Geoscience Research Institute
    — News Archive (May 2002)

DISCLAIMER:  The following links do not necessarily represent endorsement by the Geoscience Research Institute, but are meant to provide information from a wide range of viewpoints and expertise on scientific issues, religious issues, and the interface between the two, particularly in the area of creation and evolution.

MAY 31

• "Berkeley’s Radical: An Interview with Phillip E. Johnson" / June 2002 / Touchstone, v.15, n.5, p.40
• "Sauropod Trackways, Evolution, and Behavior" requires free registration / 31 May 2002 / Julia J. Day, Paul Upchurch, David B. Norman, Andrew S. Gale, and H. Philip Powell / Science, v.296, n.5573, p.1659
• "Best Big Bang Pictures Show New Wrinkles" requires free registration / 31 May 2002 / Charles Seife / Science, v.296, n.5573, p.1588-1589
• Republicans seek to loosen Darwin's grip in schools / May 30, 2002 / John Ibbitson / Globe and Mail (Canada), p.A16 — new law mandates Ohio educators to teach religious alternatives, legislators believe
• Teaching Alternative To Evolution Backed / May 29, 2002 / Michael A. Fletcher / Washington Post, p.A03 — Ohio lawmakers cite reform legislation
• Stephen Jay Gould, 1942-2002: In Memoriam / May 29, 2002 / David Berlinski / Discovery Institute
• Education Reform Legislation Language May Help Intelligent Design Theory / May 29, 2002 / Ted Olsen / Christianity Today
• Faces from the Ice Age / 28 May 2002 / David Whitehouse / BBC
• Row unravels over claim of oldest DNA / 22 May 2002 / Emma Young / New Scientist — Traces of 425 million-year-old microbial DNA have been found in samples of rock salt. Some say this is the oldest DNA described to date. Other experts on ancient DNA are far from convinced.
• What is Science and How Open are Scientists to New Ideas? / 21 May 2002 / Robin Bernhoft / Catholic Educator's Resource Center
• "ASSYRIA: Bringing a Long-Lost Library Back to Life" requires free registration / 3 May 2002 / Andrew Lawler / Science, v.296, n.5569, p.834-835
• "Fossil Plant Hints How First Flowers Bloomed" requires free registration / 3 May 2002 / Erik Stokstad / Science, v.296, n.5569, p.821
• "Not Just in Kansas Anymore" / May 2002 / Phillip E. Johnson / Touchstone, v.15, n.4, p.12
• "'Fantastic' Fossil Helps Narrow Data Gap" requires free registration / 26 April 2002 / Erik Stokstad / Science, v.296, n.5568, p.637-639
• "Evolutionary Rate in the Protein Interaction Network" requires free registration / 26 April 2002 / Hunter B. Fraser, Aaron E. Hirsh, Lars M. Steinmetz, Curt Scharfe, and Marcus W. Feldman / Science, v.296, n.5568, p.750-752
• "Unpredictable Evolution in a 30-Year Study of Darwin's Finches" requires free registration / 26 April 2002 / Peter R. Grant and B. Rosemary Grant / Science, v.296, n.5568, p.707-711
• Ukrainian Knight of Science Disproves Einstein and Prepares Himself for Solving Gravitation's Mystery / March 18, 2002 / Andrei Lubensky / Pravda (Russia)
• Is Nature Supernatural? A Philosophical Exploration of Science and Nature / March 2002 / Simon L. Altmann / Prometheus Books — see also Amazon
• The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 / December 2001 / Brian M. Fagan / Basic Books (Perseus) — see also Amazon
• Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth / December 2001 / Naomi Oreskes, ed. / Westview Press (Perseus) — see also Amazon
• "Historical science, experimental science, and the scientific method" / November 2001 / Carol E. Cleland / Geology, v.29, n.11, p.987–990
• The Age of Science: What Scientists Learned in the Twentieth Century / October 2001 / Gerard Piel / Basic Books (Perseus) — see also Amazon
• Mammoth: The Resurrection of an Ice Age Giant / September 2001 / Richard Stone / Perseus Publishing — see also Amazon
• Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? / October 2000 / Jonathan Wells / Regnery Publishing — see the Icons of Evolution website and also Amazon; for critical reviews, see:
  • "The Talented Mr. Wells" (.pdf) / March 2002 / Kevin Padian and Alan D. Gishlick / Quarterly Review of Biology, v.77, n.1, p.33-37
  • Legitimate Questions of Evolution, or Stealth Creationism? / Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Technical University of Denmark
  • Icon of Obfuscation / March 2, 2002 / Nic Tamzek / Talk.Origins
  • Icons of Anti-Evolution
• Pythagoras' Trousers: God, Physics, and the Gender Wars / September 1997 / Margaret Wertheim / W.W. Norton — a spirited look at the relationship between physics and religion, and the implications for both sexes; see also Amazon

