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The Painful Portuguese Man-of-War

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An intriguing creature of tropical and subtropical waters is called the Portuguese Man-of-War (some render it Man o' War or similar), but has been found in colder waters on occasion. Is it an attempt by Portugal to rule the waves? No, it is not from there. The Man-of-War has a floating part that remains above the water, the rest is submerged. This critter is similar to a jellyfish in some ways, especially those very long venomous tentacles that easily fire off painful stings. It's not so much an it , but more of a they . View from above,  Physalia physalis , Flickr /  Bengt Nyman ( CC BY 2.0 ) Okay, so it's not from Portugal. What about the other part of its handle? It is thought that it has a resemblance to the sails of heavily-armed warships (probably frigates, not galleons) of yesteryear. The upper part acts like a sail, so wind and ocean currents tell it where it's going to go. Although rather small body wise, a flotilla of a thousand of these things cruising along

Mackinac, the Genesis Flood, and Medical Science

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If you took a notion to visit Mackinac Island State Park way up yonder between the peninsulas of Michigan, it would be a hefty drive. Using I-75 from the state capital of Lansing and going in almost a straight line by the map, count on driving 3-1/2 hours one way. You would probably find it worthwhile. Despite spelling discrepancies with -nac and -naw, it is pronounced MACK-i-naw. The island is in view of the huge suspension bridge. A creation geologist can use the physical features to describe stages in the Genesis Flood as well as the Ice Age. Old Fort Mackinac from the pasture (cropped), ca. 1900, Library of Congress People who read biblical creation science material are likely to learn some things about the Genesis Flood, especially since it was not simply rain and the fountains of the great deep. As is observed, there are many megasequences laid down by water, and these span continents. Depositions occurred in stages. At Mackinac Island, some of the first laid down by the Flood w

Weaponizing the Peer Review Process Backfires

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As we have discussed numerous times, people think that if a paper has passed the peer review process, it is a guarantee of truth (an appeal to authority). They use that idea as a weapon to promote evolution and atheism. Of course, most people do not actually read peer-reviewed scientific papers. They are often behind an expensive paywall, too. Most of the time papers are submitted from scientists and academics working for well-heeled organizations that pay the expensive review fees. However, it gets difficult finding an actual peer to review submissions from specialists. Reviewing, Pexels / Vanessa Garcia There are many reasons for bad papers getting accepted, such as the large number of submissions, lackadaisical attitudes and lack of qualifications of reviewers, and more. Corruption exists because academics and scientists are just as prone to unethical behavior as everyone else. Indeed, some folks submitted computer-generated papers and outright hoaxes to show that the process has pr

Exoplanets Defying Cosmic Evolution

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Extrasolar planets are not a problem in and of themselves, but they have been recalcitrant toward the rules of cosmic evolution. They are also none too friendly to the hopes of secular scientists in finding places where aliens may live. Oversimplifying the most popular idea of the formation of solar systems is swirling gasses forming a star, then planets and moons are made from what is left. Therefore, everything should be turning and orbiting in a uniform manner. Not so with some exoplanets. Artist's concept of hot Jupiter-class HAT-P-7b, NASA , ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI) (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) All of our planets have  prograde orbits, meaning that their motion is in agreement with the sun's rotation. Venus has a retrograde  orbit, meaning it doesn't see fit to rotate like all of the others — except Uranus, of course. That bad boy is tilted so much, it's been described as practically rolling in its orbit — and  is retrograde. When one examin

The Standard Human Evolution Story vs. the Facts

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This time, I am going to take you along a different trail. It is a series of articles from an Intelligent Design site worth considering. The ID movement has some serious limitations , but they do some good work in showing design   (obviously)  and flaws in evolution. When talking to typical evolution supporters, they often repeat material from secular news releases. We have seen that the press is often disingenuous and exceeds what evolutionary scientists actually claim. Darwin's acolytes claim to have mountains of evidence, but evolutionary scientists know otherwise. Ardipithecus ramidus , Wikimedia Commons / Sailko ( CC BY 3.0 ) One sidewinder actually said that human evolution is complete and has no gaps. That's the guy who gets quoted by evolution supporters who deny the Creator, but he's at odds with the majority of experts. That's right, there are disputes about evolution and major flaws in candidates for our ancestors are known. Unfortunately, people are impress

