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Posted on 08/13/2003 9:02:05 PM PDT by nwrep
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By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM, Associated Press Writer
BOMBAY, India - U.S. and Indian scientists said Wednesday they have discovered a new carnivorous dinosaur species in India after finding bones in the western part of the country.
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The new dinosaur species was named Rajasaurus narmadensis, or "Regal reptile from the Narmada," after the Narmada River region where the bones were found.
The dinosaurs were between 25-30 feet long, had a horn above their skulls, were relatively heavy and walked on two legs, scientists said. They preyed on long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs on the Indian subcontinent during the Cretaceous Period at the end of the dinosaur age, 65 million years ago.
"It's fabulous to be able to see this dinosaur which lived as the age of dinosaurs came to a close," said Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago. "It was a significant predator that was related to species on continental Africa, Madagascar and South America."
Working with Indian scientists, Sereno and paleontologist Jeff Wilson of the University of Michigan reconstructed the dinosaur skull in a project funded partly by the National Geographic (news - web sites) Society.
A model of the assembled skull was presented Wednesday by the American scientists to their counterparts from Punjab University in northern India and the Geological Survey of India during a Bombay news conference.
Scientists said they hope the discovery will help explain the extinction of the dinosaurs and the shifting of the continents — how India separated from Africa, Madagascar, Australia and Antarctica and collided with Asia.
The dinosaur bones were discovered during the past 18 years by Indian scientists Suresh Srivastava of the Geological Survey of India and Ashok Sahni, a paleontologist at Punjab University.
When the bones were examined, "we realized we had a partial skeleton of an undiscovered species," Sereno said.
The scientists said they believe the Rajasaurus roamed the Southern Hemisphere land masses of present-day Madagascar, Africa and South America.
"People don't realize dinosaurs are the only large-bodied animal that lived, evolved and died at a time when all continents were united," Sereno said.
The cause of the dinosaurs' extinction is still debated by scientists. The Rajasaurus discovery may provide crucial clues, Sereno said.
India has seen quite a few paleontological discoveries recently.
In 1997, villagers discovered about 300 fossilized dinosaur eggs in Pisdura, 440 miles northeast of Bombay, that Indian scientists said were laid by four-legged, long-necked vegetarian creatures.
Indian scientists said the dinosaur embryos in the eggs may have suffocated during volcanic eruptions.
What was the point of asking for photos that had already been linked?
If you look at the link I gave you, two of the four sources directly address articles from 2001. The article also directly addresses the skeleton bone find.
There are two skeleton bone finds. In one case, Sarfati makes the tiniest nod toward acknowledging the truth. He mentions the early lack of postcranial bones on Pakicetus, doing the usual jeer at attempts to reconstruct from a few pieces. He goes on to say that later Thewissen found "some more bones." He quietly lets the word "postcranial" slip in, but nowhere acknowledges that recent reconstructions are based on relatively complete information. If you didn't know from better sources what he was spinning here, you'd still think all we know of Pakicetus came from two skull bones.
In the other case, Ambulocetus, he's still telling people there are no pelvic bones. Furthermore, I linked the refutation of the "no pelvis" silliness before you even linked the stupid article containing it. Does no good.
Some people on this thread have been impressed with your performance. I am not one. You know only the pig-ignorant AiG strawman version of evolution. And you're just going through their articles one by one, blasting them out. There's no stopping you and it's not an intelligent dialogue. You just fire the stuff out there.
Out for the night.
III. 1 But the son of Annas the scribe was standing there with Joseph; and he took a branch of a willow and dispersed the waters which Jesus had gathered together. 2 And when Jesus saw what was done, he was wroth and said unto him: O evil, ungodly, and foolish one, what hurt did the pools and the waters do thee? behold, now also thou shalt be withered like a tree, and shalt not bear leaves, neither root, nor fruit. 3 And straightway that lad withered up wholly, but Jesus departed and went unto Joseph's house. But the parents of him that was withered took him up, bewailing his youth, and brought him to Joseph, and accused him 'for that thou hast such a child which doeth such deeds.'