MAY 28

• Avian Quick-Change Artists / June 2002 / Alexander V. Badyaev and Geoffrey E. Hill / Natural History Magazine — exemplars of rapid adaptation, house finches show that mothers know best
• Cloning Can't Be Stopped / June 2002 / Daniel J. Kevles / Technology Review (MIT)
• What Wiped Out the Dinosaurs? / June 2002 / Edwin Dobb / Discover, v.23, n.6 — new studies suggest that dramatic climate changes were killing off behemoths even before the asteroid impact
• Does the Universe Exist if We're Not Looking? / June 2002 / Tim Folger / Discover, v. 23, n. 6 — eminent physicist John Wheeler says he has only enough time left to work on one idea: that human consciousness shapes not only the present but the past as well
• Death of an Evolutionist / May 28, 2002 / John Wilson / Christianity Today — RIP Stephen Jay Gould
• "LETTER: Cloning, Science, and Beliefs" / May 27, 2002 / Tony Picking / The Scientist, v.16, n.11, p.14 — being a scientist does not preclude a strongly Biblical, pro-life stance
• "Designing Science by Politics" / May 27, 2002 / Barry A. Palevitz / The Scientist, v.16, n.11, p.25 — "where biological evolution is taught, the curriculum should help students to understand why the subject generates so much continuing controversy, and should prepare the students to be informed participants in public discussions regarding the subject"
• "PROFILE: Eugenie C. Scott" / May 27, 2002 / Myrna E. Watanabe / The Scientist, v.16, n.11, p.60 — 'giving ammo to the choir'
• Life can go on forever / 27 May 2002 / Philip Ball / Nature science update — an accelerating universe does not have to fry life
• New word in life's lexicon / 24 May 2002 / John Whitfield / Nature science update — researchers find 22nd amino acid in a microbe
• Missing matter glimpsed? / 24 May 2002 / Tom Clarke / Nature science update — astronomers see signs of cold dark matter clumped around galaxies
• Evolution, Males, and Violence / May 24, 2002 / David P. Barash / The Chronicle of Higher Education
• Creationism Scandalous / May 24, 2002 / Ted Olsen / Christianity Today — debate over evolution takes Britain by storm
• Bottom-Up Apologist / May 24, 2002 / Karl W. Giberson / Christianity Today — John Polkinghorne -- particle physicist, Gifford lecturer, Templeton Prize-winner, and parish priest
• Seal of Disapproval / May 24, 2002 / Naomi Schaefer / Wall Street Journal — are evangelical views singled out for discrimination?
• Similar Graphs Raised Suspicions on Bell Labs Research / May 23, 2002 / Kenneth Chang / New York Times
• Image could show cosmos at 300,000 years old / May 23, 2002 / CNN
• Psychology of an Evolutionist / May 23, 2002 / Eric Brandt / Intelligent Design Undergraduate Research Center (Access Research Network)
• Stop the Cloning / May 23, 2002 / David Cameron / Technology Review — forget religion and politics, a top researcher says -- reproductive cloning will never work because biology will always get in the way
• Stephen Jay Gould dies / 21 May 2002 / John Whitfield / Nature science update — public face of evolution dies of cancer aged 60
• Science Journalism with Genuine Balance / May 21, 2002 / Charles Colson / BreakPoint — a new documentary on the Mystery of Life's Origin
• CBHD Denounces Patenting of Human Cloning / May 16, 2002 / Daniel McConchie / The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity
• Killer blow / 4 May 2002 / Kate Ravilious / New Scientist — "A meteor the size of San Francisco hurtles towards the Earth at 20 kilometres a second ..."
• Tool-using Birds / November 2000 / David M. Bird / Birdwatcher's Digest
• Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation / L.W. King, translator / from The Seven Tablets of Creation (London, 1902)

