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Previous analyses of the hominins from Sima de los Huesos in 2013 showed that their maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA was distantly related to Denisovans, extinct relatives of Neandertals in Asia. This was unexpected since their skeletal remains carry Neandertal-derived features. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have since worked on sequencing nuclear DNA from fossils from the cave, a challenging task as the extremely old DNA is degraded to very short fragments. The results now show that the Sima de los Huesos hominins were indeed early Neandertals. Neandertals may have acquired different mitochondrial genomes...

Many recent studies have tried to understand when and where archaic hominins and our modern ancestors co-existed and interbred. Most of this research has been intent on cataloging Neanderthal gene sequences remaining in the genomes people of European or Asian descent. According to Vernot, "Different populations of people have slightly different levels of Neanderthal ancestry, which likely means that humans repeatedly ran into Neanderthals as they spread across Europe." Where the ancestors of modern humans might have had physical contact with Denisovans is debatable. The best guess, Akey said, is that Denisovans may have had a broad geographic range that...

David the Young Earth Creationist by Lita Cosner Published: 17 March 2016 (GMT+10) Biblical creationists interpret Genesis as a historical record of creation because that is what the Bible does, over and over. We have shown both the Old Testament and New Testament teachings rely on Genesis as a historical record of creation in six normal-length days only thousands, not billions, of years ago. One of the biggest misconceptions that people have about the Bible is that while narrative teaches history, poetry is not conveying historical truth. While the poetry in the Bible does not communicate in the same way...

China Spends Millions Searching for (Space) Aliens by Brian Thomas, M.S. * How much money should a nation spend on space-alien ventures? China is shelling out almost 200 million dollars on an enormous radio antenna built to listen for signs of far out intelligence.1 In the western hemisphere, the US invested millions of dollars in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) project but turned up no evidence whatsoever.2 The ever-growing number of barren and gaseous exoplanets discovered continues to elevate Earth's uniqueness.3 Apparently, China would love to be the first nation to make "first contact." China recently made news...

Major Evolutionary Blunders: Are Whales and Evolution Joined at the Hip? by Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D. * Evidence for Creation National Geographic has a Little Kids First Big Book of… series on different topics. In its Little Kids First Big Book of Animals, pictures show giraffes, camels, bears, and whales.1 Young readers can see they all look different. Animals that live on land, like bears, have legs. But no one has seen a whale with legs. However, upon closer look, bears and whales do have some of the same traits. They both give birth to live young and nurse...

Chinese Femur Refutes Human Evolution by Brian Thomas, M.S. * Evidence for Creation Textbooks around the world contain the well-known illustration of walking apes transitioning into a modern human. I recently heard a college student, raised in a Christian home, say these pictures convinced her of evolution. She probably represents countless others swayed by this simplistic icon. But those willing to question the concept that man descended from apes can welcome the recent study of a discovery from China. It adds to the list of important finds that refute human evolution and its illustrations.

A momentary chirp rocked the scientific world last week when a team of researchers announced they had detected signals from gravitational waves produced when two black holes, with masses 29 and 36 times the mass of the sun, collided over a billion light years away. Since then, scientists have been giddy over the news. “This detection is the beginning of a new era: The field of gravitational wave astronomy is now a reality,” Gabriela González, a Louisiana State University physics and astronomy professor, said in a statement. But why is this discovery such a big deal?

Campaign to silence BBC presenter Dan Walker for his creationist views by Andrew Sibley Published: 18 February 2016 (GMT+10) A row has erupted over the appointment of a ‘creationist sports presenter’ to a lead position in BBC News. Committed Christian Dan Walker—who has previously refused to work on Sunday because of his faith—has been selected to head-up the BBC Breakfast News. Unfortunately a section of the news media has raised rather hysterical objections with an anonymous tip-off to the press from someone at the BBC (perhaps deliberately raising a storm around the so-called ‘Darwin day’ celebrated annually on 12th February)....

What impact does the detection of gravitational waves have on biblical creation? By John G. Hartnett Summary Gravitational waves as predicted by Einstein were observed by the LIGO observatories for the first time on September 14, 2015. The detection strongly supports Einstein’s general theory of relativity published in 1916 where Einstein predicted such a phenomenon. No evidence for violation of general relativity was observed. A binary pair of black holes were observed to coalesce—the first time their existence confirmed. Their distance, determined from luminosity, is about 1.3 billion light-years. The black holes had masses of 36 M⊙ (mass of Sun)...

Your Brain Has More Memory Than the Internet by Brian Thomas, M.S. * Whoever said the human brain is the most highly organized collection of matter in the universe was more correct than they could have known. New research modeled tiny structures within nerve cells and discovered a clever tactic brains use to increase computing power while maximizing energy efficiency. Its design could form the basis of a whole new and improved class of computer.

