Creation Update
2002 Web Cast Archives
July - December

LEGEND

‡

Has Aired
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• Ken's New Year's challenge:
  • The Confessions, St. Augustine
  • Pensees, Blaise Pascal
  • On the Incarnation, Athanasius
  • Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
  • On the Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther
• Krista's list:
  • How to Read the Bible for All its Worth, Stuart and Fee
  • Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman
  • Scaling the Secular City, J.P. Moreland
  • The Text of the New Testament, Bruce Metzger
  • Well-Trained Mind, Wise and Bauer

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Evidence for oldest meso-American culture
    • Erik Stokstad, "Oldest New World Writing Suggests Olmec Innovation," Science 298 (December 6, 2002), 1872-1874.
  • Testing DNA for Jewish connection to American Indians
    • William Lobdell and Larry B. Stammer, "Mormon Scientist, Church Clash Over DNA Test," Los Angeles Times (December 8, 2002).
    • Visit Mr. Murphy's personal web site.
  • Sequencing the mouse genome (Part 2)
    • Nature 420 (2002).
  • Imaging the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation
    • C.L. Kuo, et al., "High resolution observations of the CMB power spectrum with ACBAR," preprint (December 12, 2002).
  • Measuring the temperature of the Microwave Background radiation  (Part 2)
    • E.S. Battistelli, M. De Petris, et al., "Cosmic microwave background temperature at galaxy clusters," The Astrophysical Journal Letters 580 (December 1, 2002), L101-L104.
• Call-in Questions
  • Rusty in Oklahoma City, OK: Is there evidence that the speed of light has slightly varied through time?
    • The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene
  • Brian in Elkhart, IN: Wanted to share some comments concerning the historical background of Bethlehem
    • Read Hugh's article, The Christmas Star
  • Ed from Medford, OR:
    • Question from Stephen Jay Gould: Why did God create hominids in an unbroken sequence?
    • Ed also had a question about relativity:
      • Relativity Simply Explained, Martin Gardner
      • Relativity: An Introduction to Space-Time Physics, Steve Adams
  • Kenny from Milton, FL: Wanted to share some thoughts about sabre-tooth tigers as an example of repeatable evolution.
  • Doug from Gaithersburg, MD: Has RTB ever considered doing an academic conference?
• Email Questions
  • Gabriel in Dallas, TX: What do make of the appearance of fractal patterns in "junk" DNA?

• Discoveries Discussed
  • No more warm, wet Mars
    • Richard A. Kerr, "A Smashing Source of Early Martian Water?" Science 298 (December 6, 2002), 1866.
    • Teresa L. Segura, Owen B. Toon, Anthony Colaprete, Kevin Zahnle, "Environmental Effects of Large Impacts on Mars," Science 298 (December 6, 2002), 1977-1980.
  • Martian ejecta
    • James N. Head, H. Jay Melosh, and Boris A. Ivanov, "Martian Meteorite Launch: High-Speed Ejecta from Small Craters," Science 298 (November 29, 2002), 1752-1755.
  • Measuring the mass of extra-solar planets
    • "Hubble makes precise measure of extrasolar world's true mass," Space Telescope Science Institute on sciencedaily.com (December 5, 2002). Peer-reviewed paper coming soon in Astrophysical Journal Letters (December 20, 2002).
  • Re-evaluation of the earliest life on Earth
    • Jozef Kazmierczak and Barbara Kremer, "Thermal alteration of the Earth's oldest fossils," Nature 420 (December 5, 2002), 477-478.
    • To hear our previous discussion about microbial evidence for the earliest life on earth, listen to our 3-12-02 broadcast.
• Call-in Questions
  • Dave wanted to know: If Christians disprove that chance is the mechanism responsible for the creation of the universe and all life, does it automatically mean that creationism is correct?
  • George in Pasadena, CA: How do scientists know the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 supernova?
  • Jeff in Colville, WA: How do evolutionists account for information theory? What do Hugh and Fuz think of the "intelligent design" movement?
• Email Questions
  • Autumn in Anaheim, CA: How can the behemoth be a hippo when its tail is not like a cedar?
  • Joe wanted to know: What do you think of Pangea?
  • Rob in Northglenn, CO: What do you think the prebiotic earth's atmosphere was like and why?
• Discussion of interview with Robert Shapiro (with Kenneth Samples)
• Truth or Fiction? Alien implants

