”3.5- Billion -Year- Old” Ecosystems Are Complex

Stromatolities.





Joel Kontinen

A recent article in Science Daily begins with the words, “Reconstructing the rise of life during the period of Earth's history when it first evolved is challenging.”

It certainly is, as it is a well-established fact that life only comes from life.

Now, research published in Astrobiology on “the well-preserved remnants of a complex ecosystem in a nearly 3.5 billion-year-old sedimentary rock sequence in Australia” pushes back the emergence of complex ecosystems by 300 million years.

According to the Darwinian paradigm, early life was not supposed to be complex and it was not supposed to emerge too early.

The article continues:

“The Pilbara district of Western Australia constitutes one of the famous geological regions that allow insight into the early evolution of life. Mound-like deposits created by ancient photosynthetic bacteria, called stromatolites, and microfossils of bacteria have been described by scientists in detail. However, a phenomenon called microbially induced sedimentary structures, or MISS, had not previously been seen in this region. These structures are formed from mats of microbial material, much like mats seen today on stagnant waters or in coastal flats.”

The article also speculates on life on Mars. However, the take away message is that if life emerged very early, evolutionists will soon find that there was no time for it to evolve.

And if it did not evolve, it was created.


Source:

Evidence of 3.5-Billion-Year-Old Bacterial Ecosystems Found in Australia. Science Daily November 12, 2013.

Dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?

Dinosaurs on the ark? Yes.




Joel Kontinen

Were there dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark? If we take the Bible seriously, we’ll believe that there were.

Dinosaurs were land animals, and God told Noah to take two animals of each kind on the ark.

A brief That’s a Fact video produced by the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) features dinosaurs and Noah’s ark.

Watch the video here.

8.8 Billion Earth-Sized Planets Found?

An artist's impression of Kepler-69c. Image courtesy of NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech.





Joel Kontinen

Science headlines in the popular press are often interesting. Recently, Fox news entertained us with this “fact”: At least 8.8 billion Earth-size, just-right planets found, study says.

This reminds one of the buzz that occurs each time a new fossil is found. The headlines almost always get it wrong – very wrong.

So what did astronomers actually find?

Nothing.

According to Fox news, “Astronomers using NASA data have calculated for the first time that in our galaxy alone, there are at least 8.8 billion stars with Earth-size planets in the habitable temperature zone. The study was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.”

The number (i.e., 8.8 billion) is merely an assumption, however. Later on the article states: “Kepler has identified only 10 planets that are about Earth's size circling sun-like stars and are in the habitable zone, including one called Kepler 69-c.”

There’s still no place like home.

Source:

At least 8.8 billion Earth-size, just-right planets found, study says. Fox news. 5 November 2013.

The Death of Early Man Theories

Dmanisi skull 5. Image courtesy of Guram Bumbiashvili, Georgian National Museum.





Joel Kontinen

The recent discovery of a skull in Dmanisi in Georgia by anthropologists from the University of Zurich has demolished Darwinian thinking on our ancestors. Previously, researchers “knew” that the genus Homo consisted of Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo rudolfensis and Homo ergaster.

This thinking was mostly based on a few isolated fragmentary skulls and bone parts, each displaying a different trait. It has turned out to be very problematic. Dr. Marcia Ponce de León acknowledges, “At present there are as many subdivisions between species as there are researchers examining this problem.”

Researchers dated the Dmanisi skull as 1.85 million years old and categorised it as H. erectus.

Professor Christoph P.E. Zollikofer’s statement says a lot about how researchers invent species: “Had the braincase and the face of the Dmanisi sample been found as separate fossils, they very probably would have been attributed to two different species.”

Now, researchers are suggesting that the genus Homo only includes a single species.

When a single skull brings down an entire tree one might be justified in concluding that the evolutionary story is anything but robust.

Source:

Unique skull find rebuts theories on species diversity in early humans. EurekAlert! 17 October, 2013.

The Bee Waggle Dance Points to Creation

European honey bee (Apis mellifera). Image courtesy of John Severns.





Joel Kontinen


Honeybees are clever creatures. They have an intricate method of telling other bees where they can find food. The method is so complicated that it took Austrian researcher Karl von Frisch 20 years to figure it out.

The bee waggle dance, as the method is called, suggests that these tiny creatures were created to be intelligent, as this brief video clip produced by Creation Ministries International shows.

100 Million Persecuted Christians - International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on Sunday, 3rd November

Joel Kontinen

Did you know that over 100 million Christians are persecuted right now, as you read these lines?

Following Jesus is not always easy, but in some cultures it is very dangerous. The world hates the true light (Jesus) and those who identify with Him.

Tomorrow, 3rd November, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Don’t forget to pray for those who are being persecuted for their faith.

Earth’s Twin Is Scorching Hot

An artist’s impression of Kepler-78. Image courtesy of David A. Aguilar (CfA).




Joel Kontinen

The more exoplanets we find, the more obvious it becomes that Earth is a very special place.

Recently, researchers reported on the discovery of Kepler-78b, an Earth-sized planet orbiting its star some 400 light years from us in the constellation Cygnus.

According to an article in Nature news, “Kepler-78b travels in orbit about 40 times closer to its star than Mercury is to the Sun; its year lasts just 8.5 hours; and its surface is thought to reach a scorching 2,300–3,100 Kelvin.”

Earth’s twin reminds us of something that Dante could have written. It hardly resembles the bluish planet where we live.

It seems that there’s no place like home in the universe. While this is difficult if not impossible to explain by a worldview based on Darwinism, the Bible tells us that God made the good earth to be habitable.


Source:

Gibney, Elizabeth. 2013. Exoplanet is built like Earth but much, much hotter. Nature news (30 October).