Order, Order! A Meditation on the Glory of Order in God's Creation Msgr. Charles Pope • January 25, 2016 • In a series of two posts I would like to ponder the glory of something we call order. I do this more in the form of a meditation than a treatise. Some may argue that I am oversimplifying complex philosophical concepts. That may be true, but I am a pastor not an academic. And though I summarize here, I do not think I have been inauthentic in setting forth the concepts and problems that have birthed the modern age....

Universal Genetic Code? No! The basic process by which proteins are made in a cell. (click for credit) The basic process by which proteins are made in a cell. (click for credit) I am still reading Shadow of Oz by Dr. Wayne Rossiter, and I definitely plan to post a review of it when I am finished. However, I wanted to write a separate blog post about one point that he makes in Chapter 6, which is entitled “Biological Evolution.” He says: To date, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which houses all published DNA sequences (as well as...

Genetic Gap Widens Between Humans and Chimps by Jeffrey P. Tomkins, Ph.D. * Increasingly, orphan genes defy evolution and support the Genesis account of creation. These genes are unique sets of coding sequences specific to particular creatures. This is a big problem for evolutionary ideas to explain. In a recent research report, scientists describe a new set of 1,307 orphan genes that are completely different between humans and chimpanzees.1

Modern Archaeology and Genesis by Brian Thomas, M.S. * Evidence for Creation With so many loud voices in our culture asserting that Genesis is a myth, one would think archaeologists have uncovered clear evidence that refutes it. On the contrary, some incredible archaeological finds confirm key events in Genesis. In the 1970s, archaeologists discovered tablets made before 2000 B.C. at Ebla in northern Syria. Among them were found creation tablets1 that say, “Lord of heaven and earth: / The earth was not, you created it; / The light of day was not, you created it.”2 Cylinder seals are tiny stone...

Did God create time? Published: 9 January 2016 (GMT+10) When preaching the Gospel to people of other religions, it is important to make clear that the God we worship is the ultimate being. God is the sole source of all things, He is uniquely worthy of worship, and the fundamental sin of humanity is that we put other things before God. If we don't make this clear, there is a danger that people of other religions will add God to their pantheon, as today's feedback illustrates.

2015: Evolution Immobile by Frank Sherwin, M.A. * Advocates of vertical evolution think their beliefs are as factual as the earth orbiting the sun. However in 2015, science again shows something quite different. Recent paleontological discoveries all point to minor variation and stasis—or standing still. Macroevolution is the holy grail of the secular faithful, but it continues to elude observation in sedimentary rocks and in the laboratory. 2015 is no different with evolutionists surprised to find creatures allegedly "millions of years old" that are just the same as their modern counterparts.

In Genesis chapter 2 the order of creation seems to be different to that in chapter 1 with the animals being created (2:19) after Adam (2:7). Doesn't the Bible contradict itself here? Between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve, the KJV/AV Bible says (Genesis 2:19) 'out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air'. On the surface, this seems to say that the land beasts and birds were created between Adam and Eve. However, Jewish scholars apparently did not recognize any such conflict with the account...

The Imaginary Piltdown Man by Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D. * Evidence for Creation Focused and vividly imagining his next move, the young boy is filled with determination as his mind pictures the football soaring. He runs, positions his legs, and says aloud, “This time I’m gonna kick that ball!” On his back a moment later, a dazed and embarrassed Charlie Brown stares up at Lucy gleefully holding the football and wonders why he fell for her ploy yet again. His oft-repeated blunder over the almost 50 years Charles Schulz produced the Peanuts cartoon evidently connected with people who empathized...

Pluto's Craterless Plains Look Young by Brian Thomas, M.S. * Resources › Physical Sciences Resources › Astronomy Earlier this year, New Horizons flew past dwarf planet Pluto and its sister Charon, rapidly capturing data. That information continues to trickle in, revealing a surprisingly smooth heart-shaped plain called "Tombaugh Regio." The countless craters expected from billions of years' worth of impacts are nowhere to be found. Tombaugh Regio is centered just north of Pluto's equator and contains a western lobe called "Sputnik Planum." After thorough data scouring, researchers found zero craters on Sputnik Planum.

Earlier this week Google's logo mutated (if you will) from its usual form into a Google Doodle adorned with a series of images depicting an ape evolving into a human. Clicking the Doodle led to information about "AL 288-1," less esoterically known as "Lucy the Australopithecus," or simply "Lucy." Many scientists regard the fossil as an intermediary link between apes and humans.The same day, Googling "lucy australopithecus controversy" turned up a different interpretation of the fossil, including several from Answers in Genesis. The apologetics ministry, which focuses primarily on whether evolution or biblical creation provides the most accurate interpretation...