Darwinian Flexibility and Living Fossils

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Charlie Darwin believed evolution by blind faith. His followers past and present accept it despite lack of strong evidence, hoping that their beliefs would be justified later. That is the opposite of science, old son. They have problems with living fossils that, in and of themselves, falsify evolution. Living fossils are creatures that were thought to be extinct but later found doing well, or that have gone mostly unchanged over alleged millions of years, such as sea lilies and feather stars. Darwin knew about them . Now someone is stepping up to evosplain the problem away. Sea lily (crinoid), Wikimedia Commons / Alexander Vasenin ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) People who know evolutionary concepts can see through attempts at rescuing Papa Darwin. F'rinstance, evolution is presented as almost an irrevocable force in nature; things must  evolve over millions of years. There are "evolutionary pressures" that force them to change — except when they do not  change, and that is called stas

The Need for Clarification on Soft Tissue News

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Something other biblical creationists and I emphasize is the importance of definitions. Despite our efforts, the corral gate is occasionally left open, a pony wanders through, and clarification is needed. Some of the difficulty is because of assumptions by readers. For example, I was using the phrase special creation  and assuming that the definition was clear to everyone. Since I had that wrong, I wrote an article specifying which meaning I use . The concern about wording this time involves reports of soft tissues and fossils. Aerodactylus scolopaciceps with soft tissue, Wikimedia Commons / Steven U. Vidovic, David M. Martill ( CC BY 2.5 ) This is not the same as complaining about someone referring to pterosaurs and ichthyosaurs as dinosaurs (even though they were contemporaries and their names ended in -saur). Such brabbling can be waved off. The problem occurs when reports and other things refer to soft tissues . Those words make creationists prick up our ears like a Scottish terr

Pterosaur Ancestor Fake News

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Things get interesting when scientists do sciency stuff and we hear about technology that made detailed research possible, but they spoil things by pretending to have evolutionary offerings presentable to the Bearded Buddha. A fossil from 1907 was analyzed and out popped an alleged pterosaur ancestor. You know, those winged lizards that lived at the time of dinosaurs. To quote Smudge the Cat from a previous post, " Show me the science ." The boring fossil was debated all along, but interesting new technology let researchers find bones hidden inside the rock. The pterosaur ancestor is seen through a passel of imagination and more of that evolutionary faith. Cast of Scleromochlus taylori , Flickr / Tim Evanson ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) Reports have a wagon train-load of weasel words to build up the Just-So Story. Many assumptions stated instead of evidence, Darwinspeak presupposing evolution, and more. Russel Watchtower of the Ministry of Truth at the Darwin Ranch (over by Deception Pa

Secular Faith in Lazarus Bacteria

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Most evolutionists and professing atheists become irate when it is show that they have religious attitudes in their worldviews, but not all try to distance themselves. The account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is well known. Secular scientists, deliberately or unwittingly, mock the work of Jesus by naming bacteria that appear to have "come back from the dead". Mayhaps it is cute, but a person is quite a bit more complicated than bacteria, so the title is misleading. Then there is that religious element. Summoning bacteria spirits, Pixabay / Arek Socha , modified at PhotoFunia These simple organisms have been entombed for long periods, then coaxed into activity by putting them in optimal conditions. Were they really dead? Not entirely. Secularists may have an ulterior motive for studying these things involving life from space (still assuming Darwinian evolution after it supposedly arrived), which would give them something that looks like evidence to use in denying the

Neanderthal Ponderings and Being Human

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If you study on it, Neanderthals have evolved in evolutionary history. They were links to our apelike ancestors as portrayed in textbooks and museums. Once some of the presuppositions about apeness were dropped, improved technology was invented, and better research was conducted, they were found to be fully human. What did these guys think about? Well, what do you  think about? What is important to people can often be determined by what they own and how they act. For example, visiting the dwellings of people can indicate what is valued or at least what is interesting to them. The same may be said of Neanderthals. Neanderthal reconstruction, Flickr / Michael (a.k.a. moik) McCullough ( CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) We should know that it is possible to generalize what groups of people think about, value, and provides them entertainment, but to generalize that each individual was the same as the others is the fallacy of division . My interests in music, science, theology, and other things are vastly