What is the trouble with Iguanodon?

 

Iguanodon. Image courtesy of Nobu Tamura, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Joel Kontinen

When the first fossil was found in 1822, it was thought that it would walk like a dinosaur with a horn at the top of its head, but this was lately found too be thumbs.

”Husband and wife pair Mary Ann and Gideon Algernon Mantell discovered the first Iguanodon fossils in 1822. Gideon, an amateur paleontologist, tried to determine what this ancient herbivore looked like when it was alive during the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago). He settled on an appearance that was similar to a living iguana, albeit giant, because their teeth were similar — Iguanodon means "Iguana tooth."

The first relatively complete Iguanodon skeletons emerged towards the end of the 19th century and suggested a bipedal form. Today, researchers know that Iguanodon mostly walked on all fours, but could move bipedally while using its hands for grasping.

The fossils also had two spikes, which were initially depicted as a horn — perhaps because living rhinoceros iguanas (Cyclura cornuta) have a small horn — that later turned out to be thumbs, according to the Natural History Museum in London.”

The millions of years in this study is all wrong, as some scientist have stated that dinos did not live at the time.

Source: 

Patrick Pester 2024 A sea monster with its head on its butt? 10 times we were completely wrong about dinosaur-age creatures | Live Science 30 December

Massive subterranean ocean found: 3 times more water than Earth’s surface oceans

Joel Kontinen

“This hidden reservoir, located approximately 400 miles beneath the planet’s surface, contains an astounding three times more water than all of Earth’s surface oceans combined. 

At the heart of this revelation lies a remarkable mineral called ringwoodite. This unique rock type possesses an extraordinary ability to trap water within its crystal structure. Geophysicist Steve Jacobsen, a key member of the research team, explains, “The ringwoodite is like a sponge, soaking up water. There’s something very special about the crystal structure of ringwoodite that allows it to attract hydrogen and trap water.”

This discovery  shows  that the Genesis Flood  was real.  Some evolutionist think that it shows  the origin of water on our planet but it does not show how out planet formed  in the beginning.

Source:

Samir Sebti 2024 Massive subterranean ocean found : 3 times more water than Earth's surface oceans combined December 16.

Could 2025 be the year we finally start to understand dark energy?

 

A map of 31 million galaxies created by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument will be released next year, and could shed light on the origins of this mysterious force. 

Image courtesy of SI Collaboration/KPNO/NOIRL​ab

Joel Kontinen

Dark energy is one the secrets of the universe.  According to evolution, it holds most of the material there but we do not know that  it exists.  Some scientists say that it does not.

Dark energy is one of big bangs problem.

We think dark energy makes up most of the universe, but we have no idea what it actually is. In 2025, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in Arizona may offer clues, particularly in relation to how this strange force has changed as the universe matured.

“Either there is some new form of dark energy that we don’t know about yet or this could be a paradigm shift, maybe [the data will show] that there is something we don’t understand about space and time.”

Source:

Karmela Padavic-Callaghan 2024 Could 2025 be the year we finally start to understand dark energy? | New Scientist 23 December 

Newly identified scorpion species ‘spits’ venom to defend itself

 

Image courtesy of Léo Laborieux

Joel Kontinen

A scorpion has a new way to protect itself. It sprays venom to defend itself from predators. It seem in this incident this cannot be explained by evolution. It has to do with intelligent design playing a part.

A Colombian scorpion that is new to science can spray venom from its stinger to hit something up to 35 centimetres away rather than always having to inject it. The tactic is thought to be a way of defending against would-be predators.

Source:

Michael Le Page 2024 Newly identified scorpion species ‘spits’ venom to defend itself | New Scientist 24 December 

Hairy ‘orangutan pitcher plant’ discovered in Borneo

 Image courtesy of Alviana Damit

Joel Kontinen

A newly described species of giant pitcher plant is one of the biggest ever found, with leaves covered in fur the same colour as orangutans.

According to evolution, some species die out after they have successfully lived for a while. However, a new species of flower found in Malaysia shows this is not true.  

A newly described species of pitcher plant, one of the largest and furriest ever found, has been identified on a wild mountain in Borneo, Malaysia.

The underside of the leaves of Nepenthes pongoides are covered in thick, rust-coloured fur, inspiring the team who found the plant in May 2023 to name it after the local Borneo orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) who share the Meliau range in central Sabah.

Source:

 James Woodford 2024 Hairy ‘orangutan pitcher plant’ discovered in Borneo | New Scientist 20 December 

Eart had a mini-moon for two months

There may be more moon-born asteroids near Earth than we thought

Image courtesy of ESA/P.Carril

Joel Kontinen

What do we say about a mini moon for some two months that followed Earth for  about 2 months? Some scientist say that it appears to have originated from the moon.