MAY 24

• "PALEONTOLOGY: Reversals Reveal Pitfalls in Spotting Ancient and E.T. Life" requires free registration / 24 May 2002 / Richard A. Kerr / Science, v.296, n.5572, p.1384-1385 — a search for evidence of life from long ago result in difficulties
• "Can Chimps Ape Ancient Hominid Toolmakers?" requires free registration / 24 May 2002 / Gretchen Vogel / Science, v.296, n.5572, p.1380
• "RESEARCH INTEGRITY: Pioneering Physics Papers Under Suspicion for Data Manipulation" requires free registration / 24 May 2002 / Robert F. Service / Science, v.296, n.5572, p.1376-1377
• "Measuring Spacetime: From the Big Bang to Black Holes" requires free registration / 24 May 2002 / Max Tegmark / Science, v.296, n.5572, p.1427-1433
• "Extra Dimensions and Warped Geometries" requires free registration / 24 May 2002 / Lisa Randall / Science, v.296, n.5572, p.1422-1427
• "The Intelligent Noncosmologist's Guide to Spacetime" requires free registration / 24 May 2002 / Charles Seife / Science, v.296, n.5572, p.1418-1421
• "Spacetime, Warped Branes, and Hidden Dimensions" requires free registration / 24 May 2002 / Ian Osborne, Linda Rowan, and Robert Coontz / Science, v.296, n.5572, p.1417
• "Recovery of 16S ribosomal RNA gene fragments from ancient halite" requires free registration / 23 May 2002 / Steven A. Fish, Thomas J. Shepherd, Terry J. McGenity, and William D. Grant / Nature, v.417, p.432-436
• DNA traces found in ancient rock / 23 May 2002 / Ivan Noble / BBC
• Hawking: God may play dice after all / May 23, 2002 / Mike Martin / WorldNetDaily — famed physicist presents divine-snowball theory for start of universe
• Intergalactic Jesus / 23 May 2002 / Jerry Coyne / London Review of Books, v.24, n.9 — review of: Can a Darwinian Be a Christian?: The Relationship between Science and Religion / December 2001 / Michael Ruse / Cambridge University Press
• Sister develops tell-tale bulge / 22 May 2002 / Tom Clarke / Nature science update — after 1500 years of quiet an Oregon volcano threatens to blow
• Home School Expedition Uncovers Rare Allosaur and Giant Sauropod / May 20, 2002 / Vision Forum and Creation Expeditions
• "EVOLUTION: Did an Impact Trigger the Dinosaurs' Rise?" requires free registration / 17 May 2002 / Richard A. Kerr / Science, v.296, n.5571, p.1215-1216
• "A Fresh Look at Glacial Floods" requires free registration / 17 May 2002 / Steven M. Colman / Science, v.296, n.5571, p.1251-1252
• "An Expanding Universe of Noncoding RNAs" requires free registration / 17 May 2002 / Gisela Storz / Science, v.296, n.5571, p.1260-1263
• Not the whole truth / May 16-22, 2002 / Roger Downey / Seattle Weekly — Icons of Evolution as competition to the PBS Evolution series
• Catastrophe and Culture: The Anthropology of Disaster / March 2002 / Susanna M. Hoffman and Anthony Oliver-Smith, eds. / School of American Research Press — see review: "ANTHROPOLOGY: Dealing with Disaster" requires free registration / 24 May 2002 / Robert McC. Adams / Science, v.296, n.5572, p.1404-1405; see also Amazon
• "Biogeology: How old are bacteria from the Permian age?" requires free registration / 10 May 2001 / Robert M. Hazen and Edwin Roedder / Nature, v.411, p.155