• Hugh's guide to the best books on the origin-of-life:
  • Origins of Life by Hugh Ross and Fuz Rana
  • Origins: A Skeptic's Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth, Robert Shapiro (out of print)
  • Information Theory and Molecular Biology, Hubert Yockey (out of print)
  • The Mystery of Life's Origin, Walter Bradley, Charles Thaxton
• Read Fuz Rana's paper on the origin of life: Origin of Life Predictions Face Off

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Tidal dwarf galaxies
    • Peter M. Weilbacher, et al., "Large Velocity Gradients in the Tidal Tails of the Interacting Galaxy," The Astrophysical Journal Letters 579 (November 10, 2002), L79-L82.
    • Tommy Wiklind, "Close encounters of the tidal kind," Nature 420 (November 7, 2002), 38-39.
  • Helium-decay rate
    • D. Russell Humphreys, "Nuclear Decay: Evidence for a Young World," Impact 352 (October 2002), i-iv.
    • Listen to our past discussion of zircons (aired on 02-05-02). 
  • Bilirubin - example of elegant metabolic design
    • David E. Baranano, et al., "Biliverdin reductase: A major physiologic cytoprotectant," PNAS 99 (December 10, 2002), 16093-16098.
    • Sylvain Dore, et al., "Bilirubin, formed by activation of heme oxygenase-2, protects neurons against oxidative stress injury," PNAS 96 (March 1999), 2445-2450.
  • Fast-forming planets
    • Lucio Mayer, Thomas Quinn, James Wadsley, Joachim Stadel, "Formation of Giant Planets by Fragmentation of Protoplanetary Disks," Science 298 (November 29, 2002), 1756-1759.
    • Richard Kerr, "A Quickie Birth for Jupiters and Saturns," Science 298 (November 29, 2002), 1698-1699.
• Call in Questions
  • Russell in Portland, OR asked: What is Hugh's opinion of Kent Hovind and Carl Baugh?
    • The Genesis Debate, ed. David Hagopian
    • The John Ankerberg Debate: Young-Earth vs. Old Earth (with Hugh Ross and Kent Hovind) (DVD)
  • Mark from Flat Rock, IN: How do evolutionists use hox genes? Listen to our past discussion of the hox gene (aired on 04-02-02)
  • James from Garland, TX: What is the "deep field south?"
  • Mike in Uniontown, PA: What is a good response when evolutionists use "chance" as a means to explain the universe or the existence of life?
• Email Questions
  • Tom asked: What is the new time slot for the Reasons To Believe television show on TBN?   Check here
  • Doug in Pennsylvania: Jeremiah 31:37 seems to indicate that the heavens cannot be measured. But it seems that today the heavens can be measured. Can this be reconciled?
  • Rusty in Anaheim, CA: How many degrees warmer or cooler would the sun have to be in order for life not to be possible on the Earth?
• Theology/Philosophy segment: Alien abductions and perspectives on Steven Spielberg's, Taken.
  • Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men, Hugh Ross, Mark Clark and Kenneth Samples (book)
  • The RUFO Hypothesis (video documentary; available in DVD )

