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News:
December 28, 2003
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Top Religious Books of 2003
Books
& Culture Corner: The Top Ten Books of 2003
Plus: The Worst Book of the Year, more good reading, digital books, and
a little Christmas music.
By John Wilson.
Key Discoveries in 2003 Concerning Bible and Science
Archaeology
Radiometric
dating of the Siloam Tunnel, Jerusalem
I think the key news story concerning the Bible was the dating of the Siloam
Tunnel to the time of Hezekiah. This is the first time a Biblical event
has been confirmed by an outside independent scientific source. It seemed
strange that liberals and fundamentalists ignored this story. Liberals thought
that the tunnel must have been dug much later in time (2nd Century BC) calling
into question the accuracy of the Bible. Fundamentalists on the other hand
do not want to admit to the accuracy of radiometric dating. Nature (425)
9/11/03 p.169.
Tel
Rehov excavations near Beit She'an support biblical account of David and
Solomon
The findings, reached through carbon dating by scientists at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the University
of Groningen in the Netherlands, have particular significance to the running
debate among archeologists about the authenticity of the biblical account
of the two kings, and the period and extent of their reign (The Jerusalem
Post). See also http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2003/04/11/MN24970.DTL.
Israel Finkelstein and others contend that the Solomonic gates and structures
are not from the time of Solomon, but 100 years later. New carbon dating
shows that these are indeed from the time of Solomon.
Hoax's
Exposed
The Jehoash tablet and James Ossuary inscriptions are declared to be
forgeries.
See Final Reports on the Yehoash Inscription and James Ossuary from the
Israeli Antiquities Authority.
Biblical
archaeology aims for context.
Scholars search for clues to substantiate scriptural references to Jesus'
life. By Bill Broadway / Washington Post.
Astronomy
Science's
Breakthrough Of The Year: Illumination Of The Dark, Expanding Universe
In 2003, new evidence cemented the bizarre idea that the universe is made
mostly of mysterious "dark matter," being stretched apart by an
unknown force called "dark energy." This set of discoveries claims
top honors as the Breakthrough of the Year, named by Science and its publisher,
AAAS, the nonprofit science society.
This discovery gives more evidence to the Big Bang theory and the expansion
of the universe which most young-earth creationists deny.
Recycling keeps
planets' rings going
Give and take with moons means debris halos can last forever.
Young-earth creationists should no longer use planet rings as evidence for
a young solar system.
The
Strange Case Of The Missing Moon's Magnetism
A 30-year-old riddle over the Moon's lost magnetism may finally be answered,
scientists report on Thursday in Nature, the British science weekly.
Solar storms trip
magnetic flip
Sun sloughs magnetic field, leaving a reversed one in its place. 24 November
2003. "Every 11 years or so, the solar magnetic field reverses, and
the poles switch places. The last switch happened in 1999."
Some young-earth creationists like Hovind deny magnetic reversals.
Firestorm
Of Star Birth Seen In A Local Galaxy. Baltimore - Dec 08, 2003
This festively colorful nebula, called NGC 604, is one of the largest known
seething cauldrons of star birth in a nearby galaxy. NGC 604 is similar
to familiar star-birth regions in our Milky Way galaxy, such as the Orion
Nebula, but it is vastly larger in extent and contains many more recently
formed stars.
According to some young-earth creationists, stars do not evolve.
Biology
New Genomic Data
Helps Resolve Biology's Tree Of Life. Madison - Oct 23, 2003
For more than a century, biologists have been working to assign plants,
animals and microbes their respective places on the tree of life. More recently,
by comparing DNA sequences from a few genes per species, scientists have
been trying to construct a grand tree of life that accurately portrays the
course of life on Earth, and shows how all organisms are related, one to
another.
Nature
Web Focus: Human Chromosomes
Papers presented here serve as the definitive historical record for the
sequences and analyses of human chromosomes - the ultimate results of the
Human Genome Project.
Creation/Evolution
"Arguments we think creationists should NOT use" by Answers in Genesis . I am glad that Answers in Genesis is willing to take a stand against these frivolous arguments.
Maintaining
Creationist Integrity
There is a big verbal battle between Ken Ham of AIG and Kent Hovind of CSE.
