Replies

red blood cells and spongeform [sic] tissues still in her femurs.

No red blood cells have ever been found, period. The "remains" of some red blood cells have been found in some dinosaurs (I have no idea about Sue). Red blood cells don't last any significant time at all. The iron formerly in the hemoglobin does.

As Dr. Schweitzer says: “If it walks like a duck . . . “

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/schweitzer-qa.html

In her Nature article, she also noted that her findings stood everything that was currently believed (a faith synonym) about fossils would have to be “rethought” in light of Sue.

Thanks ElectronVolt.

Image: Mary Higby Schweitzer with the cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex. (Photo courtesy of North Carolina State University).

Eastern Montana's B. rex now yields female bone tissue -- The discovery not only means that B. rex was female, but it signifies the end of a scientific treasure hunt, according to Schweitzer who announced her discovery in the June 3 issue of the journal Science. Researchers have long predicted they would find medullary tissue in dinosaurs, but they hadn't found it until it appeared in the hind thigh bones of B. rex, Schweitzer said. Scientists expected to find the tissue in dinosaurs because other evidence linking birds and dinosaurs is so robust and all female birds have medullary tissue. ... "It was surprising how much interest the first paper generated, perhaps because people have predicted that this (medullary) bone tissue would be present, while no one expected soft tissue," Schweitzer said.

The "soft tissue" is fossil material resembling the original, not fresh tissue.

Dinosaur Shocker by Helen Fields, Smithsonian magazine, May 2006 -- [snip] Meanwhile, Schweitzer's research has been hijacked by "young earth" creationists, who insist that dinosaur soft tissue couldn't possibly survive millions of years. They claim her discoveries support their belief, based on their interpretation of Genesis, that the earth is only a few thousand years old. Of course, it's not unusual for a paleontologist to differ with creationists. But when creationists misrepresent Schweitzer's data, she takes it personally: she describes herself as "a complete and total Christian." On a shelf in her office is a plaque bearing an Old Testament verse: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ... Young-earth creationists also see Schweitzer's work as revolutionary, but in an entirely different way. They first seized upon Schweitzer's work after she wrote an article for the popular science magazine Earth in 1997 about possible red blood cells in her dinosaur specimens. Creation magazine claimed that Schweitzer's research was "powerful testimony against the whole idea of dinosaurs living millions of years ago. It speaks volumes for the Bible's account of a recent creation." This drives Schweitzer crazy. Geologists have established that the Hell Creek Formation, where B. rex was found, is 68 million years old, and so are the bones buried in it. She's horrified that some Christians accuse her of hiding the true meaning of her data. "They treat you really bad," she says. "They twist your words and they manipulate your data." For her, science and religion represent two different ways of looking at the world; invoking the hand of God to explain natural phenomena breaks the rules of science. After all, she says, what God asks is faith, not evidence. "If you have all this evidence and proof positive that God exists, you don't need faith. I think he kind of designed it so that we'd never be able to prove his existence. And I think that's really cool." [/snip]

Here are some of the topics from the FRchives:

- cre/vo "great divide" -