This is just Darwinian storytelling.  

“The asteroid, called 2024 PT5, is about 10 metres wide. Spotted in August, it was later snared by Earth’s gravitational pull, becoming a second moon of our planet, referred to as a mini-moon. It was visible between September and November.”

Source:

Jonathan O’Callaghan 2024 Earth had a temporary mini-moon that was a chunk of the real moon | New Scientist 17 December 

 

Earliest known sabre-toothed predator hunted "270 million years" ago

 Image courtesy of Henry Sutherland Sharpe

Joel Kontinen

The oldest known sabre-toothed animal hunted large prey 270 million years ago – and its newly discovered remains could help us unravel how early mammal relatives became warm-blooded.

The first laned-based predators typically hunted relatively small prey. But things changed about 273 million years ago, when an event known as Olson’s Extinction shook up ecosystems around the world. Afterwards, much larger tgerrestrial herbivores began appearing – and predators needed new weapons to dispatch such large prey, says Josep Fortuny at the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Institute of Palaeontology in Barcelona, Spain.

This might help explain why the fossilised partial skeleton of an ancient predator – which Fortuny and his colleagues have just discovered on the Spanish island of Mallorca – had sabre teeth. These fangs are better at injuring large prey, as opposed to grasping and holding smaller animals. “It was the first opportunity to have this type of tool to prey on herbivores,” says Fortuny.

Evolution  relies on the concept of  millions of years, without it evolution would not be possible as it needs time to do  its story.

Source:

 Colin Barras 2024 Earliest known sabre-toothed predator hunted 270 million years ago | New Scientist17 December 

Magic mushrooms found in Africa are a species new to science

 

Image courtesy of Cathy Sharp

Joel Kontinen

A fungus named Psilocybe ochraceocentrata is the closest relative of a widely cultivated psychedelic mushroom, giving clues to their evolutionary origins.

Can evolution bring up new species? However, the scientist have discovered a new species in Africa.  

Psychedelic mushrooms growing in southern Africa have been identified as a new species that is the closest relative of Psilocybe cubensis, the most well-known magic mushroom species. The discovery brings scientists a step closer to understanding the evolutionary origins of these psychoactive fungi.

But they were not brought about by evolution.

Alex Bradshaw at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and his colleagues have named the newly described species Psilocybe ochraceocentrata, because of the ochre colour in the centre of the cap. It was collected from multiple sites across Zimbabwe and South Africa between 2013.

Source:

James Woodford 2024 Magic mushrooms found in Africa are a species new to science | New Scientist 12 December 

Ancient genomes reveal when modern humans and Neanderthals interbred

 

Illustration of modern humans who lived in Europe about 45,000 years ago

Image courtesy of Tom Btörklund

Joel Kontinen

The oldest genomes ever recovered from modern humans have shown that they interbred with the Neanderthals.

For those who believe in progressive creationism, this comes as a shock. They believe that Neandertals were not human. But now science has proved that they are.

Modern humans and Neanderthals interbred over a sustained period of around 7000 years, probably in the eastern Mediterranean. That is according to two studies that trace how these two hominins hybridised in unprecedented detail.

“The vast majority of the Neanderthal gene flow… occurred in a single, shared, extended period,” says Priya Moorjani at the University of California, Berkeley.

The studies confirm that modern humans acquired important gene variants by mixing with Neanderthals.

 Source: 

Michael Marshall 2024 Ancient genomes reveal when modern humans and Neanderthals interbred | New Scientist 12 December

Earth may have had its water delivered by a vast cloud of vapour

 

Image courtesy of ESA/Hubble NASA, ESA, M.A. Garlick (space-art.co.uk), University of Warwick, and University of Cambridge.

Joel Kontinen

Rather than getting its water from impacts, our planet may have drawn in water vapour after the sun boiled it off early icy asteroids.

The sun may have created a vast mass of water gas by heating asteroids.

ESA/Hubble Copyright: NASA, ESA, M.A. Garlick (space-art.co.uk), University of Warwick, and University of Cambridge.

Where did Earth get its water? According to the Darwinian way, it got it from asteroids.  There is no proof of this, so it is just evolutionary speculation.

”A vast cloud of vapour expelled from boiled asteroids may have lingered in the solar system for millions of years before raining down on Earth, according to a new idea for how our planet got its water.

The origin of Earth’s water has long puzzled scientists. It is hard to argue that our planet has always had the water we see today, because the young sun would have been got its water from asteroids.”

But Genesis paints a different story, the Earth has always had water.

Source:

Alex Wilkins 2024 Earth may have had its water delivered by a vast cloud of vapour | New Scientist 11 December

PLO official thanks Pope Francis for his “unwavering support for the Palestinian cause.”

