Pluto Is “Strikingly Active,” New Images Show

Snakeskin Pluto? Image courtesy of NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI.





Joel Kontinen

Our solar system frequently causes bewilderment for the current understanding of its age. Above all, planets and moons tend to be geologically active.

The latest images of Pluto are in keeping with this trend:

“So far, Pluto has turned out to be strikingly active for an icy world 5 billion kilometres from the Sun. Nitrogen glaciers swirl around the base of towering mountains, which are held up by the sheer rigidity of ice frozen at about −235 °C, 38 degrees above absolute zero.”

Previous images sent by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft also indicated that Pluto looked surprisingly young and active.

Source:

Witze, Alexandra. 2015. 'Snakeskin' Pluto revealed in planetary close-up. Nature news (24 September).

Global Ocean on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Challenges Billions of Years Dogma

Enceladus does not look old. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.



Joel Kontinen

The solar system does not look as old (4.5 billion years) as it is assumed to be. Time and again, scientists are surprised to find signs of youth.

One such discovery was that of a subterranean global ocean on Enceladus, a moon that probably has geysers:

“Beneath an icy crust, Saturn's moon Enceladus … has an ocean that covers its entire globe. NASA's Cassini spacecraft measured wobbles in Enceladus's rotation over more than seven years. The data confirm that the crust is moving separately from the rocky core, meaning that there must be a widespread layer of liquid between them, says a team led by Peter Thomas of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.”

This is yet another discovery that challenges the billions-of-years dogma.


Source:

Global ocean on Enceladus. Nature 525, 428 (24 September 2015).

Mutations: Evolution Going in the Wrong Direction

Dynamic Sponges Inspire Bioengineering and Robotics

Stove-pipe Sponge (Aplysina archeri). Image courtesy of Nick Hobgood, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).




Joel Kontinen

Sponges do not appear to be very intelligent, but new research published in the journal Current Biology suggests that they are master builders and use a dynamic strategy in building up their “pole-and-beam structured skeleton”.

No wonder they inspire bioengineering and robotics.

Sponges appear in the fossil record in the Precambrian strata, so they if anything are living fossils. While they are featured in Darwinian just so stories, they are finely tuned to live in the seas.


Source:

Nakayama, Sohei et al. 2015. Dynamic Transport and Cementation of Skeletal Elements Build Up the Pole-and-Beam Structured Skeleton of Sponges. Current Biology 25: 1–6.

“Evolution - One of the Great Jokes in the History Books of the Future,” British Journalist Suggested

Something from nothing? Image courtesy of Strobridge Litho. Co., Cincinnati & New York Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0).


Joel Kontinen


While British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge (1903 –1990) was no saint, in his later years he accepted Christianity and spoke against issues such as evolution:

“I myself am convinced that the theory of evolution, especially the extent to which it’s been applied, will be one of the great jokes in the history books of the future. Posterity will marvel that so very flimsy and dubious an hypothesis could be accepted with the incredible credulity that it has.’


Source:

Goodreads.com

Anthropology Professor Doubts Homo naledi

Homo naledi. Image courtesy of Lee Roger Berger research team, Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0).





Joel Kontinen

The recent discovery of 1,500 pieces of teeth and bones has made headlines in the media. While some are willing to hail Homo naledi as a human ancestor, others take a more cautious approach.

Paleoanthropologist Lee Berger and his colleagues published a paper on their discovery in the journal eLife. It seems that the discovery raised some doubts at an early stage, as they did not choose a more prestigious journal, such as Nature or Science or PNAS.

Or maybe they did, but their paper was turned down.

Lee Berger is know for the discovery of the very controversial Australopithecus sediba that was once touted as a human ancestor but was later practically tossed aside.

The success of purported human ancestors tends to be very brief. Some, like nutcracker man and Taung child a.k.a. Australopithecus africanus, have fared a little longer.

H. naledi could be on its way out at this early stage.

Writing in Newsweek, Jeffrey Schwartz, professor of biological anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, takes a very sceptical view of Homo naledi:

“Why is it a species of Homo? Because some specimens seem to be like us. Why australopith? Because other specimens have some of their features. Why do all belong to the same species? Because they were found in the same cave, but the published images tell a different story.”