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Convergence Update: Fungus farming ants
    • Ulrich G. Mueller and Nicole Gerardo, "Fungus-farming insects: Multiple origins and diverse evolutionary histories" PNAS 24 (November 26, 2002), 15247-15249.
    • For more about this kind of symbiotic relationship, read Hugh's article: "Symbiosis: More Complex Than We Knew," Connections 1 (Quarter 2, 1999).
  • Convergence Update: Placenta of live-bearing fish
    • David N. Reznick, Mariana Mateos, and Mark S. Springer, "Independent Origins and Rapid Evolution of the Placenta in the Fish Genus Poeciliopsis" Science 298 (November 1, 2002), 1018-1020.
  • Trigger for the Cambrian Explosion?
    • Richard A. Kerr, "A Trigger for the Cambrian Explosion?" Science 298 (November 22, 2002), 1547.
  • Stars with uranium and thorium - refining radiometric dating methods
    • Hendrik Schaatz, Ralf Toenjes, et al., "Thorium and Uranium Chronometers Applied to CS 31082-001" The Astrophysical Journal 579 (November 10, 2002), 626-638.
  • Ammonia at the center of the Milky Way
    • Robeson M. Herrnstein and Paul T.P. Ho, "Hot Molecular Gas in the Molecular Center" The Astrophysical Journal 579 (November 10, 2002), L83-L86.
• Call-in Questions
  • Kenny from Milton, FL: What evidence did you cite in the Psalm 104 television series about land plants existing 2.7 billion years ago?
    • Hugh Ross, "Timely Appearance of Land Life Benefits Humans," Connections 3 (Quarter 1, 2001), 3.
  • George from Pasadena, CA: What is the 4th dimension?
    • Hugh Ross, Beyond the Cosmos, 2nd edition
• Email Questions
  • Jeff asked: What resources can you recommend that refute the evolutionist's claim that there are transitional forms in the fossil record?
    • Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis
  • Steve wanted to know: Are you aware of any published estimates of Bayesian analysis applied to Darwinian evolution?
  • Erik from Victoria, BC:
    • Have you ever heard of someone named George Ellis? Are his perspectives compatible with RTB's?
    • What is RTB's perspective about the Bible story of Jonah?
      • A Modern Jonah
      • Joshua's Long Day  (video)
  • Wayne asked: Are there more earthly grains of sand or stars in the universe?
• Boot Camp: Where is the scientific method exemplified in the Bible? (from Ron K.)
  • For more about the scientific method and the Bible, see:
    • The appendix in Hugh's book, The Genesis Question.
    • Thomas Torrance (editor), Theology and Science: At the Frontiers of Knowledge (Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1990). (There are many other books by Torrance related to this topic available on amazon.com.)
• Theology/Philosophy segment
  • Will scientists create "life" in the lab? What are the moral ramifications?

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Using parasites to date human migration to South America
    • Chandrabali Ghose, Guillermo I. Perez-Perez, et al., "East Asian genotypes of Helicobacter pylori strains in Amerindians provide evidence for its ancient human carriage," PNAS 99 (November 12, 2002), 15107-15111.
    • Hansjurgen T. Agostini, et al., "Asian genotypes of JC virus in Native Americans and in a Pacific Island population: Markers of viral evolution and human migration," PNAS 94 (December 1997), 14542-14546.
    • Listen to our previous discussion: Use of the malaria parasite as a confirmation of the first humans  (aired on 08-13-02)
  • Sea snakes
    • Richard Shine, et al., "Reproductive Isolating Mechanisms Between Two Sympatric Sibling Species of Sea Snakes," Evolution 56 (2002), 1655-1662.
• Call-in Questions
  • Jason in Harrisburg: Are diseases caused by demons?
  • Eugene in WA wanted to tell Dr. Ross about his UFO experiences: Why should aliens obey the laws of physics?
  • Larry in Atlanta, GA: Are there any papers that appeal to "intelligent design" to explain a scientific phenomenon?
    • Resources Mentioned:
      • The Creator and the Cosmos, 3rd edition Hugh Ross
      • The Fifth Miracle, Paul Davies (available on amazon.com)
      • Origin of life researcher, Leslie Orgel on the PNAS.org web site
  • Kurt in Park City, MT: What views of young-earth creationism don't fit with the old-earth perspective?
    • The unaltered version of The John Ankerberg Debate: Young-Earth vs. Old Earth (Hugh Ross debates Kent Hovind) (DVD)
  • Dan from Grandview, MO: How are planetary rings made?
    • Classical Mechanics, Herbert Goldstein (available on amazon.com)
  • Todd from Dallas, TX: What is a spectral line? Do spectral lines have any implications for a young universe?
  • David from North Carolina: How is plant speciation different than animal speciation?
• Email Questions
  • Kelly wants to know: (Speciation background) 
    • What's the difference between sympatric and allopatric speciation?
    • Wouldn't a mutation have to occur in many members of the population, not just one?
    • How did Hugh arrive at the ratios for beneficial to deleterious mutations? 
    • Can Fuz elaborate on mammal to whale fossil record
    • For more on speciation, Fuz Rana recommends:
      • Frogs, Flies and Dandelions: Speciation - The Evolution of New Species, by Menno Schilthuizen (lay-man's discussion)
      • Species Concepts and Phylogenetic Theory, by Quentin Wheeler (editor) (advanced discussion)
• Theology/Philosophy segment
  • Do the signs of the zodiac proclaim the Gospel?