MAY 22

• In Guatemala, a Rhode Island-Size Jade Lode / May 22, 2002 / William J. Broad / New York Times
• Home-schoolers find intact dinosaur skeleton / May 21, 2002 / WorldNetDaily.com — scientist says 22-foot animal likely died during cataclysmic flood
• New Evidence for Dark Dwarf Galaxies Supports Dark Matter Theory / May 21, 2002 / University of California, San Diego
• Stephen Jay Gould, Biologist and Theorist on Evolution, Dies at 60 / May 20, 2002 / Carol Kaesuk Yoon / New York Times
• An evolutionary champion dies at 60 / May 20, 2002 / MSNBC — Stephen Jay Gould wrote about nature, millennium, baseball
• Jupiter gains rock group / 20 May 2002 / Tom Clarke / Nature science update — eleven new moons found circling Jupiter
• Keeping an Eye on the Heavens / May 18, 2002 / Bill Broadway / Washington Post, p.B09 — Vatican's chief astronomer, a priest, sees room for religion and science
• Asteroid let dinosaurs rule / 17 May 2002 / Helen Pearson / Nature science update — impact may have caused mass extinction that let hardy giants thrive
• Cosmic wrinkles smoothed / 16 May 2002 / Philip Ball / Nature science update — a new technique could reconstruct images of the early Universe
• From Certainty to Uncertainty: The Story of Science and Ideas in the Twentieth Century / May 2002 / F. David Peat / Joseph Henry Press — see also Amazon
• Age of the Universe / May 2002 / Edward L. Wright / Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles — at least 3 ways that the age of the Universe can be estimated
• Age of Universe confirmed / 25 April 2002 / BBC
• Do Human and Chimpanzee DNA Indicate an Evolutionary Relationship? / 2002 / Brad Harrub and Bert Thompson / Apologetics Press

MAY 20

• "Persistent Holocene Outflow from the Black Sea to the Eastern Mediterranean Contradicts Noah's Flood Hypothesis" / May 2002 / Ali E. Aksu, et al. / GSA Today, v.12, n.5, p.4–10
• Creationist Arguments: Anomalous Fossils / January 2002 / Jim Foley / Talk.Origins — responses to the argument that humans existed alongside presumed ancestors in the fossil record, e.g., Malachite Man
• The New Outer Satellites of Jupiter / December 2001 / Scott S. Sheppard / University of Hawaii
• The Life and Death of Malachite Man / February 22, 1998 / Glen J. Kuban
• The Existence of God / 1991 / Richard Swinburne / Clarendon Press (Oxford) — examines the most important arguments for and against the existence of God--including the cosmological argument and arguments from design, consciousness and moral awareness, and miracles and religious experience; see also Amazon

MAY 17

• "The Other RNA World" requires free registration / 17 May 2002 / Guy Riddihough / Science, v.296, n.5571, p.1259
• "Ascent of Dinosaurs Linked to an Iridium Anomaly at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary" requires free registration / 17 May 2002 / P. E. Olsen, D. V. Kent, H.-D. Sues, C. Koeberl, H. Huber, A. Montanari, E. C. Rainforth, S. J. Fowell, M. J. Szajna, and B. W. Hartline / Science, v.296, n.5571, p.1305-1307
• Cosmic impact could have started dinosaur age / May 16, 2002 / Kate Tobin / CNN
• Accreditor Says Creationism Mandate Violates Academic Freedom / May 15, 2002 / Ted Olsen / Christianity Today
• Official World Site Malachite Man / Interactive Bible — fossilized dinosaurs and humans in the same rock
• Natural Catastrophes during Bronze Age Civilisations: Archaeological, Geological and Astronomical Perspectives -- conference / 11-13 July 1997 / Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
  • Causes and Effects of the 2350 BC Middle East Anomaly Evidenced by Micro-debris Fallout, Surface Combustion And Soil Explosion / Marie-Agnθs Courty
  • Cometary Catastrophes, Cosmic Dust and Ecological Disasters in Historical Times: The Astronomical Framework / Bill Napier
  • Our Place in Space: The Implications of Impact Catastrophes on Human Thought and Behaviour / Gerrit L. Verschuur
  • Predestination and the Problem of Historical Catastrophism / Victor Clube
  • The Catastrophic Emergence of Civilisation: The Coming of the Bronze Age Cultures / Gunnar Heinsohn

