Creation/Evolution in the News

Posted on 2002/09/09
Kent Hovind Arrested for Assault, Burglary
Here - 2002/09/09
Kent Hovind, "Dr. Dino" to his YEC fans, was arrested on Aug 15 for assault & burglary stemming from a dispute with tenants at a house he was renting. (See Comments for details)

Posted on 2002/09/09
NASA Scientists Determined To Unearth Origin Of The Iturralde Crater
NASA, via ScienceDaily - 2002/09/09
NASA scientists will venture into an isolated part of the Bolivian Amazon to try and uncover the origin of a 5 mile (8 km) diameter crater there known as the Iturralde Crater. Traveling to this inhospitable forest setting, the Iturralde Crater Expedition 2002 will seek to determine if the unusual circular crater was created by a meteor or comet.

Posted on 2002/09/09
Life reached land a billion years ago
BBC News - 2002/09/09
Life colonised the land more than a billion years ago, far earlier than previously thought. A geologist at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, Dr Tony Prave, has evidence that some ancient sandy surfaces were covered in a film of bacteria, a so-called biocrust.

Posted on 2002/09/09
The Center's Name Change
CSC - 2002/09/09
As you've probably noticed, we have recently shortened our name to the "Center for Science & Culture" from the "Center for the Renewal of Science & Culture." The former was simply too long and we got tired of saying it. Perhaps you did too?

Posted on 2002/09/09
Vote on evolution next [today] Monday
AiG - 2002/09/09
The curriculum debate is coming to a head in Ohio, USA. Will it become the first State in the nation to let teachers ‘teach the controversy’ about evolution? Even the Cincinnati Enquirer declared bluntly in a 3 September editorial, ‘Teach all the evidence.’ But the signs are not encouraging.

Posted on 2002/09/06
Genesis has no place in science class
Tallahassee Democrat - 2002/09/01
Science tells us that life developed slowly and naturally from primitive beginnings up to the forms that exist today - evolution. ... This is science, and this is what is and should be taught. What should not be taught is Genesis taken literally ... In support of this, ever-foolish syndicated columnist Cal Thomas on Wednesday accused evolutionists of stifling academic freedom by opposing such a move. ... This is nonsense.

Posted on 2002/09/06
Universe might yet collapse in 'big crunch'
New Scientist - 2002/09/06
The Universe might yet collapse in a devastating "big crunch". Physicists have shown that even though its growth is speeding up, it could still start to implode by the time it is only twice its current age. "A few years ago, nobody would even think seriously about the end of the world within the next 10 to 20 billion years, especially since we learned that the Universe's expansion is accelerating," says Andrei Linde of Stanford U. "Now we see it is a real possibility."

Posted on 2002/09/06
Rice code is 'greatest achievement'
BBC News - 2002/09/06
Unravelling the blueprint of rice may be the most important breakthrough genetic science has achieved. According to Drs Kevin Livingstone and Loren Rieseberg, of the U. of Indiana, the recent completion of the genomes of two closely related rice species will allow unprecedented insights into evolution.

Posted on 2002/09/06
Even Neurons Have Favorite Numbers
Nature Science Update - 2002/09/06
When a monkey looks at two dots, apples or other monkeys, single nerve cells recognize the groups' 'twoness', researchers have found. The discovery shows that the brain's ability to deal with abstract concepts can be traced right down to individual cells. Some neurons respond to one item, others to two, or three, and so on, say Earl Miller and his colleagues at MIT.

Posted on 2002/09/06
Dr Monty White (AiG–UK) on BBC World Update
AiG - 2002/09/06
Dr Monty White, head of AiG–UK, was asked to record a three-minute talk for BBC World Update (Radio) on ‘why am I a creationist.’ BBC broadcast the talk last Friday, and today it is airing some of the listeners’ responses, both critical and supportive. ‘We’ve had a lot of responses,’ the announcer admits.

Posted on 2002/09/05
Extra-solar 'planet' an optical illusion
New Scientist - 2002/09/05
One of the 100 or so planets discovered orbiting stars outside the Solar System does not exist after all. Astronomers have realised that what appeared to be a Jupiter-sized planet is actually a giant sunspot rotating around the surface of the star. But they do not expect many other stars will turn out to be bogus, because this case involves a particularly young star.

Posted on 2002/09/05
Speed of gravity to be measured
New Scientist - 2002/09/05
Astronomers at the world's largest radio telescopes are gearing up to measure the speed of gravity. It is the first attempt to verify a key prediction of Einstein's theory of general relativity, which says that nothing, not even the influence of gravity itself, can travel faster than light.

Posted on 2002/09/05
Incompatible Magisteria
Talk.Reason - 2002/09/04
This article analyzes the principal difference between the attitudes of science and religion to the comprehension of reality. It also argues that the approach typical of crank science is akin to that of religion. As an example, Wm. Dembski's concept of "inflationary fallacy" is discussed and shown to be applicable to the Intelligent Design theory itself. ID lacks both explanatory power and independent evidence.