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Metal-free star
    • Catherine A. Pilachowski, "Relic of the dawn of time," Nature 419 (October 31, 2002), 886-887.
    • N. Christlieb, et al., "A stellar relic from the early Milky Way," Nature 419 (October 31, 2002), 904-906.
  • Forests and nitrogen fixation
    • Thomas H. DeLuca, et al., "Quantifying nitrogen-fixation in feather moss carpets of boreal forests," Nature 419 (October 31, 2002), 917-919.
    • Access the list of design characteristics Hugh mentions
  • Carbon-monoxide rich origin of life scenario
    • Shin Miyakawa, Stanley Miller, et al., "Prebiotic synthesis from CO atmospheres: Implications for the origins of life," PNAS 99 (November 12, 2002), 14628-14631.
• Call-in Questions
  • Mike from Union, PA: Does Hugh Ross give authority to the Bible or science?
    • Resource: The Genesis Debate
  • Dean from Tucson, AZ: What is "dark energy?" Is this the "missing matter" in the universe?
    • We did an extended discussion on this issue: Anti-Matter  (aired on 09-17-02)
  • John from Huntsville, AL: Scientific illiteracy is also a problem for apologists.
    • Read Krista's Resource Helper for more information about resources that are right for you.
• Email Questions
  • Larry wanted to know: Do other planets have metal and jewel mines?
  • Richard asked: Have you ever heard of the Covenant creation view?
• Boot Camp
  • Bryan asked: Is carbon 14 dating reliable? Why are so many Christians skeptical about it? For more about the reliability of radiometric dating methods, we recommend Dr. Roger C. Wiens' article, "Radiometric Dating: A Christian Perspective," available through our website.
• Philosophy/Theology segment
  • Scientific literacy in America
    • Jim Sweitzer, "Do you believe in the Big Bang?" Astronomy (December 2002), 34-39.

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Dating the formation of stars in our galaxy
    • Susan M. Percival and Maurizio Salaris and Francois van Wyk and David Kilkenny, "Resolving the 47 Tucanae Distance Problem," The Astrophysical Journal 573 (July 1, 2002), 174-183.
  • Extra-solar planet update  (Part 2)
    • Takashi Ito and Shoken M. Miyama, "An Estimation of Upper Limit Masses of u Andromedae Planets," The Astrophysical Journal 552 (May 1, 2001), 372-379.
• Call-in Questions
  • George from Pasadena, CA: Wanted to propose a scientific test for the starlight travel problem  (Part 2)
• Email Questions
  • Shirley from Lake Tahoe, NV: What resources can you recommend to answer questions about whether intelligent life exists on other planets?
    • Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men, by Hugh Ross, Kenneth Samples and Mark Clark
    • The RUFO Hypothesis (DVD)
    • The Creator and the Cosmos, Hugh Ross
    • Destiny or Chance, Stuart Taylor
    • Rare Earth, Don Brownlee and Peter Ward
  • John from Minneapolis, MN: Is a person dies and their body is consumed by the ecosystem and now only exists as widely spread fragments of molecules and atoms, what will God raise up at the resurrection?
• Theology/Philosophy segment
  • More on the James, the brother of Jesus, ossuary box   (Part 2)
    • Andre Lemaire, "Burial Box of James the Brother of Jesus," Biblical Archeology Review 28 (November/December 2002), 25-33.
    • For more about Ken's perspectives on Mary and Roman Catholicism, he would recommend his book, The Cult of the Virgin, co-authored with Elliot Miller.
• Boot Camp
  • How solid is the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus?
  • Recommended Resources:
    • "Reasoning Through the Resurrection," Facts for Faith, issue 9, Kenneth Samples
    • Knowing the Truth About the Resurrection, William Lane Craig
    • The Evidence for the Resurrection, J.N.D. Anderson