He then goes on to say what is wrong with this assumption:

“Viewed from the side, two partial skulls are long and low, with a long gently sloping forehead that flows smoothly into the brow – nothing like us, or most specimens regarded as Homo. A third partial skull is very short and rounded, with a high-rising forehead that is distinguished from a distinct, well-defined brow by a shallow gutter – not like the other skulls, and not like us or most specimens regarded as Homo. The femur has a small head (the ball end that fits in the hip socket) that is connected to the shaft of the bone by a long neck, and, below the neck, is a "bump" of bone that points backward. These features are seen in every australopith femur. In us, and all other living primates, the head of the femur is large and the neck short, and the "bump" points inward. Further, the teeth are very similar to those from a nearby fossil site that has yielded various kinds of australopith. Even at this stage of their being publicized, the 'Homo naledi' specimens reflect even greater diversity in the human fossil record than their discoverers will admit.”

Finally, he gives some advice:

“What to do? As I recently advocated in the journal Science, it's about time paleoanthropologists acknowledged what a taxonomic and undefinable mess the genus Homo has become, and restudy the human fossil record without preconceived notions and the historical weight of overly used names. We must start from scratch, comparing in greater detail than usual specimens in order to see how they sort out, first into groups one might call by species, and then into larger groups we may give genus names to. It may be necessary to revive genus names that had been proposed early on, but what I predict is that we will see a picture of hominid taxonomic diversity that mirrors the diversity of virtually every other animal [sic].”

A further problem with H. naledi is that the bones – or the cave – have not been dated.

What many scientists are reluctant to admit, is that the gulf separating humans and apes is simply too wide. Nothing can make an ape-like being into a human in any time.

Source:

Schwartz, Jeffrey H. 2015. Why the Homo Naledi Discovery May Not Be Quite What it Seems. Newsweek (10 September).

”Vestigial Organ” In Living Fossil Latimeria chalumnae

The Coelacanth was once thought to be the first fish to walk – though it doesn’t have legs.




Joel Kontinen

Living fossils and vestigial organs are two of the most embarrassing phenomena that reduce the credibility of Darwinian evolution.

Now, a paper published in the journal Nature Communications suggests that these both relate to Latimeria chalumnae, the “dino fish” that has resisted change for “380 million years”:

“Coelacanths are lobe-finned fishes known from the Devonian to Recent that were long considered extinct, until the discovery of two living species in deep marine waters of the Mozambique Channel and Sulawesi. Despite extensive studies, the pulmonary system of extant coelacanths has not been fully investigated. Here we confirm the presence of a lung and discuss its allometric growth in Latimeria chalumnae, based on a unique ontogenetic series. Our results demonstrate the presence of a potentially functional, well-developed lung in the earliest known coelacanth embryo, and its arrested growth at later ontogenetic stages, when the lung is clearly vestigial.”

Practically every vestigial organ is known to have a beneficial function.

We might perhaps see devolution or the opposite of evolution in this famous fish. As evolution needs more genetic information to proceed, loosing an ability would hardly be of any use.

Latimeria chalumnae looks designed. The obvious reason for this is that it is.

Source:

Cupello, Camila et al. 2015. Allometric growth in the extant coelacanth lung during ontogenetic development. Nature Communications 6, Article 8222 (15 September).

Nautilus, “500 Million Year Old” Living Fossil Seen Off Papua New Guinea

Allonautilus scrobiculatus shell. Image courtesy of Mgiganteus1,Wikimedia Commons.






Joel Kontinen

The nautilus belongs to the long list of living fossils. Evolutionists believe that it has hardly changed in “500 million years”.

There are many valid scientific reasons for suspecting any dates in the millions of years, however.

In August, for the first time in almost 30 years, researches spotted an Allonautilus scrobiculatus swimming off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

New Scientist acknowledges that nautiluses sometimes “appear almost unchanged from 500-million-year-old preserved specimens.”

The ever-growing list of living fossils challenges a theory sometimes defined as change over time.

Other living fossils include the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis), cycads, sharks, the tuatara (Sphendon punctatus), spiky anteaters, koalas, red pandas, starfish and the horseshoe crab.

Even when living beings change over time, they appear to do so according to the Genesis after its kind principle.

Source:

Wong, Sam. Living fossil nautilus re-emerges after 30 years of hiding. New Scientist 3039 (16 September).

Earth Is Probably A Unique Planet, Research Suggests

Alien worlds might be very different from ours. Image courtesy of ESO.





Joel Kontinen

New research suggests that Earth could be a very unique planet.

This is not the first time researchers suggest that our world is special. Our solar system differs from all known systems, and many exoplanets or planets outside our solar system challenge conventional Planet-Formation theories. They tend to be more or less weird.