Posted on 2002/09/04
Lost Neanderthal Baby Found
Nature Science Update - 2002/09/04
A skeleton of four-month old Neanderthal, lost for almost 90 years, has turned up in a museum in France. The beautifully preserved fossil could lead to new insights into the evolution of human development and the relationship between modern humans and our long-extinct cousins.

Posted on 2002/09/04
Dino Ancestor's Vision Nocturnal? Researchers Recreate 240MY Old Protein In Test Tube
Rockefeller University - 2002/09/04
Researchers at the HHMI at The Rockefeller U. and Yale U. recreated in the test tube a functional pigment that would have characterized the eyes of archosaurs ("ruling reptiles") and allowed these direct ancestors to dinosaurs to see in dim light. The pigment, rhodopsin, was recreated based on the scientists "inferring" its protein sequence. Their findings offer the first look at a protein that has not been seen in 240 million years.

Posted on 2002/09/04
Tests being carried out on 'yeti' hair
Ananova - 2002/09/04
A world-renowned hair expert is on the verge of proving the existence of a "Yeti-like" creature on an Indonesian island. Hans Brunner is studying hair samples discovered in Western Sumatra which have baffled other scientists. Brunner, an associate of Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, has been analysing two hairs which were found by a team of British explorers who followed the trail of a primate which has long lived in the folklore of tribes people on the island.

Posted on 2002/09/03
Discovery Of The Oldest Human Ancestor Is (again) Called Into Question
American Physiological Society via Science Daily - 2002/09/03
Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba, a fossil find from 1997, has been touted by mainstream science and the press as being the earliest pre-human found from after the ape-human split. But ICR researcher Joseph Mastropaolo will present his findings that show the claim is "farfetched speculation" at the upcoming APS meeting Aug. 24-28.

Posted on 2002/09/02
Cold spelt end of dinosaurs
BBC News - 2002/08/31
Cold was killing dinosaurs long before the asteroid commonly thought to have been their downfall hit, according to scientists. That asteroid 65 million years ago in the Cretaceous period was probably the "final straw". But Australian experts say up to half of all dinosaurs were gone by then, because the climate had got too cold for them to bear.

Here's the arrest record from the Kent Hovind story:

ON 8-15-2002 AT APPROX 1400 HRS IN ESCAMBIA COUNTY FL, THE ABOVE DEFENDANT, DR KENT E HOVIND DID WILLFULLY AND INTENTIONALLY COMMIT THE OFFENSE OF BURGLARY, BATTERY AND-ASSAULT. ON THIS DATE DR HOVIND CAME TO THE RESIDENCE OF HIS TENANT AT 100 CUMMINGS ST WHERE HE MADE CONTACT WITH TRUDY OWEN AT THE FRONT DOOR AND ATTEMPTED TO PROVIDE HER WITH MONEY IN ORDER FOR HER TO RELOCATE RESIDENCY. TRUDY OWEN SAID SHE REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE MONEY ASKING DR HOVIND TO LEAVE AS SHE SHUT THE FRONT DOOR. DR HOVIND THEN FORCED THE FRONT DOOR OPEN, KNOCKING MS OWEN BACKWARDS AND ENTERED INTO THE STRUCTURE AND BEGAN YELLING LOUDLY AND ACTING IN A HOSTILE AND AGGRESSIVE MANNER, PUTTING V/OWEN IN FEAR FOR HER SAFETY.
VICTIM CHRISTOPHER KENUI, ALSO RESIDING AT THIS RESIDENCE, ATTEMPTED TO INTERVENE WITH THIS ALTERCATION, WHERE DR HOVIND THEN BECAME PHYSICALLY AGGRESSIVE TOWARD KENUI, WHERE CHRISTOPHER THEN PHYSICALLY WRESTLED HIM OUT OF HIS RESIDENCE AND ONTO THE FRONT PORCH THEN SLAMMING THE DOOR AND LOCKING IT AND CALLING THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE TO REPORT THIS INCIDENT.
UPON MY ARRIVAL, I INTERVIEWED V/TRUDY OWEN, V/CHRISTOPHER KENUI AND WA/ROENALINE KENUI, WHO ALL CONCURRED WITH THE SAME STATEMENT OF THE EVENT THAT PREVIOUSLY OCCURRED. I THEN INTERVIEWED DR KENT HOVIND IN REFERENCE TO THIS INCIDENT WHERE HE DID ADMIT TO FORCING HIS WAY INTO THE HOUSE STATING THAT THE RESIDENCE BELONGED TO HIM AND HE WAS MERELY RENTING THIS HOME TO TENANT OWEN AND FAMILY. DR HOVIND FURTHER STATED THAT HE WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT HE COULD ENTER THIS RESIDENCE ANY TIME HE WANTED THEREFORE. HE DID NOT FEEL THAT HE COMMITTED A CRIME. DR HOVIND FURTHER STATED THAT HE DID NOT ASSAULT MS OWEN AT THIS LOCATION AND THAT CHRISTOPHER KENUI DID IN FACT HAVE TO PHYSICALLY REMOVE HIM AFTER HIS REFUSAL TO LEAVE VERBALLY.
AT THAT TIME, DR KENT HOVIND WAS PLACED UNDER ARREST, TRANSPORTED TO THE ESCAMBIA COUNTY JAIL AND CHARGED WITH BURGLARY, BATTERY AND ASSAULT. BOND PLACED AT $1,000 AND RETURNABLE SET FOR 9-05-2002.
UPON MY DEPARTURE AT THIS LOCATION A SECONDARY WITNESS. PAUL JEWELL ARRIVED AND STATED TO ME THAT HE WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD DURING THE TIME OF THIS INCIDENT AND MERELY SAW DR HOVIND STANDING ON THE FRONT PORCH AT 100 CUMMINGS ST. HE FURTHER STATED HE DID NOT OBSERVE ANY ALTERCATION.
WITNESS STATEMENT FORMS WERE DOCUMENTED BY THE VICTIMS AND WITNESSES IN THIS INCIDENT TO BE TURNED IN WITH REPORT. BURK, DAVID KARL 312 ID ======================== JEWELL, PAUL DAVID W M 02/06/1975 Addresses (Current/Last Known is Listed First) 5270 N PALAFOX ST PENSACOLA FL 32503 Phone: (850)473-0277 Occupations (Current/Last Known is Listed First) Business: CREATIONS SCIENCE EVANL, Job Title:, Phone: 850 Entered: 08/15/2002