Getting
the lies out of creationism: Unleashing the Storm
Answers in Genesis critique of Dennis Peterson's new book: Unlocking
the Mysteries of Creation.
How Good Are
Those Young-Earth Arguments?
A Close Look at Dr. Hovind's List of Young-Earth Arguments and Other Claims
by Dave E. Matson. This is a great point by point rebuttal of Hovind's arguments.
The GISP2 Ice Core: Ultimate Proof that Noah's Flood Was Not Global
by Paul Seely in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (Journal
of the American Scientific Affiliation) December 2003 issue pages 252-260.
Not yet available online. Paul also explains the Lost Squadron argument
that Kent Hovind loves to cite. Their web site is at http://www.asa3.org.
Genome scan
shows human-chimp differences
Variations hint at how our lifestyle is reflected in our genes.
Research
Sheds New Light On Process Of Evolution.
For more than a century, scientists have concluded that a species evolves
or adapts by going through an infinite number of small genetic changes over
a long period of time. However, a team of researchers, including a Michigan
State University plant biologist, has provided some new evidence that an
alternate theory is actually at work, one in which the process begins with
several large mutations before settling down into a series of smaller ones.
The research is published in the Nov. 12 issue of the journal Nature.
Coral reveals
ancient origins of human genes.
A study of coral suggests that ancient members of the animal kingdom slithered
through the Precambrian mud with a hefty cache of genes in common with humans.
Surprisingly, many of these genes are not shared with creatures such as
flies and worms, even though these animals evolved millions of years after
coral. This calls into question some studies that use these model organisms
to unravel the evolution of the human genome.
Earth Science
Geologists
Discover New Class Of Spreading Ridge On Sea Bottom. Washington - Nov
27, 2003
Scientists have discovered a new "ultra-slow" class of ocean ridge
involved in seafloor spreading in the remote regions of the far south Atlantic
and Indian Oceans and the sea floor beneath the Arctic icecap. This is bad
news for young-earth creationists, like Hovind who do not believe in plate
tectonics.
200
Years Later, Geologist Completes Lewis And Clark Readings (November
14, 2003)
Virtual explorer Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences
at Washington University in St. Louis, has teamed up with Lewis and Clark
to provide the oldest determinations of the magnetic declination of America's
interior.
Evidence
for potassium as missing heat source in planetary cores
There's a small problem with Earth's magnetic field: It should not have
existed, as Earth's rock record indicates it has, for the past 3.5 billion
years. Now, radioactive potassium has emerged as a possible factor in its
longevity.
Oldest
ever ice core promises climate revelations
The continuous Antarctic ice core dates back at least 750,000 years - it
may even cover the Earth's last magnetic reversal.
Attack of the Rock-Eating
Microbes!
Some bacteria break down minerals, while others make them. Geologists
who examine mineral transformations increasingly see bacteria at work, leading
the scientists to conclude that if microbes aren't driving the underlying
chemical reactions, at least they're taking advantage of the energy that's
released.
Grand Canyon born
on East coast
Uranium-dating reveals origin of western US sandstone. Traditionally, geologists
have looked at a sandstone's grain types to discern its rocky parentage.
Other clues, such as which way the wind or water that deposited the grains
was flowing, pointed them in the right direction. So Dickinson and Gehrels
instead scrutinized grains of zircon, a uranium-bearing mineral, in the
sandstones. As soon as zircon crystallizes from molten magma, its radioactive
uranium begins to decay into lead. The amount of lead in a zircon grain
therefore reveals when it formed. These ages can then be matched to zircon
ages from different mountain ranges. Half of the Grand Canyon samples were
formed either around 1.2 billion years ago or around 500 million years ago.
These ages match granite in the Appalachian Mountains. Only a quarter of
the grains came from the Ancestral Rockies; the rest hark from the interior
of Canada. Nature 16 September 2003.
40Ar/39Ar
geochronology of the Eocene Green River Formation, Wyoming.
The deposits of Eocene Lake Gosiute that constitute the Green River Formation
of Wyoming contain numerous tuff beds that represent isochronous, correlatable
stratigraphic markers.
Geologists' periodic
table designed
Clever graph shows how Earth's chemicals are linked.
