Piltdown Superman

Suzie's sister Sarah was selling seashells by the seashore (Suzie lives in Australia), and I saw some odd clams. Well, they were new to me. I asked what kind they were. "Those are razor clam shells", Sarah said shyly. I saw where they get their name, and when they are sticking up out of the sand, stepping on them could be an unpleasant experience. Credit: NOAA / Northwest Fisheries Science Center (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) People dig clams (see what I did there?) because they're good eatin'. Just have to watch for algal blooms that affect shellfish so you don't get poisoning from okadaic acid or domoic acid . Don't be ignoring the warning signs, old son. Anyway, people have to dig clams because clams dig themselves into the wet sand. See how that works? Scientists tried to figure out how they managed to reach certain depths, but were unable to replicate the clam's ability. Further research was in order. The Master Eng

As theories in uniformitarian geology receive more data and scrutiny, many need serious revision or must be abandoned. In some of the instances below, the changes unintentionally  support the Genesis Flood models of creationists, and some thwart climate change models. Catskill Mountains near Rondout Reservoir photo by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Glaciers in what is now the Gobi Desert were determined to have actually shrunk during the Ice Age. Cold air is not the only factor necessary to form glaciers or to have an ice age. In fact, secular geologists are hard pressed to present a plausible model for any ice age, let alone, the several that they assume occurred in Earth's history. The Genesis Flood models provide necessary and sufficient conditions to explain the Ice Age, however. Geologists assumed that only tsunamis are able to move huge boulders, but eyewitness accounts showed that storms are capable of such action. How about a big storm, like the Genesis Flood? That is the best

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen People have had a fear of machines for a long time, especially since the Industrial Revolution. The term Luddite has been applied to people who loathe technology, but the original protesters were okey-dokey with machinery per se, and instead protested unfair labor practices by destroying certain contraptions . In simpler terms, laborers have had a fear of being replaced by machines for many years. Credit: Pixabay / Gerd Altmann Suspicion of machines naturally extended to robots. While science fiction media often portray robots with humanoid appearances (let's face it, many people don't cotton to dealing with a metal "person"), it depends on the application; robots used for police bomb disposal generally do not look all that human. Some robots can be considered mobile computers if they are sophisticated enough. The history of science fiction is replete with tales of computers having artificial intelligence, and even becoming self-awa

In a previous installment , we looked at how astronomers working on the first light of the so-called cosmic dawn. They used a number of assumptions as well as observational evidence to plug into their model; cosmology itself is not real science . Likewise, when folks commence to saddling up and riding the trail of the origin of life question, there are many presuppositions that are not actually scientific. Credit: Pixabay / Roy Buri Just as no human was there to see the origin of the universe and take notes, no human observed the origin of life — both are historical events. We can attempt to put scientific methods to the process, but we want to know the origin of life, the possibilities are very limited. Indeed, abiogenesis has many insurmountable problems.There are only a few possibilities to consider involving the origin of life.. Secularists use materialistic presuppositions that are based on faith and apply evolutionary ideas. Likewise, biblical creationists presuppose the e

While biblical creationists recognize the established (and not so established) categories such as species, genera, family, and so forth, they also study biblical kinds. Secularists get on the prod about this, preferring their own classification system as "right", but the definition of species is in dispute. Part of the problem there is speciation, hybridization, and interbreeding. Also, the biblical kind is a larger classification than species, more closely fitting with the family level. Credit: RGBstock / Sias van Schalkwyk A very extensive genome study was conducted among living elephants, and since remains of American mastodon were more than happy to provide samples, those were included as well. The results were startling in several ways. For one thing, Darwin's "tree of life" should have been chopped down and composted long ago, and the study results support that notion. Hybridization and breeding between these big critters was found as well, challeng

We have been examining a number of posts on the subject of engineered adaptability, which is a concept for setting up a framework of design . Instead of accepting the erroneous but persistent view of Darwin and his followers that changes are based on external influences, engineered adaptability is about how organisms adapt from the inside. That is, the Master Engineer built the ability to adapt into organisms. Darwin need not apply. Vieja cichlid image credit: Unsplash / The Cofish Store The hands at the Darwin Ranch (take Folly Road up yonder to Deception Pass, but the Winkie Guards are likely to turn you back) are being more unscientific than usual of late. They are appealing to various forms of mysticism en lieu de observational and testable science. One of these is the secular miracle of convergent evolution , which is a rescuing device that has no actual substance. Many critters have similar traits that evolutionists cannot successfully evosplain, so they appeal to

Some secular astronomers are excited about light from the "first stars" in the universe that they supposedly detected. The research took several years, and they put a great deal of work into it. This was based on the presumption that the Big Bang was the origin of the universe, and this light was to have been emitted at the "cosmic dawn" several hundred years after the event. It is indeed unfortunate, since secularists know that their cosmology is useless . "Old" stars, Hubble image credit: NASA (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) The astronomers took many precautions, and wanted to make sure they were not getting readings from Earth or from the galaxy. Unfortunately, the results had a "dip" that was different than predicted, the results include the fallacy of affirming the consequent, and several unwarranted assumptions were made. Good science does not involve making pronouncements that require further evidence like they