Note that witness Paul David Jewell, who says he saw Hovind standing on the porch with no altercation, is Kent Hovind's son in law & an employee at Hovind's Creation Science Evangelism.

At first I was willing to give Hovind the benefit of the doubt and assume he was trying to evict some bad tenants. But there is some speculation over just what the altercation was really about. Over at the Internet Infidels forum, "Skydancer" noticed that the two victims, Trudy Owen & Christopher Kenui, have different last names. Perhaps Kent Hovind had discovered to his horror that he was renting to people who were living in sin. Meanwhile "Anapsid" found that the address where the incident occurred is not listed as being owned by Kent Hovind, although he does own some property in the area, both in his name directly and as trustee of the "Faith Fellowship Baptist Church". Curious.

I LOVE IT!
I read this stuff all the time when I am standing in line at the local grocery store.
... Discovery Of The Oldest Human Ancestor Is (again) Called Into Question. Who'da thunk?

That story is a curious one. It seems this physiologist, Joseph Mastropaolo, who's an adjunct professor at the young-earth ICR, is a member of the American Physiology Society. So he gets to present a paper at their upcoming meeting. In this presentation he compares a couple toe bones from a 5.4 mya Ardipithecus kadabba to that of a modern human, a modern chimp, and a modern baboon, and he finds that there's hardly any similarity at all between Ardipithecus and humans, chimps, or baboons. From this he concludes: "Accordingly, the objective ancestry analyses for fossil bones assert that the conclusions of Haile-Salassie and Robinson were farfetched speculations."

As I commented here:

Whoa, what's up with THAT???
I think the APS got snookered on this one. First off, the press release describes Joseph Mastropaolo, PhD. as "a leading physiologist and an authority on the study of fossils." Well, as "Charlie D" points out at the ARN discussion forum,

A quick search for Dr. Mastropaolo reveals he is Professor Emeritus in Physical Education (since 1994) at Cal State Long Beach. His latest published works:
Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 1992;65(5):415-20 A test of the maximum-power stimulus theory for strength. deals with weight-lifting.
J Appl Physiol. 1991;71(1):372-4T. Training-induced muscle enlargement. Self-explanatory, I guess.
Previous to these, he doesn't seem to have published anything in Pubmed-reviewed journals since 1972: J Am Diet Assoc 1972 Oct;61(4):399-403. Exercise, dietary intake, and body composition. Johnson RE, Mastropaolo JA, Wharton MA.
No evidence of any study whatsoever on fossils, at least since 1970 (Pubmed limit, he has 4 published papers, total).