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Blue stragglers  (Part 2)
    • Rod Bernitt, "Globular clusters and the challenge of blue straggler stars," TJ 16 (2002), 5-7.
  • Intermediate mass black holes
    • Simon F. Portegies Zwart and Stephen L. W. McMillan, "The runaway growth of intermediate-mass black holes in dense star clusters," The Astrophysical Journal 576 (September 10, 2002), 899-907.
    • R. Cowen, "Hole in the Middle: Are midsize black holes the missing link?" Science News 162 (September 21, 2002), 180.
  • Super giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy
    • R. Schodel, et al., "A star in a 15.2-year orbit around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way," Nature 419 (October 17, 2002), 694-696.
  • DNA parity - biochemical design
    • Donall A. Mac Donaill, "A parity code interpretation of nucleotide alphabet composition," Chemical Communications (2002), 2062-2063.
• Call-in Questions
  • George in Pasadena, CA: Has Hugh read the latest article in "Acts and Facts" about Palonium halos?
  • Becky from Branson, MO: The popular concept of blind faith seems to undermine the entire Christian faith in general, doesn't it?
  • Mike from Columbus, IN: Can Ken Samples explain more about the ad futurum fallacy?  How can I get a copy of the paper called, "The Disturbing Implications of the Cosmological Constant" (August 15, 2002 version)?
  • Kenny from Milton, FL:
    • Is the "James" on the ossuary box really the brother of Jesus?
    • Did monotheism historically precede polytheism?
    • Do we know the water level for the ancient Persian Gulf?
• Email Questions
  • Bekka wants to know: Why doesn't the Bible mention dinosaurs?
• Theology segment
  • Should Christian parents allow their children participate in Halloween?

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Origin of life in freshwater   (Part 2)
    • Pierre-Alain Monnard, Charles L. Apel, Anastassia Kanavarioti, and David W. Deamer, "Influence of Ionic Inorganic Solutes on Self-Assembly and Polymerization Processes Related to Early Forms of Life: Implications for a Prebiotic Aqueous Medium," Astrobiology 2, number 2 (2002), 139-152.
  • Confirmation of the Cosmological Constant - F-R Type IIb radio galaxies
    • Ruth A. Daly and Erick J. Guerra, "Quintessence, Cosmology and Fanaroff-Riley Type IIb Radio Galaxies," The Astronomical Journal 124 (October 2002), 1831-1838.
    • Philip Ball, "Is physics watching over us?" Nature (August 13, 2002).
    • L. Dyson, M. Kleban, and L. Susskind, "Disturbing Implications of a Cosmological Constant," pre-print (August 1, 2002).
  • Jerusalem ossuary box
    • Andre Lemaire, "Burial box of James the brother of Jesus: Earliest archeological evidence for Jesus found in Jerusalem," Biblical Archeology Review (November/December 2002).
• Call-In Questions
  • Stuart from Danville, VA:
    • What do you think about the Ohio public schools trying to teach creation?
    • What strategy is best confronting those scientifically but not biblically inclined?
    • "A day is like a thousand years" means what?
  • Joseph from Seattle, WA:
    • Will dark energy eventually cause the universe to end in a "Big Crunch?"
    • Report on what occured at Microsoft with RTB
  • Rusty from Oklahoma, OK: What do you think about the recent announcement that a burial box inscribed with the name of Jesus on it? Is it credible?
  • Ed from Medford, OR: Has Dr. Ross read Glen Morton's review of his book, The Genesis Question?
• Theology/Philosophy Segment
  • Why does it matter if the Christian faith is historically based?

