Science blog

The pace of change is accelerating. In today’s vernacular, the paradigm shift is happening twice as fast. Technology of today, will be obsolete shortly. In the case of information technology, in less than one year, progress is doubling. Information technology covers more than computers, software and electronics. Researchers are making vast strides in health care issues, medicine and drugs. They are discovering how drugs work and actually the reason why they work. Scientists are now working on the human genome. This is our genetic code. Imagine, they are discovering what makes the cells of the body work as they do The genome projected was completed three years ago that is why we can move so much faster now. The amount of genetic data we can decode is doubling every ten months. The price of decoding a gene base pair is declining to less than a penny today. This is dramatic since the cost in 1990 was $10.00 a pair. It took our researchers fifteen years to sequence the HIV virus. They sequenced the SARS virus in one month and now are capable of sequencing a virus in just a few days. We can now develop models on major diseases. Image being able to reprogram the body to not accept cancer, heart and many other debilitating diseases. My mind is telling me that is the future of my youth. When baby boomers were young, man went to the moon and technology especially space technology became a paradigm shift. Now the shift has changed and the future is here. Where do you think the future shifts will occur?

The arguments for global warming can sound a bit vacuous when discussing temperature changes of only one degree. The impact of the melting Arctic ice cap on animals is much more tangible. Animals and The Melting Arctic Ice Cap There is little dispute that the Arctic ice cap is melting. Since 1979, it has definitively shrunk by 20 percent. The issue amongst most people debating global warming is whether this is because of global warming or just a natural cycle of the planet. From a common sense point of view, it is difficult to imagine global warming is having no impact on the ice caps. The rising temperature of the planet would seem to be a common sense cause of the melting ice. Alas, common sense rarely seems to be used in debates these days. As the cap melts, the impact on animals in the area is readily apparent. The primary problem is the reduction of habitat. Polar bears are the most obvious animals suffering from this situation. The habitat of the polar bears is the ice flow areas around the edges of the caps. As the caps melt, the flows are disappearing and pulling back to the extent that there is no ice on the shores. The extent of the melting is such that a Russian ship was able to reach the North Pole in 2005 without the use of an ice breaker. This lost habitat is pushing the polar bears to the edge of extinction. Various estimates put the total population at 20,000 and dropping. There are, however, positive developments for some species. Recent empirical evidence shows the various seal populations of the Arctic are exhibiting growing population numbers. The exact reason is unclear, but they are appearing more and more in southern regions of the cap, which leads to the conclusion that their habitat is actually expanding. The receding caps are also opening up extensive new habitats for fish. The melting ice is full of nutrients and fish migration to the new opening seas is astounding. Pink salmon, in particular is being seen spawning in rivers far to the north of their usual spawning grounds. In general, the impact of the melting Arctic ice caps is a mixed situation. The polar bears certainly don’t see anything to be happy about.

The Eagle Nebula, associated with open star cluster M16 of the Milky Way, was named for its dramatic similarity to the appearance of an eagle. Located 7000 light years from Earth, it is a component of the constellation Serpens (for Serpent). It was discovered in 1746 by P.L. de Cheseaux but it was not until twenty years later that the famous astronomer Charles Messier discovered it nebulosity. Not naked to the naked eye, it can be seen under the power of a low-to-moderate power telescope. The Eagle Nebula is what is categorized as an emission nebula. An emission nebula is created when electrons are stripped away from molecules through the process of ionization and then recombine with protons emitting quanta of light. Usually the photons emitted lie in the red end of the spectrum creating a red-looking nebula. This is largely true for the Eagle Nebula with much of its glory being due to a brilliant display of red colors in addition to blue and white light. The Eagle Nebula is a heavenly wonder. The source of the ionization in emission nebula is energetic ultraviolet light created from hot stars shining on a cloud of hydrogen gas. In the case of the Eagle Nebula, the ultraviolet energy comes from the blue and white stars of the M16 cluster. These stars are interesting in that they are only approximately two million years old compared with our own sun’s age of four billion year. However, they are considerably heavier which is responsible for the shortening their lifetime to the order of a few million years. The resemblance of an eagle is due to the presence of three tall dark pillars of EGG’s, or evaporating gas globules. EGG’s are composed of hydrogen gas and dust and are so dense that their constituents actually condense under the force of gravity to form new stars. These pillars are light years in length. The dust referred to absorbs much of the pillars’ light, giving it a dark appearance. These dust particles are not like ordinary household dust due to being both microscopic and asymmetrical in shape. Very little is known about them, as they have never been viewed first hand. However this interstellar dust makes up a large component of the universe. Although somewhat complicated, the scientific origin of the Eagle Nebula is both rich and fascinating. The nebula itself is breathtaking, and any chance to view it should be undertaken if at all possible. There are many different types of classifications of nebulas with as many different visible manifestations as the number of identifiable nebulas themselves. Many beautiful images of the Eagle Nebula have been captured by the Hubble telescope, and like all images of nebulas are wonders of nature. 1) Bill Schoening/NOAO/AURA/NSF