Mastropaolo's CV page at the ICR website does list 23 published papers. After a 7-year hiatus from 1992 to 1999, Mastropaolo started writing creationist polemics for creationist publications - five in all. This leaves 19 actual scientific papers. Six of these are from before 1970, leaving 13. Most of the later papers seem to relate to the Gossamer human-powered flight project and to work with NASA on the effects of exercise on counteracting the harmful effects of extended weightlessness.
Judging from his recent The Maximum-Power Stimulus Theory For Muscle, Mastropaolo seems (to my non-specialist eyes) to be competent enough in his specialty, human physiology & endurance. But his anti-evolutionist arguments are as bad as any I've seen. Strawmen. Impossible odds. "Indocrination with occult propaganda." This seems to be a cautionary tale about scientists who go off half-cocked in areas outside their specialization, or maybe Mastropaolo is just experiencing the effects of Post-Cognitive-Dissonance syndrome (PCD).
But enough ad-hominem. Let's look at his arguments:
Talk.Origins has this to say about Ardipithecus ramidus:

This species was named in September 1994 (White et al. 1994; Wood 1994). It was originally dated at 4.4 million years, but has since been discovered to far back as 5.8 million years. Most remains are skull fragments. Indirect evidence suggests that it was possibly bipedal, and that some individuals were about 122 cm (4'0") tall. The teeth are intermediate between those of earlier apes and A. afarensis, but one baby tooth is very primitive, resembling a chimpanzee tooth more than any other known hominid tooth. Other fossils found with ramidus indicate that it may have been a forest dweller. This may cause revision of current theories about why hominids became bipedal, which often link bipedalism with a move to a savannah environment. (White and his colleagues have since discovered a ramidus skeleton which is about 45% complete, but have not yet published on it.)
More recently, a number of fragmentary fossils discovered between 1997 and 2001, and dating from 5.2 to 5.8 million years old, have been assigned to a new subspecies, Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba (Haile-Selassie 2001). One of these fossils is a toe bone belonging to a bipedal creature, but is a few hundred thousand years younger than the rest of the fossils and so its identification with ramidus is not as firm as the other fossils.
From the APS press release and the Talk.Origins description, it looks like the relationship between Ardipithecus and humans was made by examining the teeth, and maybe other parts of the skull. The toe, which Mastropaolo examines and the press release doesn't mention, was found to be "a few hundred thousand years" younger than the other Ardipithecus bones. This description from archaeologyinfo.com mentions some of the evidence linking Ardipithecus to Australopithecus:

Much of the dentition is ape-like and this hominid most likely had a significantly different dietary niche than did later hominids. A small canine-incisor to postcanine dental ratio, typical of all other known hominids, is strikingly absent in Ardipithecus ramidus. In addition to the presence of a relatively large anterior dentition, tooth enamel is thin. Though slightly greater than in teeth of modern chimpanzees, enamel thickness of A. ramidus is extremely thin by hominid standards.
Premolar and molar morphology also point to niche affinities with the great ape ancestors. Strong crown asymmetries, in particular enlarged buccal cusps, characterize the upper and lower premolars. Additionally, an ape-like molar shape prevails. The length (in the mesiodistal plane) to breadth (in the buccolingual plane) ratio, which is roughly equal to 1 in later hominids, is much greater in A. ramidus.
Some important derived features, link Ardipithecus ramidus with the Australopithecines. Hominid-like canines are present. These are low, blunt, and less projecting than the canines of all other known apes. Upper and lower incisors are larger than those of the Australopithecines, but are smaller than those of chimpanzees. This character state can thus be considered transitional between apes and Australopithecines. Additionally, the lower molars are broader than those of a comparably-sized ape. This trait, too, approaches the common hominid condition.
Finally, something can be said of the skeletal anatomy and how it relates to the potentiality for bipedalism in A. ramidus. Pieces of the cranial bones that have been recovered, including parts of the temporal and the occipital, strongly indicate an anterior positioned foramen magnum. The fact that the skull of A. ramidus rested atop the vertebral column, rather than in front of it, suggests that if this creature was not bipedal in the modern sense, it at least had key adaptations toward a similar end.
In other words, Ardipithecus is thought to be related to Australopithecus because of the dental ratios and by the cranial shape. So of course Mastropaolo focuses on the toe. In doing so, he finds that the toe is very dissimilar to both modern human, modern chimpanzee, and modern baboon toe bones. And he concludes that Ardipithecus' relation to humans is thus a "farfetched speculation".
Well, OK. I have no idea if the shape of the toe is likely to be helpful for a bipedal animal or not. So it's an interesting finding, I guess. But the conclusion focuses on a non-essential diagnostic feature to disprove relatedness of Ardipithecus to Australopithecus. It would be somewhat better if Mastropaolo compared the Ardipithecus toe bone with that of an Australopithecus afarensis (for which there are toe bones available) and a fossil pre-chimp. But still, there are those pesky teeth & the cranium that are clearly related to Australopithecus.
The tactic of focusing on a single anomalous feature and ignoring the bulk of the evidence is a part of standard creationist methodology. But of course it's a dishonest leap to take. I think the American Physiological Society should be embarrassed to allow Mastropaolo to make this presentation.

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