New Research: Pigeons Might ”Hear” Magnetic Fields

The One who designed pigeons has to be very clever. Image courtesy of Alan D. Wilson, www.naturespicsonline.com / Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen


Pigeons might have an in-built GPS system, new research suggests. David Dickman and Le-Qing Wu examined how pigeons (Columba livia) navigate. They published their findings in the journal Science.

Dickman and Wu believe that the pigeon’s inner ear receives signals from Earth’s magnetic field. The bird’s cells interpret where the signal comes from and how strong it is.

The navigation skills of birds are strong evidence of creation.

It is not logical to assume that such intricate systems would have come about without intelligent design.

Source:

Cressey, Daniel. 2012. Pigeons may ‘hear’ magnetic fields. Nature News (26 April).

New Research: No Evidence for Dark Matter

The universe should be teeming with dark matter but there is still no evidence for it. Image courtesy of NASA / WMAP Science Team.




Joel Kontinen

According to Big Bang cosmology, approximately 83 per cent of the universe’s mass should be dark matter. (The estimates vary greatly. Recently, Nature news put the figure at over 80 per cent.)

The problem is that there is no evidence for dark matter. The concept is used to explain away some of the problems in the Big Bang view.

Some astronomers think that dark matter does not even exist.

Recently, Christian Moni Bidin at the University of Concepcion in Chile and colleagues surveyed 400 stars in the area near the Sun. They did not find any evidence for dark matter.

It thus seems that the existence of dark matter stems not from evidence but from assumptions. And without dark matter the Big Bang has big problems.

Source:

Cowen, Ron. 2012. Survey finds no hint of dark matter near Solar System. Nature news (19 April).

Leading Bird Expert Shoots Down Feathered Dinosaurs

Famous ornithologist does not see feathers in dinosaurs.





Joel Kontinen

Feathered dinosaurs have become a Darwinian dogma that few have dared to question.

Alan Fedducia, an emeritus professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, takes a very critical approach to this view that he describes as a dogma and current orthodoxy. He does not believe that modern birds evolved from dinosaurs.

Writing in this week’s New Scientist, Fedducia says that the fossil evidence does not support this dogma. He says that many researchers have interpreted fossils found in China as ”feathered dinosaurs” despite the evidence that does not support their view.

Some of the fossils, for instance Sinosauropteryx, have according to Fedducia been dinosaurs that have lacked feathers. Some have been early birds with true feathers.

“If it has feathers and avian flight wings, it's a bird!” he says.

Professor Fedducia suggests that researchers might repeat the mistake of the 19th century ornithologists, who assumed that modern birds evolved from big flightless birds like the ostrich.

However, rather than evolving, flightless birds have devolved or lost the ability to fly.

In other words, the current dogma causes Darwinists to see what they expect to see (feathers), just like some who believe they have seen a UFO although they saw something else.

Source:

Fedducia, Alan. 2012. Is it a bird? Is it a dinosaur? New Scientist 2862, 28-29.

From Scales to Feathers: Is It Science?

The feathers of a Blue-and-Yellow Macaw. Image courtesy of Jörg Groß.


Joel Kontinen

Once upon a time, a reptile with scales was supposed to turn into a bird with feathers. This is what we are told in textbooks and popular articles on evolution.

Many evolutionists (but not all) still believe that dinosaurs evolved into birds. However, there is little if any evidence for this.

Whereas scales are folds in the skin, feathers grow like hairs from a follicle. But feathers are much more wonderful in many ways. Feathers form an intricate system of barbs, barbules and tiny hooks called barbicels.

In an intriguing talk, Dr. David Menton explains how feathers differ from scales. You can access the video here.

(It’s part 3 of the video Does Biology Make Sense Without Darwin?)

Does a Chimpanzee Have a Soul?

A chimpanzee can learn to sit in a chair, but it hardly has a soul. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.






Joel Kontinen

The just released documentary Chimpanzee prompted Jane Goodall, the world’s probably best-known chimpanzee researcher, to take a look at the soul of this great ape.

In an interview in Christianity Today, Goodall said that she believes that a chimpanzee might have a soul. She believes in a higher power that is much bigger than humans. She thinks that chimps might also believe in something transcendent.

Goodall’s view is not a recent invention. The Greek storyteller Aesop (ca. 620-564 BC) already saw human traits in animals. Those of us who have read about the exploits of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck will know that this tendency has not become extinct. Moreover, the film Chimpanzee is produced by Disneynature, so Goodall’s view does not come as a surprise.

We might still see human traits in animals, especially in dogs and cats. In addition to Walt Disney, a Victorian gentleman named Charles Darwin has had an impact on current views of animal cognition.

According to Darwinian thinking, humans and chimpanzees are close relatives. Many natural history museums and school textbooks still spread the outdated assumption that the genetic difference between humans and chimpanzees is only two per cent or so. However, research published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution suggests that the real difference could be as big as 23 per cent.

An enormous mental gap separates humans from animals. Only humans have the ability to speak and create new things. Nothing suggests that a chimp might have a soul that survives death.

According to the Bible, humans are unique because only they were created in the image of God. Only humans fell into sin. Because of their fall, the Creator of the universe had to become a man and live for a while among the people He had created. He suffered the penalty that we ought to have suffered.

A chimpanzee cannot partake of the atonement that Jesus prepared for us. Only humans like you and me can - provided we believe in Him.

Source:

Greydanus, Steven D. 2012. Interview: Why Jane Goodall Thinks Chimps May Have Souls. Christianity Today (20 April).

New That's a Fact Video: The Night Sky

Joel Kontinen


The latest That’s a Fact video by ICR is an excellent illustration of what King David meant in Psalm 19:1 when he wrote: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (NIV)

Earth Day And Other Current Holy Days

Many people are celebrating Earth Day today (22 April). Image courtesy of NASA.




Joel Kontinen

The past few decades have seen an influx of new holy days that are beginning to compete with our more traditional feasts. In February, many evolutionists celebrated Darwin Day. Today, New Agers and other environmentalists are observing Earth Day, and on 25th December some American free thinkers celebrate the birthday of Sir Isaac Newton.

Newton was a creationist who believed in the historicity of the book of Genesis, but free thinkers have been surprisingly quiet about this detail.

Like Darwin Day, Earth Day speaks of the human tendency to worship the creation instead of the Creator. Although God commanded Adam and Eve to take care of the Garden, He certainly did not allow them to worship it.

However, in New Age ideology that draws inspiration from Darwinian evolution people have made the Earth (written with a capital E) an object of worship.

Read more about Earth Day here.