IV. 1 After that again he went through the village, and a child ran and dashed against his shoulder. And Jesus was provoked and said unto him: Thou shalt not finish thy course (lit. go all thy way). And immediately he fell down and died.
First published in:
Creation Ex Nihilo17(4):45
September-November 1995
On the lighter side, are there really any differences between us and the inhabitants of farms and zoos?
‘No single, essential difference separates human beings from other animals.’ So began a feature article on evolution in TIME magazine (‘How Man Began’, March 14, 1994). The more I thought about this sweeping statement the more I began to warm to it.
For example, like humans, apes have well formed rational faculties. Their ability to develop an argument, follow a line of logic, draw conclusions and frame hypotheses is quite remarkable.
Also like humans, apes have a marked faculty for language. (This, of course, is intertwined with their powers of reason.) Their vocabulary is enormous, their grammar complex, and their conversations deep and meaningful.
The apes’ ability to codify language in writing is further proof of their close relationship to humans. In this respect, it was most gratifying to see the number of apes who wrote to TIME magazine in response to the article on ‘How Man Began’. I was particularly interested to follow the line of reasoning of the orangutan who argued that apes had evolved from humans, not vice versa.
Like humans, apes also have a strong spirit of inquiry. Their research in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, medicine and physics is noteworthy.
Apes also (again, like humans) yearn for meaning in life. This is why they devote so much of their time to philosophy, theology and ethics. The religious sentiments and practices of all apes can be traced back to their intense and endless quest for meaning.
Apes are concerned about questions not only of origin but also of destiny. The best proof I can offer for this claim is the maxim by one famous ape philosopher who said, ‘Whether my life leads ultimately to the dirt or to the Judgment, either way, I've got a problem.’
Apes also have, like humans, a refined aesthetic sense. They admire beauty and long to surround themselves with it. When an ape cultivates a garden, puts flowers in a vase, or hangs up a painting, what is it doing if not expressing a love of beauty?
Again like humans, apes have a strong creative impulse. This is seen in their poetry, painting, dance, drama and music. To a lesser extent their creativity is also evident in the way they gather in weekly craft groups to weave baskets, spin wool, knit shawls, and cover photo albums.
The sense of humour shared by all apes is another proof of their close kinship to humans. Their delight in the ridiculous and their love of a good laugh is plain from the popular ape jokes they tell.
Reason, language, inquiry, wonder, longing, religion, morality, aesthetics, creativity, imagination, aspiration and humour…such intangible but fundamental qualities are by no means unique to humans, as I hope I have conclusively shown. Therefore, in the profound words of TIME magazine: ‘No single, essential difference separates human beings from other animals’.
This being the case, Christians are plainly wrong to insist that humans and animals are vastly different. And they are also obviously wrong to insist that this difference arises from the fact that God created us humans in His own likeness. And if they are wrong to insist that God made us in His own likeness, then they are wrong to insist that God has any claim on us.
Furthermore, if God has no claim on us, then we are free—free to be animals like our evolutionary ancestors—free to be as low-down as snakes, and to make pigs of ourselves, and to act like donkeys.
Did I say 'free'?
Hiss! Oink! Heehaw!
ANDREW LANSDOWN, B.A., B.A. (Hons), Dip. Ed., is a writer, teacher and pastor He is well known for his articles on social and spiritual issues, and for his poetry and fiction.
None of them rang true to my Spirit, but it is quite interesting to note the thinking of various sects throughout history.
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha on the other hand has some Hebrew lore which does ring true. For instance, one recounts how come Abraham left his father and another how Job got into such trouble with Satan. Both of those had a ring of Truth in my Spirit.
We are begining to see the Scientists that are Bible believing Christians enter the fray. The recent genetic discoveries has lead scientists to pursue the science from the logical perspective of life as it was designed.
The differences between homo sapiens and other animals are legion, but evolution teaches us that we are, at a fundamental level, bound by profound similarities. Genetically almost indistinguishable from our closest primate relatives, human beings are not the pinnacle of evolution, but one tiny branch on its great tree.