A recent study compared Earth’s chemical composition to that of known exoplanets. A brief article in New Scientist summarises the findings:

“Vardan Adibekyan of the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences, Portugal, and colleagues looked at stars with a similar mass and radius to the sun that are known to have planets in their habitable zones, where water stays liquid. They found that these stars tended to have less iron and other metals than stars that host only inhospitable worlds.”

For researchers who base their understanding of the universe on cosmic evolution, Earth’s uniqueness is a hard nut to crack. Adibekyan and colleagues speculate that planets in our galaxy’s habitable zones “were more likely to form in our galaxy’s distant past.”

However, this begs the question. The take away message of this research is that our planet is unique and astronomers do not know why it is so special.

The answer is not flying in the wind – or even floating in space. It can be read in the first chapter of the Bible. God created the Earth to be habitable.

There’s no place like home.

Source:

Scoles, Sarah. 2015. Earth’s composition might be unusual for a planet with life. New Scientist (15 September).

Our Genome Is ”A Complex Orchestra,” Scientists Say

Researchers compare the human genome to a complex orchestra. Image courtesy of Derek Gleeson, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).




Joel Kontinen

Four decades ago, Richard Dawkins came up with the view that our genes are selfish. However, the more we get to know about our genome, the more outdated his thesis has become.

Junk DNA turned out to be a Darwinian misconception.

Instead of following a bottom up type of design, our genome follows the top down model. A recent press release released by the University of Geneva likens it to a complex orchestra that, naturally, needs a conductor.

According to Professor Bart Deplancke of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne:

“Genetic variation at a single genomic position impacted multiple, separated gene regulatory elements at the same time. This extensive coordination was quite surprising, much like a music conductor (i.e. genetic variant) directing all the performers (i.e. transcription factors, chromatin modifications) of a musical ensemble to change the volume (i.e. gene expression) of the music.”

It would not be very logical to attribute this to the blind Darwinian watchmaker. The conductor would need to see what he (or she) is doing.

Evolution never predicted that our genomes would be very dynamic, with quality control and tiny molecular machines.

Moreover, this kind of dynamic complexity is seen in other creatures as well.

Source:

University of Geneva. 2015. The human genome: A complex orchestra. EurekAlert! (20 August).

More Evidence for Noah’s Flood: Whale Fossilised With Its Last Meal Undigested

Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris). Image courtesy of the NOAA Photo Library, Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0).




Joel Kontinen

New research published online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B features the partial fossil of a beaked whale and its last meal consisting of sardinelike fish still undigested.

A brief article in Science states:

“The whale’s remains would be largely unremarkable if not for the large number of sardinelike fish preserved inside its chest cavity and around its head. Because scales of the fish show few signs of being exposed to stomach acid, the fish must have been consumed shortly before the whale died and sank to the sea floor.”

The researchers assume that the whale Messapicetus gregarius is between 8.9 million and 9.9 million years old.

There is a much better explanation for this whale and its meal: the global flood of Noah’s day, which has left its marks all over our planet.

They include animal graveyards and geological formations. Some of them are quite spectacular.

Beaked whales still roam the oceans, so that’s no evolution in this story.

Source:

Perkins, Sid. 2015. Ancient whale fossilized with its last meal. ScienceShot (8 September).

”300 Million Year Old” Living Fossil Confirms Genesis’ After Its Kind Model

Gingko tree in Luxembourg. Image courtesy of Claude Meisch, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).



Joel Kontinen

Evolutionists believe that the Ginkgo biloba or maidenhair tree has remained virtually unchanged for “270 million years” or, according to a recent publication, perhaps even “300 million years”.

While the dates are suspect, the lack of change is not.

Yet it produces according to the Genesis after its kind model, as do other ancient trees, such as the Wollemi Pine and cycads and all animals that we know of, including the ones defined as living fossils, for instance sharks, tuataras, spiky anteaters, koalas and red pandas.

Cavemen Made Porridge, Defying Evolutionary Expectations

Only smart artists could paint like this. Image courtesy of Rameessos, Wikipedia.





Joel Kontinen

Darwinian evolution inspired researchers to assume that human civilization must have evolved from very humble beginnings towards increasing sophistication.