MAY 14

• Easter Recast: 97 Percent Chance Jesus Rose from the Dead / May 14, 2002 / Ted Olsen / Christianity Today
• Odds on aliens / 14 May 2002 / Philip Ball / Nature science update — one in three planets like Earth probably harbor life
• Creationism among issues in Patrick Henry accreditation / May 13, 2002 / Christine Hall / Baptist Press News
• New Theory of Universe Goes Beyond the Bang / May 13, 2002 / Susan Okie / Washington Post, p.A6
• A Man Who Would Shake Up Science / May 11, 2002 / Edward Rothstein / New York Times
• So God's Really in the Details? / May 11, 2002 / Emily Eakin / New York Times
• Shock protein revelations / 10 May 2002 / John Whitfield / Nature science update — evolution may plunder hidden genetic variation
• Oldest animal tracks? / 10 May 2002 / John Whitfield / Nature science update — many-celled creatures may have made billion-year-old marks
• No State of Bliss: Americans' scientific ignorance is appalling / May 9, 2002 / Columbus Dispatch, p.14A (editorial)
• Research that evolves from fossils to genes / May 8, 2002 / Mark Ridley / Times Online (UK) — review of four books that explore the big questions of evolution
• Naturalism Defeated? Essays on Plantinga's Evolutionary Argument against Naturalism / May 2002 / James K. Beilby, ed. / Cornell University Press — see also Amazon
• No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence / November 2001 / William A. Dembski / Rowman & Littlefield
  • endorsements
  • Access Research Network
  • see also Amazon
  • critique: Not a Free Lunch But a Box of Chocolates / April 23, 2002 / Richard Wein / Talk.Origins
  • response: Obsessively Criticized but Scarcely Refuted (.pdf) / William A. Dembski / International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design
• Toward a Creationist Astronomy / December 1991 / Danny R. Faulkner and Don B. DeYoung / Creation Research Society Quarterly, v.28, n.3

MAY 10

• ARN-Announce / May 9, 2002 / Dennis Wagner / Access Research Network, n.23
  • new documentary video: Icons of Evolution
  • with accompanying video: Icons of Evolution: Lecture and Interview with Jonathan Wells
  • as follow up on the book: Icons of Evolution
• The Big Bang (one more time) / May 9, 2002 / Peter N. Spotts / Christian Science Monitor — Just when it seems the broad outline of the universe's origin is as safely in hand as money in the bank, along come two physicists who could prove to be the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid of cosmology.
• Letter signed by 27 British scientists & educators / 9 May 2002 / Answers in Genesis — 'Don't change the National Curriculum!'
• High School Students' Attitudes Toward Creation and Evolution Compared to Their Worldview / May 2002 / Steve Deckard and Daniel Smithwick / Impact, n.347 (Institute for Creation Research)
• Evolution Versus the People / May 2002 / Henry M. Morris / Back to Genesis, n.161  (Institute for Creation Research)
• "Cracks are Widening in Evolution's Dam!" (.pdf) / May 2002 / John D. Morris / Acts & Facts, v.31, n.5 ( Institute for Creation Research)
• Oldest fossil footprints on land / 30 April 2002 / Tom Clarke / Nature science update — animals may have beaten upright plants to land
• "The earliest known eutherian mammal" requires free registration / 25 April 2002 / Qiang Ji, et al. / Nature, v.416, p.816-822
• "Melting Glaciers Release Ancient Relics" requires free registration / 19 April 2002 / Kevin Krajick / Science, v.296, n.5567, p.454-456
• "New Insect Order Speaks to Life's Diversity" requires free registration / 19 April 2002 / Elizabeth Pennisi / Science, v.296, n.5567, p.445-447
• "Human Cloning and Our Sense of Self" requires free registration / 12 April 2002 / Dan W. Brock / Science, v.296, n.5566, p.314-316
• "Gene Activity Clocks Brain's Fast Evolution" requires free registration / 12 April 2002 / Elizabeth Pennisi / Science, v.296, n.5566, p.233-235
• Redesigning Humans: Our Inevitable Genetic Future / April 2002 / Gregory Stock / Houghton Mifflin — see also Amazon
• "Origin of ²²⁶Ra-²³⁰Th disequilibria in arc lavas from southern Chile and implications for magma transfer time" / 15 March 2002 / O. Sigmarsson, J. Chmeleff, J. Morris, and L. Lopez-Escobar / Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v.196, n.3-4, p.189-196 — "The ²²⁶Ra-²³⁰Th disequilibrium in arc lavas suggests significantly shorter timescales for magma transfer, or less than 8000 years."
• Genesis of the Big Bang / January 2001 / Ralph A. Alpher and Robert Herman / Oxford University Press — see also Amazon
• What It Really Means To Be 99% Chimpanzee / November 20, 1999 / Jonathan Marks / Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley — presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association
• "The cosmological constant problem" / January 1989 / Steven Weinberg / Rev. Mod. Phys., v.61, p.1-23 — astronomical observations indicate that the cosmological constant is many orders of magnitude smaller than estimated in modern theories of elementary particles