The lesson of evolution is that we should expect commonalities between human and non-human in almost every respect.
Let's consider the second issue first. Singer maintains that many animals ¯ adult chimpanzees, dogs, pigs, cats and mice ¯ have the same level of self-awareness and self-direction possessed by some humans ¯ infants, the mentally impaired and the senile. If we take the lives of the former to advance medical knowledge and cures, we should be prepared to take the lives of the latter as well. Singer does note, however, that there is good reason to stay a killing hand from infant, retarded and senile humans ¯ taking their lives would add to the balance of suffering in the world by grieving their parents, friends, care givers and children and by rendering all of us anxious about our own future. This reason is persuasive enough to narrow Singer's human categories to severely impaired newborns who have been orphaned or whose parents seek their euthanasia.
Psyche 9(13): 'Is Mental Life Possible Without the Will?' by Bruce Bridgeman
Modern neurophysiology, though, leaves no room for the soul. A neurophysiologist can change our perceptions, our opinions, our motivations and memories by removing or stimulating tiny but well-defined fragments of the brain, or by administering small amounts of a hormone or neurotransmitter to the right place. What seemed a font of life is now part logical engine, part chemical soup, and all vulnerable to outside physical influences. Specific neurological deficits can make us feel that our family members are impostors, that a leg does not belong to us, that others are plotting against us, even that we are ourselves dead, all deeply personal feelings yet driven by ordinary interactions of neurons. Certain drugs or stimulation of parts of the temporal lobe can even elicit religious experiences.
Physical penetration into the depths of the self on this scale allows no free will -- neurons are affected only by other neurons, not by will or effort. The only remaining alternatives are a deterministic mechanism or an element of randomness. Determinism obviously would rule out free will. But the workings of the axons, dendrites and synapses are only determined to a first approximation. Unfortunately the indeterminacy of random errors does not help, for free will is defined as goal-directed, not random. In the neurophysiological context, randomness and chaos offer an escape from predetermination, but fall short of restoring free will.
Until recently considerations of free will have been the purview of a branch of modern philosophy, the philosophy of mind. Wegner makes short work of the philosophers, for without empirical progress there is nothing more to go on than yet another speculation or introspection. The introspection of free will, though irresistably powerful, is not science. And science is just a systematic way of looking closely at the world and at ourselves
It has been my view that the science community needs to address these ideological exploitations (or potential exploitations as in the last article) --- with great urgency.
Aha, found the other Infancy gospel here: Infancy Gospel of Thomas. I've excerpted the most odd passages below.Yes, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas! I remember my 1st grade nun teacher telling us those stories. She called them "Jesus stories". It wasn't until a few years ago, when I read those other gospels, that I realized that these stories could have been added to the official canon.
I don't remember which gospel contains what story, but I especially liked the stories of Mary, Joseph, & baby Jesus during their refugee flight into Egypt, and how baby Jesus' used bathwater cured the sick & those suffering from spells. (Like the man whose girlfriend had turned him into a donkey.)
Then there are the stories of Jesus as a boy. The son of Annas the scribe, IIRC, destroyed a dam or irrigation ditch or something that Jesus & his friends had been building in the mud. (I.e. they were making "play ditches, play dams", etc.) He destroyed their "work" because they were "building" things on the Sabbath. Jesus had also formed a couple birds out of the mud. When Annas' son was about to destroy them as well, Jesus commanded the birds to fly away, and they did!
Then there's the story of what transpired when the crucified Jesus spent those couple days in Hell, arguing with Satan - and Hell itself joins the argument!
They're a fascinating collection of stories, and a rip-roaring read besides. And realizing that most of these extra gospels were written around the same time as the "official" gospels - and taken just as seriously by some at the time - really throws light on how we should view all those stories of miracles in the "official" gospels.
I'm sure you'll enjoy the Pseudepigrapha. A lot of the books are yawners, but there are some pearls in there, too.
The bottom line is what rings true to the Spirit within us:
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