Joel Kontinen

A Nativity scene featuring baby Jesus in a keffiyeh-wrapped cradle was unveiled by the Vatican in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday.

The display, which was created by two artists from Bethlehem, Johnny Andonia and Faten Nastas Mitwasi, depicted Jesus laying on top of the checkered black and white scarf that is a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.

The scene erased the historical fact that Jesus was born to two Jewish parents in the then-Roman district of Judea.

Speaking at the scene, Pope Francis said that the Nativity exhibit is a reminder for the world to “remember the brothers and sisters, who, right there [in Bethlehem] and in other parts of the world, are suffering from the tragedy of war.”

He then slammed the international arms trade and added, “enough war, enough violence!”

On Sunday, Pope Francis hosted PLO executive committee member Ramzi Khouri at the Vatican.

Khouri is a close confidant of Holocaust-denying and terror-funding Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

During their meeting, Khouri expressed “deep gratitude for the Pope’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and his tireless efforts to end the war on Gaza and promote justice.”

In November, Pope Francis supported the allegation that Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group constitues a genocide.

“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” he wrote.

“It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”

In a letter to Middle Eastern Catholics released on the first anniversary of the October 7th terror onslaught, Pope Francis did not mention Jesus n the Hamas terror group or condemn their atrocities for the outbreak of the war.

Rather, Pope Francis addressed the “people of Gaza, long embattled and in dire straits. You are in my thoughts and prayers daily.”

He did not acknowledge the Israelis displaced from their homes or suffering near-daily bombing by the Hezbollah terror group.

But the Pope did not rely on what the Bible teaches. that Jesus was a Jew, born of Jewish parents

Source: 

World Israel News Staff 2024  Vatican Nativity scene features 'Palestinian,' keffiyeh-clad Jesus | World Israel News December 9

 

Flying robot leaps upwards and then takes to the air like a bird

 

Joel Kontinen

A bird-inspired robot called RAVEN can walk, hop and jump into flight, an abFlying robot leaps upwards and then takes to the air like a birdility that could help people develop fixed-wing drones that can take off and land anywhere

Humans have recently made that can jump into the air like a bird this would eliminate the need for runways for small fixed winged drones.

“Birds use the powerful explosive force generated by their legs to leap into the air and start flying, but building a robot that can withstand the strong acceleration and forces involved in doing that has proved difficult. ”

This is a case for intelligent design. It relies also on biomimicry. Biomimicry or biomimetics has recently become a success, that is, copying amazing design seen in nature, has become a flourishing research field.

Now, Won Dong Shin at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL) and his colleagues have built a flying propellered robot called RAVEN that can walk, hop and jump into the air to start flying, with legs that work like a bird’s.

“Fixed-wing vehicles, like airplanes, always require a runway or a launcher, which is not found everywhere. It really requires designated infrastructure to make an  airplane take off,” says Shin. “But if you see a bird, they just walk around, jump and take off. For them, it’s quite easy. They don’t need any external assistance.”

Unlike real birds’ legs, which have joints at the hip, knee and ankle, RAVEN’s legs have just two joints, at the hip and knee, that are powered by motors. There is also a spring in each foot that can store and release elastic energy. Using fewer components meant that Shin and his team could keep RAVEN to a weight of around 600 grams, similar to that of a crow.

Source: 

Alex Wilkins 2024 Flying robot leaps upwards and then takes to the air like a bird | New Scientist4 December

 

James Webb Space Telescope smashes its own record to find the earliest galaxies that ever existed

 Image courtesy  of Esa/Webb, NASA & CSA, O. Nayak, M. Meixner.

 Joel Kontinen

A new surview has just announced that the James Webb Space Telescope  “has spotted five galaxy candidates dating to just 200 million years after the Big Bang”.

According to evolutionists, the “13.6 billion light-years away and just 200 million years after the Big Bang, are five galaxy candidates are the earliest ever detected”.

There is a problem with dating methods, since according to evolution, space events  are always counted in millions of years.  

Source:

Ben Turner 2024 James Webb Space Telescope smashes its own record to find the earliest galaxies that ever existed | Live Science 3 December

Revisiting the mid-Pleistocene transition ocean circulation crisis

 

Image courtesy of Johann Klages

Joel Kontinen

A study that has probably evolution and millions of years together has been published In Science. It deals with the millions of years before our time.

The study says that the mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT) [~1.25 to 0.85 million years ago marks a shift  in long to the character of glacial-interglacial climate.

The researchers say that  there were  millions of years before our time and a changed climate for some time. They say that this change was due to a change in deep ocean circulation.

Source: 

Sophia K. V. Hines, Christopher D. Charles et al. 2024 Revisiting the mid-Pleistocene transition ocean circulation crisis | Science 7 November