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Polarization of the Cosmic Background Radiation
    • R. Cowen, "Big Bang Confirmed: Seeing twists and turns of primordial light," Science News 162 (September 28, 2002), 195.
  • Chemistry of Planetary Systems
    • G. Zhao, Y.Q. Chen, H. M. Qiu and Z.W. Li, "Chemical abundances of 15 extrasolar planet host stars," The Astronomical Journal 124 (October 2002), 2224-2232.
  • Information Content in Sugars
    • Mark A. Lehrman, "Oligosaccharide-based Information in Endoplasmic Reticulum Quality Control and Other Biological Systems," Journal of Biological Chemistry 276 (March 23, 2001), 8623-8626.
  • Toumai Man update
    • M.H. Wolpoff, B. Senut, M. Pickford, and J. Hawks, "Sahelanthropus or 'Sahelpithecus'?" Nature 419 (2002), 581-582.
    • M. Brunet, reply, Nature 419 (2002), 582.
• Call-in Questions
  • Dan from Grandview, MO: When do gravitational waves arrive in a supernova? When would you feel the gravitational effects?
  • Walter from Dallas, TX:
    • Is it possible to reverse causality?
    • Why does Bill Craig hold his view for time and God?
  • John from Huntsville, AL: How do various Christian views of the millennium affect our view of time?
    • Hugh recommends the books:
      • God and Time: 4 Views, Gregory Ganssle (editor)
      • The Meaning of the Millennium (Alan Ladd, editor).
• Theology/Philosophy Segment:
  • If God made everything, then who made God?  (also discussed here)

• Discoveries Discussed
  • More genetic differences between humans and chimps
    • Roy J. Britten, "Divergence between samples of chimpanzee and human DNA sequences is 5%, counting indels," PNAS 99 (October 15, 2002), 12633-13635.
  • Quaoar - new discovery in the Kuiper Belt
    • Usha Lee McFarling, "Pluto's Not So Alone Out There, It Appears," Los Angeles Times (October 8, 2002), A17.
    • Deborah Zabarenko, "Out Beyond Pluto, Astronomers Find Something New," Reuters News Service (October 7, 2002).
  • Supernova confirmation of the cosmological constant
    • Narcisco Benitez, Adam Riess, et al., "The magnification of SN 1997ff, the farthest known supernova," The Astrophysical Journal Letters 577 (September 20, 2002), L1-L4.
  • Kepler mission
    • Jack J. Lissauer, "Extrasolar planets," Nature 419 (September 26, 2002), 355-358.
    • Jack J. Lissauer, "Box 1: The Kepler Mission," Nature 419 (September 26, 2002), 358.
• Call-in Questions
  • Stuart in Danville, VA: Where do dinosaurs fit into the Biblical chronology?
  • Kenny in Milton, FL:
    • Does Fuz's discovery about human/chimp genetic differences affect the date for the first humans?
    • Question on Danny Faulkner's position on varves and the age of the earth
    • Comment on behemoth and leviathon
  • Mark from Milwaukee, WI: What is the origin of language?
  • George from Pasadena, CA: Could the human brain last eternally?
  • Mike from Venice, CA: What will the Kepler mission help us find?
• Truth or Fiction: Did NASA go to the moon? with General Robert Stewart (ret.)
• Theology/Philosophy segment: How are humans different than animals?
  • 6 Ways Humans Differ from the Animal Kingdom, by Kenneth Samples:
    1. Human beings have an inherent spiritual and religious nature.
    2. Human beings possess unique intellectual, cultural and communicative abilities.
    3. Human beings are conscious of time, reality and truth.
    4. Human beings possess a conscience and have a value system.
    5. Human beings are uniquely inventive and technological.
    6. Human beings possess aesthetic taste and appreciation for more than just practical purposes.
  • For more information about the Christian perspective on humans:
    • Anthony Hoekema, Created in God's Image

