ham’s comments on The Lost Tomb of Jesus, the recent documentary in which journalist Simcha Jacobovici purports to have found coffins belonging to Jesus and His family members. The AiG president explained that, “When it comes to interpreting the past—of course you weren’t there in the past; you weren’t there to see the things happen—that’s why it’s so important to trust God’s Word.”

If you haven’t yet read our full response to The Lost Tomb of Jesus, be sure to take a look. And if you’re tired of watching speculative, secular documentaries produced by those with an anti-Christian bias, take a look at our extensive set of videos. You can watch several of them online for free, and can find the entire collection at our Answers Bookstore. You’ll find something for everyone—children, teens, parents; laymen and scientists; films for fortifying the saved and evangelizing the unsaved.

Remember, if you see a news story that might merit some attention, let us know about it! And thanks to all of our readers who have submitted great news tips to us. If you didn’t catch last week’s News to Note, why not take a look at it now? See you next week!