Group

Here are science news items with my comments in square brackets for
members' information and discussion. The link, heading and first line(s) of
each posted, and as yet unposted, item, will be stored on my "Science news
items" page (http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/scnwstms.html).

*** Disclaimer: This material is distributed without profit to CED
members in accordance with "fair use" provisions of USA copyright law
(see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CreationEvolutionDesign/message/11472).***

Steve

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http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1289491.htm ABC Turin
shroud older than thought Rossella Lorenzi Discovery News ..., 26 January
2005 Chemical analysis shows the cloth that formed the Shroud of Turin is
up to 3000 years old (Image: NASA) The Shroud of Turin, the piece of
linen long-believed to have been wrapped around Jesus' body after the
crucifixion, is much older than radiocarbon tests suggest, according to new
microchemical research. Published in the 20 January issue of
Thermochimica Acta, a peer-reviewed chemistry journal, the study
dismisses the results of the 1988 carbon-14 dating. ... [I am a Protestant
and my attitude to the Shroud of Turin was until recently that it was
probably a fake. But I saw a secondhand book coauthored by Protestant
Christian philosopher Gary Habermas (who had befriended Antony Flew),
called "Verdict on the Shroud: Evidence for the Death and Resurrection of
Jesus Christ" (1981). I have only dipped into it, but I was *astonished* for
the evidence that points to it being the burial shroud that covered the
crucified Jesus and through which he was resurrected (see tagline). If the
new radiocarbon date "is up to 3000 years old" then, based on the evidence
that "Stevenson & Habermas present, I provionally accept that the Turin
shroud is the actual burial shroud of Jesus and the unique nature of the
image, is indeed additional "Evidence for the Death and Resurrection of
Jesus Christ"!]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1289507.htm ABC ...
January 26, 2005. .... Early settlers' fires 'made Australian deserts' US and
Australian researchers say settlers who came to Australia 50,000 years ago
and set fires that burned off natural flora and fauna may have triggered a
cataclysmic weather change that turned the country's interior into the dry
desert it is today. ...[This is a corrective to Australia's own `noble savage'
myth. But to be fair to the ancestors of Australia's aborigines, Australia's
climate was drying out anyway "50,000 years ago" and some of the fires
may have been started by lightning.]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4204789.stm BBC Tuesday, 25 January,
2005 ... Ancient inbreeding caused disease Early man had fewer mates to
choose from Many of the illnesses we suffer today are down to our
ancestors not having enough choice in the mating game, UK researchers
believe. Inbreeding over the millennia has left us with "sloppy" control
over our genes, making us vulnerable to disease. Had there been a greater
choice of mates, natural selection would have removed these harmful gene
mutations, the Bath University team says. ...[This is more evidence that
natural selection does not apply to man. See PS]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1288937.htm ABC
...January 25, 2005. ...Contamination hampers stem cell research The early
promise of embryonic stem cells has received a blow with the revelation
that most human cell cultures used by scientists are contaminated by
animal cells. It makes the stem cell lines, which are used in Australian and
US research, unusable for human transplants....[It will be interesting to see
how this pans out.]

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1288325.htm ABC Hippos
and whales are first cousins Reuters ..., 25 January 2005 Hippos and
whales had a common water-loving ancestor 50 to 60 million years ago,
scientists say ... Hippos are the closest living relative of whales,
scientists say after taking a second look at some 40-million-year-old
fossils that may be a "missing link". Although hippos and whales don't look
alike, a genetic study has suggested they are close. ... [The is not new,
see Ursing B.M. & Arnason U., "Analyses of mitochondrial genomes strongly
support a hippopotamus-whale clade," Proceedings: Biological Sciences, 7
December 1998, Vol. 265, No. 1412, pp.2251.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/rsl/rpb/1998/00000265/00001412/art00002]

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=440123 ABCNEWS
Scientists Create Petrified Wood in Days Researchers at National Science
Laboratory in Washington Create Petrified Wood in Just Days The
Associated Press Jan. 25, 2005 - Researchers at a national science
laboratory in south-central Washington have found a way to achieve in
days what takes Mother Nature millions of years converting wood to
mineral. ... [Explains what petrified wood is, i.e. silicon carbide.]