Young-earth creationists have a problem. According to their creation model, all the fossil-bearing rock layers in the world need to be created during the Flood of Noah. Fossils, in ancient rock layers, imply that death occurred before the Fall of man, which is contrary to their interpretation of Scripture. The most visible rock layers in the world are those in the Grand Canyon. For many years young-earth creation scientists have invested a lot of time and research into the Grand Canyon. They believe that if they can find a model to explain the canyon rocks, then their followers will probably accept the rest of the earth’s rocks as young. Coconino Sandstone One of the problems that the young earth model encounters in the Grand Canyon is the Coconino Sandstone. I’ve already discussed this in another article, so let me only summarize here. Geologists have stated that this formation of 315-foot thick sandstone was created by a desert environment, and is a deposition of wind-deposited sand dunes. The problem for the young earth creationist is that this rock layer is topped by two other fossil-bearing marine rock layers, the Toroweap Limestone and the Kaibab Limestone. This presents a problem to the young-earth model because if the sandstone originated by wind, then obviously it could not have been produced by Noah’s Flood. The young-earth scientist would have to explain how the water receded, then the sandstone formed, then the water came back and deposited the other layers. However, in the Biblical Flood account, the waters rose, then fell. There were no cyclic water levels, nor was there a massive amount of time during the flood for a desert environment to create a 315-foot thick rock layer. The desert formation of this sandstone would disprove its formation during the Flood, and would disprove the young age of the earth. Several young-earth scientists have attempted to explain this away, claiming that this sandstone was created underwater, and thus is not a desert sandstone. I dispute this theory because their model does not have the necessary forces to create the Coconino Sandstone (for more on this, see Coconino Sandstone). However, that is not the purpose of this article. Other sandstones which are desert in origin will also disprove the young age of the earth. Therefore, the young-earth scientist must discredit every desert sandstone in the world. If one desert sandstone exists with a fossil-bearing ocean-deposited layer on top, it discredits the entire young earth flood model, and proves the old age of the earth. Let’s look at other desert-origin sandstones. I will continually add to this article as I read through the research and discover other sandstones. Navajo Sandstone I’ll start with the Navajo Sandstone. This sandstone is most evident in the tall cliffs of Zion Canyon National Park in Utah. The thickness of this formation varies from 1,600 to 2,200 feet. It is evident from the excellent cross-bedding in this formation and other features that this is created from a desert environment. Below the Navajo there are thousands of feet of rock layers, including the layers of the Grand Canyon. Again, please note…all the layers of the Grand Canyon are below the Navajo. Looking at the rocks above the Navajo, the problem for the young-earth scientist gets even more complicated.. Looking at the Navajo at Arches National Park, there are at least 1,500 feet of rock layers above the Navajo at this location alone. The first is the Entrada Sandstone, which consists of three units, the Moab and Slick Rock members, (which are themselves desert dune sandstones), and the Dewey Bridge Member, which is about 200 feet of marine deposits. Above this is the thin Summerville Formation, siltstone from a lake/lagoon environment. Then comes the most serious problem for the young earth model...the Morrison Formation. This formation has yielded thousands of dinosaur fossils, supposedly killed during Noah's Flood. Above the Morrison are the Dakota Sandstone (beach environment) and the Mancoa Shale (shallow marine). In fact, all the dinosaur fossils are far above the Grand Canyon sediments. The young earth model says the Flood killed most of the dinosaurs1...and according to their model, all the layers of the Grand Canyon were deposited during the Flood2. That is over 1 mile of sediment. The first dinosaur fossils appear in the Chinle formation, which is two formations above the Grand Canyon layers. How did these dinosaurs survive the deposition phase of the flood, which deposited over 8,000 feet of sediment before we see the first dinosaur fossil? Young earth explanations (see sources below) fail to offer a valid explanation of this problem…they make absolutely no sense out of the solid facts of the rock layers. Given the young earth model, the flood waters must have created all these layers. However, you can’t have Flood-deposited rocks of the Grand Canyon, topped stratigraphically by a desert sandstone, the Navajo, to the north of the Canyon, and then covered by more sea-deposited layers. None of these layers above the Grand Canyon, including the layers above the Navajo, can be accounted for by the young-earth model. Evidence From Creation Scientists! Here is the most amazing evidence for the desert, wind-formed Navajo Sandstone. Creation scientists themselves admit it! I don't know if they are aware of this or not. I’ve done a review of the cornerstone book of young-earth proof of Noah's Flood and the Grand Canyon (located at the Answers In Creation website) . The book is called Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe. It is published by the Institute for Creation Research. This book was put together by 14 of the pre-eminent young-earth creation scientists in the world. On page 32 of this book, they are making a case for the Coconino Sandstone of the Grand Canyon. They claim it was deposited not in a dry, desert environment, but in a water environment. Figure 3.10 shows a plot of grain sizes for the Coconino, two modern water environments, and a "Desert Sand Dune." Through this plot, it is shown that the desert dune plots out to a straight line, whereas the Coconino, and the water environment sands, plot out as jagged, irregular lines. This is used as proof that the Coconino is not a desert sandstone. The amazing thing is the source of the "Desert Sand Dune" grain size plots. The first paragraph in the right column, first sentence, gives the source as footnote number 44. If you turn to this footnote, the source of the desert sand grain size plot is "Stratigraphic Analysis of the Navajo Sandstone," published in the Journal of Sedimentary Petrology! That's right! These creation scientists are using the desert-created Navajo Sandstone to argue against the Coconino as being desert in origin. However, the Navajo is overlaid with many fossil bearing rock layers, including the Morrison Formation, with thousands of dinosaurs killed during the Flood of Noah. This can't be! We now have proof, from young-earth creation scientists themselves, that the Navajo Sandstone formed as a dry, desert sandstone, right in the middle of Noah's Flood!!!! Without meaning to, they have proved the old age of the earth! Conclusion The Coconino and Navajo are only two desert-created sandstones. No doubt the desert formations in China and Mongolia would also disprove the young age of the earth. I will post others here, as I have time to research them. Unfortunately for the young-earth creationist, it only takes one example of desert sandstone to disprove the young age of the earth. As you can see, the earth is old, just like the geologists have told us, and just as God’s creation testifies. 1 Oard, Michael, The Extinction of the Dinosaurs. (http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/magazines/tj/tj_v11n2.asp) 2 Austin, Steven (ed.), Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe, Institute for Creation Research, 1995