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Measuring the distance to a supernova
    • Frederick M. Walter and James M. Lattimer, "A Revised Parallax and its Implications for RX J185635-3754," The Astrophysical Journal 576 (September 10, 2002), L145-L148.
  • Parallax measurements confirmed  (Part 2)
    • G. Fritz Benedict, B.E. McArthur, et al., "Astrometry with the Hubble Space Telescope: A Parallax of the Fundamental Distance Calibrator d Cephei," The Astronomical Journal 124 (September 2002), 1695-1705.
    • Benjamin F. Lane, Michelle J. Creech-Eakman and Tyler E. Nordgren, "Long-Baseline Interferometric Observations of Cepheids," The Astrophysical Journal 573 (July 1, 2002), 330-337.
  • Uranium-eating bacteria
    • Yohey Suzuki, Shelly D. Kelly, et al., "Nanometre-size products of uranium bioreduction," Nature 419 (September 12, 2002), 134.
• Call-in Questions
  • Brian in Indiana:
    • 1. What does Dr. Ross think about evidence of human and dinosaur footprints in the Paluxy River bed in Texas? (Fuz comments)
      • A couple of helpful web sites that relate to this topic:
        • The Paluxy Dinosaur/"Man Track" Controversy by Glen Kuban
        • Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies
    • 2. Can you give me more information about the International Council for Biblical Inerrancy?
      • How the ICBI Got Started
      • Read the entire Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
    • 3. Where is the center of the universe?
      • A couple of resources related to this topic:
        • Relativity Simply Explained, Martin Gardner
        • The Universe in a Nutshell, Stephen Hawking
  • George in Pasadena: Is the sun shrinking?
    • For more about this, read Hugh's article:
      • "Sun's Stable Fluctuations"
• Email Questions re: Fuz's comments related to the young-earth model for speciation
  • Robert Van de Water asked: If information content is determined by "context" doesn't this open the door to Darwinism?
    • For an introduction to information theory, Fuz recommends the book:
      •  Information and the Origin of Life, by Bernd-Olaf K'pers.
  • Jon Happel wanted to know: Is Fuz familiar with Lee Spetner's book, "Not by Chance?"
• Theology/Philosophy Segment: What is post-modernism?
  • Some resources related to our discussion:
    • Post-Modern Times, Gene Veith
    • Truth or Consequences: The Promise and Perils of Post-Modernism, Millard Erickson
    • The Word of God and the Mind of Man, Ron Nash

• Resources Highlighted
  • The Genesis Debate, ed. David Hagopian
• Comets, Kuiper belt and Oort Cloud
  • Brett Gladman, et al, "The Structure of the Kuiper Belt: Size Distribution and Radial Extent," Astronomical Journal 122 (2001), 1051-1066.
  • P. Nurmi, M . J. Valtonen, J. Q. Zheng, and H. Rickman, "Long-Term Evolution of Oort Cloud Comets: Capture of Comets," Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 333 (2002), 835-846.
  • Harold F. Levison, Luke Jones, and Martin J. Duncan, "The Origin of Halley-Type Comets: Probing the Inner Oort Cloud," Astronomical Journal 121 (2001), 2253-2267.
  • S. Alan Stern and Paul R. Weissman, "Rapid Collisional Evolution of Comets During the Formation of the Oort Cloud," Nature 409 (2001), 589-591.
  • J. Q. Zheng and M. J. Valtonen, "On the Probability That a Comet That Has Escaped from Another Solar System Will Collide with the Earth," Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 304 (1999), 579-582.
  • D. E. Trilling, R. H. Brown, and A. S. Rivkin, "Circumstellar Dust Disks Around Stars With Known Planetary Companions," Astrophysical Journal 529 (2000), 499-505.
  • F. L. Whipple, "Oort-Cloud and Kuiper-Belt Comets," Planetary and Space Science 48 (2000), 1011-1019
  • M. C. Sanctis, M. T. Capria, and A. Coradini, "Thermal Evolution and Differentiation of Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt Objects," Astronomical Journal 121 (2001), 2792-2799
  • P. Nurmi, M. J. Valtonen, and J. Q. Zheng, "Periodic Variation of Oort Cloud Flux and Cometary Impacts on the Earth and Juspiter," Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 327 (2001), 1367-1376
  • P. Nurmi, M. J. Valtonen, J. Q. Zheng, and H. Rickman, "Long-Term Evolution of Oort Cloud Comets: Capture of Comets," Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 333 (2002), 835-846
  • Ida Shigeru, John Larwood, and Andreas Burkert, "Evidence for Early Stellar Encounters in the Orbital Distribution of Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt Objects," Astrophysical Journal 528 (2000), 351-356.
• Call-in Questions
  • Kenny from Milton, FL:
    • Don't observations establish the Kuiper belt as a supply field for comets
    •  How do young-earth creationists come up with a range of dates for creation?  (Part 2)
  • George from Pasadena, CA: Does Danny Faulkner hold to Russell Humphreys's cosmology?
  • Joel from Phoenix, AZ:
    • Does Danny Faulkner accept a singularity creation event?
    • Why couldn't the universe be causeless?