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=440126 ABCNEWS
Report: Global Warming at Critical Point Global Warming Approaching
Point of No Return, According to International Climate Change Report
The Associated Press Jan. 25, 2005 - Global warming is approaching the
point of no return, after which widespread drought, crop failure and rising
sea levels will be irreversible, an international climate change task force
warned Monday. It called on the Group of 8 leading industrial nations to
cut carbon emissions, double their research spending on technology and
work with India and China to build on the Kyoto Protocol for cuttings
emissions of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" blamed for
global warming. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4202649.stm BBC
Monday, 24 January, 2005, 16:54 GMT Climate crisis near 'in 10 years' By
Alex Kirby BBC News website environment correspondent People are
worried by climate change, Stephen Byers says The world may have little
more than a decade to avert catastrophic climate change, politicians and
scientists say. A report by the International Climate Change Taskforce says
it is vital that global temperatures do not rise by more than 2C above pre-
industrial levels. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels that would trigger this
rise could possibly be reached in about 10 years or so. ... [See Luke
21:25-27]

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=437203 ABCNEWS
Methane Rain, River Beds Found on Titan Methane Rain and River Beds
and Deserts Found on Saturn Moon Titan, Scientists Say The Associated
Press Jan. 24, 2005 - Saturn's largest moon apparently is lashed regularly
by rain made of liquid methane, forming pools, cutting river beds and
eroding rocks in much the same way that forces have shaped the Earth,
scientists said. ... [What evidence is there that the Earth ever had
"rain made of liquid methane"? Especially since the *Boiling* point
of methane is *-161.6 °C*
(http://www.airliquide.com/en/business/products/gases/gasdata/index.asp?GasID=41\
)!]

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=421532
ABCNEWS Does Deep Earth Host Untapped Fuel? Experiment With
Diamonds Hints at Untapped Fuel in Deep Earth Jan. 18, 2005 - Thomas
Gold ... was a brilliant professor of astronomy at Cornell University .... His
most controversial idea was among his last... that hydrocarbons are formed
deep underground by geological processes and not just below the surface
by biological decay, there is increasing evidence that he may have been on
to something.. ... [No doubt there are lots of untapped mineral riches in
" in Deep Earth". The problem is in extracting them at a cost which is less
than the benefit.]
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PS: Here is an update to sub-section PE 9.4.13 of my "Problems of
Evolution" (http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/pe00cont.html) book
outline, "Natural selection ... Does not apply to humans":

