Note: this topic is from 4/14/2014. Not pinging, just adding to the catalog.
Posted on 04/14/2014 8:43:16 AM PDT by fishtank
Students Surprised to Find Noah's Ark Feasible by Brian Thomas, M.S. *
Advanced physics students at Leicester University were tasked with determining if the Biblical dimensions of Noah's ark—assuming it was properly constructed—could have supported the mass of 70,000 animals. Student Kayie Raymer told UK's The Telegraph that after other "more serious" assignments, this one was "something different."1 What did they find?
The students used 48.2cm (almost 19 inches) as the length of a cubit to estimate the total dimensions of the ark. Using the density of water and Archimedes' principle of buoyancy, they calculated the total mass the ark could contain without sinking.
"Previous research has suggested that there were approximately 35,000 species of animals which would have needed to be saved by Noah," according to The Telegraph, though they cited no source for this estimate. Doubling this number to account for a male and female of each species, the student group estimated that the ark needed to have held approximately 70,000 creatures. To the students' surprise, they found that this amount did not exceed the total mass the ark could contain. Physics student Thomas Morris told The Telegraph, "You don't think of the Bible necessarily as a scientifically accurate source of information, so I guess we were quite surprised when we discovered it would work." The students published their results in Leicester University's Journal of Physics Special Topics.
The students' results at the ark having 70,000 creatures actually exceed biblical expectations, giving further assurance that the ark could hold all that it needed—including food and even water.
Creatures change within the boundaries of their own "kinds" or fundamental forms, so Noah certainly did not need to take on board all "species,"a modern term that seems to bear as many definitions as there are researchers who use it.
What about the biblical detail given in Genesis, which noted seven of each bird kind—probably meaning seven pairs of each bird kind—on board Noah's ark? If today's "species" were substituted for basic "kinds" here, then the total number of birds would probably have exceeded ark capacity. However, creation biologists have been combing the literature for breeding records that help them estimate which "species" likely belonged to a "kind."2 For example, breeding studies link sparrows and finches as within-kind creatures.3 Instead of over 1,000 sparrow or finch "species," perhaps as few as 14 sparrow-finch representatives were on the ark.
Applying this principle to all "species" would dramatically reduce Leicester University's student-estimated 70,000 animals. Creation researcher John Woodmorappe's book, Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study, estimated the number of ark kinds as the number of families of extant and extinct air-breathing, land-dwelling animals, totaling about 8,000 kinds or 16,000 individuals—including the sevens of birds and clean animals.4 That would require merely one third of the ark's volume, leaving plenty of space for provisions and people.
It's amazing what happens when the Bible's accuracy is put to the test. The Leicester University physics students "were astonished to find out that the Ark would have floated," according to The Telegraph.1 How much more astonished would they be to find that the Ark not only could have floated, but could have carried all its passengers and their provisions for a whole year, just as the Scriptures say? Since the Bible contains spiritual truths, discovering that the Bible also records historical truth turns out to be "more serious" than secularized students at first suspect.
References
Knapton, S. Noah's Ark would have floated...even with 70,000 animals. The Telegraph. Posted on telegraph.co.uk April 3, 2014, accessed April 3, 2014
Henigan, T. An Initial Estimate toward Identifying and Numbering the Ark Turtle and Crocodile Kinds. Answers Research Journal. 7 (2014): 1-10.
Lightner, J.K. 2010. Identification of a large sparrow-finch monobaramin in perching birds (Aves: Passeriformes). Journal of Creation. 24 (3): 117-121
Woodmorappe, J. 1996. Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study. Santee, CA: Institute for Creation Research.
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
Article posted on April 11, 2014.
Certainly catastrophism has its place when you look at geology. The Chicxulub astroid, Yellowstone’s major eruptions, the formation of the Deccan Traps, the Siberian Traps, etc. All had major impacts on the history of the Earth. However, their impact on geologic history are decidedly minor in comparison with the movement of the various tectonic plates. Some 75% of the active volcanos are on the various Pacific plate boundaries. In fact one of the super volcanos often listed in various catastrophism discussions, Toba is a product of plate movement and subduction including the accompanying water. There are a number of instances where a hot spot exists on a plate boundary.
However, the vast majority of geological change is of the inch or two a year variety. That creates massive stress which, in turn, result in many types of faults, folds, etc. The 1964 Alaska Earthquake, the most massive we’ve seen by many measures, was related to a thrust fault which moved up to 38 feet in some areas. It was a plate boundary earthquake like the recent, massive Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the Boxing Day Tsunami, Chili earthquakes and even the San Francisco earthquake.
I come to my observations from my background in mining and personal interest over most of my seventy years. While I spent most of my time drilling holes in rock rather than studying it, I did learn the geologic history of four different ore bodies. A lot of the understanding of ore bodies has been consistent over 100 to 130 years. When modern plate tectonics came along much of this prior knowledge fit very well into the overall theories. It works.
Note: this topic is from 4/14/2014. Not pinging, just adding to the catalog.
All that's required is, all 70,000 animals be fed into a juicer and stored in one large container, then the cubic feet figures will work. That would also solve the problem of having to feed them for six months. Of course, all of them would be dead...
With modern power tools it took over 300 man-years of labor to build each of the Ark 'replicas'.
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