Physics
The
Future of String Theory
A Conversation with Brian Greene String theory used to get everyone all
tied up in knots. Even its practitioners fretted about how complicated it
was, while other physicists mocked its lack of experimental predictions.
Scientists could scarcely communicate just why string theory was so exciting--why
it could fulfill Einstein's dream of the ultimate unified theory, how it
could give insight into such deep questions as why the universe exists at
all. But in the mid-1990s the theory started to click together conceptually.
It made some testable, if qualified, predictions. Few people can take more
credit for demystifying string theory than Brian Greene, a Columbia University
physics professor and a major contributor to the theory.
The Elegant
Universe Of Brian Greene. Moffett Field - Oct 29, 2003
Brian Greene, Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Columbia University,
is one of the world's leading string theorists. String theories are considered
by many as the natural successor to Einstein's cosmological quest for a
Unified Field Theory, or what has become known as the 'theory of everything',
providing a united framework for combining all the known natural forces
(weak and strong nuclear forces, electromagnetism and gravity).
Physicists
Stop Polarized Light, Create Bit Of Quantum Memory Rubidium (October
30, 2003)
In a University of Nebraska-Lincoln laboratory earlier this year a team
led by UNL physicist Herman Batelaan captured polarized light in a cell
containing a vapor of atoms of the metal rubidium. Many young-earth creationists
take articles like this to prove that light is slowing down. Light still
travels at the same speed in a vacuum.
A
test of general relativity using radio links with the Cassini spacecraft Nature
September 23, 2003
p.374 B. BERTOTTI, L. IESS & P. TORTORA. Many young-earth
creationists still deny general relativity when there have been many tests
to show that it is valid.
SPEED OF GRAVITY AND LIGHT EQUAL: Einstein's theory of general relativity passes quasar test.
Psychology
Agnostic
studies God and the brain By Melissa Dribben
One of the most interesting areas is the new field of neurotheology. We
have a God part of our brain that causes spiritual experiences. Is the ultimate
cause God, or just the result of evolutionary survival?
Mutant
Gene Linked To Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Analysis of DNA samples from patients with obsessive compulsive disorder
(OCD) and related illnesses suggests that these neuropsychiatric disorders
affecting mood and behavior are associated with an uncommon mutant, malfunctioning
gene that leads to faulty transporter function and regulation. I am concerned
about Christian counseling that denies the biological bases of many mental
illnesses. Just confessing yours sins and repenting will not heal mental
illnesses. Taking drugs to help a mental illness can be very helpful, not
sinful.
Genes
point to schizophrenia cells
Faulty cells, not chemistry, may underpin brain disorder. See http://www.nature.com/nsu/030901/030901-11.html
also a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center,
University of Cambridge and the Stanley Medical Research Institute appears
to offer the first hard evidence that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,
severe psychoses that affect 2 percent of the population, may have similar
genetic roots. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030910072122.htm
Social
Behavior Among Monkeys May Be More Nature Than Nurture (December 4,
2003)
An unusual experiment with monkeys who were switched between mothers shortly
after birth has demonstrated the importance of nature over nurture in behavior.
Nature vs. nurture is always a hot topic of debate.
Study:
Opposites Should Attract Nov. 21, 2003
Genetic and field studies on the personality of birds, which researchers
suggest could reflect on the behavior of humans and other animals, reveal
that mates with opposing personalities produce offspring with higher survival
rates.
Do
Angry People Live Longer? FRIDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDayNews)
If you're mad and you show it, you might just live longer than those who
simply seethe, new findings from an ongoing study of elderly priests and
nuns show. Researchers report those who failed to vent their spleens were
twice as likely to die over a five-year study period.
Happiness
helps fight off colds
Squirting cold virus up the noses of volunteers reveals that people with
more positive emotions are three times less likely to get sick.
"Wishful
thinking"?
To some, male infidelity is evolutionary. A fierce debate about whether
jealousy, lust and attraction are hardwired in the brain or are the products
of culture and upbringing has recently been ignited by the growing influence
of a school of psychology that sees the hidden hand of evolution in everyday
life.
Other Picks for the top discoveries of 2003
Hugh Ross at Reasons to Believe: Top 10 Discoveries of 2003.
Science News of
the Year 2003.
A review of important scientific achievements reported in Science News during
the year 2003.