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http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/pe09mch2.html#mchnsmntrlslctndsntplythmns
"PROBLEMS OF EVOLUTION": 9. MECHANISMS [...]
4. Natural selection [...]
13. Does not apply to humans
Two recent studies have cast doubt on natural selection's applicabilty to
man. First, a chromosome inversion called H2 that allows each carrier to
produce 3.2% (or 0.06) children, representing a *huge* Darwinian
reproductive fitness advantage, and has existed for about 3 million years,
that is, predating by the emergence of not only _Homo sapiens_, but the
genus _Homo_, and therefore should have in a fraction of that time
completely replaced the original non-inverted genes, is however found in
only 20% of Icelanders and about 21% of all Europeans (ABC, 2005a;
MSNBC, 2005a; Choi, 2005; Bohannon, 2005; Helgason, 2004). The
second was a finding that low population sizes of hominids has caused a
reduction in the effectiveness of natural selection in humans which
contibuted to significantly accelerated size increase in the hominid brain
(BBC, 2005a, Keightley, et al, 2005). These two studies are more evidence
that Darwinian evolution by random mutation and natural selection has
made little, if any, contribution to the emergence of humans. [...]
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"Jesus and the Shroud. It is revealing to compare the wounds inflicted on
the man buried in the Shroud with the witness of the New Testament
concerning the crucifixion procedure used with Jesus. The correlation is,
simply stated, quite remarkable. Before he was crucified, Jesus was
subjected to a variety of punishments. The Roman soldiers scourged him
(Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1). The man of the Shroud was
beaten very severely. Ricci counts more than 220 scourge wounds on his
body, located on almost every area with the exception of the head, feet,
and arms. Wilson records somewhat fewer scourge wounds, but still
enough to constitute a very severe beating. We have seen how these marks
were most likely inflicted by the Roman flagrum, a feared instrument of
torture which inflicted great pain by sometimes even ripping out small
pieces of flesh with each blow. The Romans also mocked Jesus for his
claims to be the Son of God and the Messiah. The soldiers placed a purple
robe on him and put a reed in his hand in order to jeer him, pretending to
address him as king. They even bowed down to him, imitating worship.
Then, to further scoff at him, they made a crown out of thorns and
forcefully placed it on his head (Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:17-20; John
19:2). This is another close parallel between Jesus and the man in the
Shroud. Numerous puncture wounds can be observed in the man's scalp.
Close examination reveals that these wounds differ from those caused by
the scourging and were independently inflicted. The gospels also relate
that Jesus was repeatedly struck in the face (Matthew 27:30; Mark 15:19;
Luke 22:63-64; John 19:3). Such a beating can be observed in the image
on the Shroud. The man has several bruises and swellings around both
eyes, both cheeks, the nose, and the chin. After Jesus' scourging, mock
crowning with thorns, and beating, he was taken away to be crucified. He
was made to carry his own cross (John 19:17) but apparently stumbled and
fell, since a bystander, Simon of Cyrene, was forced to carry it for him
(Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26). Bruises on the upper back just
below the shoulders indicate that the man in the Shroud also carried or
supported a heavy object. We know this happened *after* the scourging,
because the rubbing of the heavy object slightly altered the scourge
wounds underneath. Additionally, there are cuts and bruises on both knees,
indicating a fall on a hard surface. The left knee is particularly badly cut.
The gospels relate that Jesus was nailed to the cross through the feet and
the hand-wrist area (Luke 24:39; John 20:20, 25-27). The Shroud likewise
shows a man pierced through the wrists at the base of the palms and
through the feet. Forensic pathologists are convinced that the man, like
Jesus, was crucified. A striking similarity concerns the gospel report that
normal crucifixion procedure included breaking the legs of the victims in
order to hasten death (John 19:31-32). The discovery of the skeleton of
Yohanan verifies the gospel report. However, the gospels say that the
soldiers did not break Jesus' legs because he was already dead. Instead, a
Roman soldier stabbed him in the side in order to assure his death. Blood
and water flowed from the open wound (John 19:33-34). Similarly, the
man in the Shroud did not have his legs broken and he was also stabbed in
the side. Amazingly, a mixture of blood and water is ascertainable on the
Shroud. The blood and water flowed vertically down the right side of the
chest to the waist, where it spread horizontally across the back.
Crucifixion was a punishment reserved for slaves, war captives, and the
worst political prisoners. Therefore, there was normally very little interest
in providing the victim with anything more than a minimal burial. Yet, the
gospels explain that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy
man who placed Jesus' body in his own new tomb. Joseph gave Jesus an
individual burial, complete with linen wrappings and spices (Matthew
27:57-60; Mark 15:43-46; Luke 23:50-55; John 19:38-42). In spite of this
attention and care, the burial process was hurried and was not completed
before the Sabbath began (Mark 161; Luke 23:55-24:1). The case of the
man in the Shroud is similar. He was also buried individually in linen
wrappings and there are also indications that his burial was not completed.
... This comparison of the gospel accounts with the sufferings and burial of
the man of the Shroud points to the strong likelihood that the man is Jesus
Christ. The evidence is consistent at every point. The man of the Shroud
suffered, died, and was buried the way the gospels say Jesus was."
(Stevenson K.E. & Habermas G.R., "Verdict on the Shroud: Evidence for
the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ," Servant Books: Ann Arbor
MI, 1981, pp.122-124)
Stephen E. Jones, BSc (Biol) http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones
Moderator: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CreationEvolutionDesign &
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProblemsOfEvolution/ Book: "Problems of
Evolution" http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/PoE/PoE00ToC.html &
http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/pe00cont.html
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