The problem with this scenario is that the facts don’t support it. A recent study upsets the Darwinian palaeocart:

”Going on the palaeo diet? Don’t put down your porridge just yet. Hunter-gatherers ate oats as far back as 32,000 years ago – way before farming took root,” New Scientist reports and then goes on to say:

"This is the earliest known human consumption of oats, say Marta Mariotti Lippi at the University of Florence in Italy and her colleagues, who made the discovery after analysing starch grains on an ancient stone grinding tool from southern Italy.”

While the date is suspect, the research suggests that the basic assumptions of Darwinian thinking were wrong.

Previous studies have shown that cavemen were surprisingly smart; they probably even invented the cinema.

They were talented artists and created sophisticated cave art.

Their weapons were anything but primitive, and as Göbekli Tepe shows, the assumed hunter-gatherers were skilled builders.

In other words, they conform nicely to the description Genesis gives of them.

Source:

Twaddell, Iona. 2015. Stone-age people were making porridge 32,000 years ago. New Scientist (7 September).

Koala – Cute Little Living Fossil Defies Evolutionary Explanations

Evolutionists believe that the koalas have been koalas for at least “25 million years”.




Joel Kontinen

They’re cute and soft – though they might probably bite your finger if they mistrusted you – but did you know that koalas are living fossils that have been around for at least “25 million years”?

That’s what the fossil record suggests, anyhow.

Like other Australian marsupials, they are intelligently designed to cope in a harsh climate.

We might think that koalas are lazy but clinging to tree branches on a hot day is a clever strategy to keep cool that cannot be easily explained away by a Darwinian story.

Australia has a wide variety of living fossils, from the Wollemi Pine and cycads to the Kangaroo Tail (Xanthorrhoea australis), which, by the way, is a tree.

The duck-billed platypus, the spiky anteater and dragonflies likewise pose problems for evolution.

And we shouldn’t forget sharks and crocodiles that have remained virtually unchanged for “200–400 million years”.

In New Zealand, the tuatara has defied change for “200 million years” and further north, in Asia, the red panda has done likewise for “tens of millions of years”.

Source:

Australian Koala Foundation. nd. History of Koalas.

Meet the Red Panda, a Living Fossil That Defies Evolutionary Thinking

Image courtesy of Greg Hume, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).



Joel Kontinen

Some animals defy typical classifications. Thus, there are at least two mammals that are known as a bearcat. They even look somewhat alike, though they have different colours.

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the binturong (Arctictis binturong) are not closely related but judging from their looks, they could almost be cousins.

Both live in – or at least prefer – trees, and are a bit bigger than a domestic cat. The red panda is a living fossil that has not changed in “tens of millions of years”.

Despite its name, it is not closely related to the giant panda.

When evolutionists suspect that distant species have evolved the same traits independently, they often use the term convergent evolution, which is Darwin-speak for a phenomenon that defies evolutionary thinking.

"Modern" Pigment Found in ”150 Million Year” Old Bird Fossil

Image courtesy of Kumiko, Tokyo, Japan. Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).



Joel Kontinen

The dino-to-bird hypothesis puts feathers on dinosaurs and obviously also classifies some feathered birds as dinos. This might well be the case with Anchiornis huxleyi that is described as a “bird-like dinosaur.”

The first feathered dinosaur Archaeoraptor liaoningensis graced the cover of National Geographic. A few months later it was found to be a hoax.

In 2013, the journal Science called for stricter scrutiny for Chinese fossils, as Archaeoraptor might not have been the only forgery that made its way into science publications.

This time, researchers reported on finding pigments and melanosomes in a fossil believed to be “150 million years” old.

Melanosomes produce the melanin pigment.

Research conducted at Brown University seems to show that they have indeed found melanosomes:

“The team performed two different kinds of chemical analyses to see if they could detect animal eumelanin pigment. They used both time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and infrared reflectance spectroscopy to discern the molecular signature of melanin in the samples. They compared those observed signatures with the signatures of modern-day animal eumelanin. The melanins were virtually identical, except for minor contributions from sulfur in the fossil, Carney said.”

Ryan Carney is the co-author of their report published in the journal Scientific Reports.

So, they are willing to believe that melanin can remain virtually unchanged of 150 million years. One thing that they will not question is the purported age of the fossil, because evolution desperately needs time.

For the same reason, they might not be leaping for joy on hearing about radiocarbon (C-14) in dinosaur bone or in diamonds.

Source:

Brown University. 2015). Pigments, organelles persist in fossil feathers: Shed light on original coloration of long-lost animals. ScienceDaily. (27 August).