MAY 7

• Krauss Goes Ballistic over ID; NSF's Biennial "Science Literacy" Survey / May 5, 2002 / Mark Hartwig / Access Research Network (Weekly Wedge Update)
• New Book Explores Rise of Intelligent-Design Idea / May 5, 2002 / David Lore / Columbus Dispatch, p.7B
• 'Our Posthuman Future': Biotechnology as a Threat to Human Nature / May 5, 2002 / Colin McGinn / New York Times
• 'Oldest flower' found in China / 3 May 2002 / BBC News
• Fresh bunch of old flowers / 3 May 2002 / Christopher Surridge / Nature science update — fossil plants form new branch in flower family tree
• Growth clocked / 2 May 2002 / John Whitfield / Nature science update — size and temperature predict pace of life
• "A new phylum of Archaea represented by a nanosized hyperthermophilic symbiont" requires free registration / 2 May 2002 / Harald Huber, et al. / Nature, v.417, p.63-67
• Animals May Have Reached Land Before Plants / May 1, 2002 / Cosmiverse
• "Darwin's Avian Muses Continue to Evolve" requires free registration / 26 April 2002 / Carl Zimmer / Science, v.296, p.633-635
• "COSMOLOGY: Eternal-Universe Idea Comes Full Circle" requires free registration / 26 April 2002 / Charles Seife / Science, v. 296, p.639
• A Cyclic Model of the Universe / April 25, 2002 / Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok / Science
• Passing the Torch / April 9, 2002 / Phillip E. Johnson / Access Research Network (Weekly Wedge Update)
• "IMPACT HAZARD: Celestial Billiards Threaten Hit in 2880" requires free registration / 5 April 2002 / Richard A. Kerr / Science, v.296, p.27
• "ASTROPHYSICS: Closing In on the Cause of the Cosmos's Biggest Blasts" requires free registration / 5 April 2002 / Govert Schilling / Science, v.296, p.41
• Newton's Gift: How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World / March 2002 / David Berlinski / Touchstone Books (Simon & Schuster) — see also Amazon
• List of Creation URLs: Dating Issues / Ashby Camp
• A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism (.pdf) / Discovery Institute
• Cartoon Guide to Genetics / 1991 / Larry Gonick and Mark Wheelis / HarperCollins — see also Amazon

MAY 3

• "Palaeoclimatology: Snowball fights" / 2 May 2002 / Naomi Lubick / Nature, v.417, p.12-13 — Did the world freeze over some half a billion years ago? Two Harvard scientists think so, but convincing other climatologists is proving difficult.
• Survey finds few in U.S. understand science / May 1, 2002 / CNN — see also: Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding / National Science Foundation
• Key Republican Backs Cloning in Research / May 1, 2002 / Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times
• Xenon outs WIMPs / 1 May 2002 / Philip Ball / Nature science update — dark-matter detector could pin down the Universe's missing mass
• Hubble's new camera offers spectacular photos / 30 April 2002 / CBC News (Canada)
• Degrading Darwin / 23 April 2002 / Stuart Hobday / spiked-online
• Ocean Drilling Program / National Science Foundation
• Optics for Kids / Bruce Irving / Optical Research Associates

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