• Discoveries Discussed
  • More evidence for genetic differences between Neanderthals and humans
    • Ralf W. Schmitz, et al., "The Neanderthal type site revisited: Interdisciplinary investigations of skeletal remains from the Neander Valley, Germany," PNAS 99 (October 1, 2002), 13342-13347.
    • For more about our testable creation model for the origin of man, Fuz recommends his book, "Who was Adam?"
  • Molecular convergence
    • Harold H. Zakon, "Convergent Evolution on the Molecular Level," Brain, Behavior and Evolution 59 (2002), 250-261.
    • Simon J. Charnock, et al., "Convergent evolution sheds light on the anti b-elimination mechanism common to family 1 and 10 polysaccharide lyases," PNAS 99 (September 17, 2002), 12067-12072.
    • Brian C. Tripp, Kerry Smith, and James G. Ferry, "Carbonic Anhydrase: New Insights for an Ancient Enzyme," Journal of Biological Chemistry 276 (December 28, 2001), 48615-48618.
    • Eleonora Carosa, et al., "Structure and Expression of the Scallop W-Crystallin Gene," The Journal of Biological Chemistry 277 (January 4, 2002), 656-664.
• Call-in Questions
  • Kenny from Milton, FL: Is there anatomical evidence that homo erectus was not a human ancestor?
  • Dave from Seattle, WA:
    • Are bi-pedal primates evidence of "transitional forms?"
    • Is Behe's irreducible complexity argument the weakest?
  • Becky from Branson, MO:
    •  Is the structure of the eye a good or bad argument for supernatural design?
      • For more about this topic, Fuz recommends:
        • Darwin's Black Box, Michael Behe
        • "The Inverted Retina: Maladaptation or Pre-adaptation?," Origins and Design, Issue 37, Michael Denton
    • Do we create God because of a need we have?
  • Jim from Portland, OR: Is the young-earth model for natural selection valid?   (Part 2)
• Email Questions
  • Rusty from Anaheim, CA: How do evolutionists explain convergence? How could their explanations be scientifically tested?
  • Aaron from Santa Clarita, CA: How can I answer an atheist rebuttal to molecular motors?
  • Tim from Tsukuba, Japan: Are NASA experiments demonstrating how complex organic molecules can form under natural conditions in space valid?
• Theology/Philosophy Segment
  • Rob Gibson wanted to know: Could forensic science provide a model for discovering whether a natural phenomenon is the result of natural processes or agency?
  • "How do we distinguish design from natural processes and chance?"
    • References:
      • Intelligent Design, William Dembski

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Evidence for Neanderthal burial rituals
    • Bruno Maureille, "A lost Neanderthal neonate found," Nature 419 (September 5, 2002), 33-34.
    • For more information about our testable creation model for human origins, we recommend our book, "Who was Adam?"
  • Anti-matter   (Part 2)
    • Michael Peskin, "The matter with antimatter," Nature 419 (September 5, 2002), 24-27.
  • Nitrogen fixation
    • Oliver Einsle, et al., "Nitrogenase MoFe-Protein at 1.16 A Resolution: A Central Ligand in the FeMo-Cofactor," Science 297 (September 6, 2002), 1696-1700.
    • For more about molecular motors and man's attempt to replicate their functions, Fuz recommends the book: Travels to the Nanoworld.
  • Ostrich study - severs bird-dino link
    • Alan Feduccia and Julie Nowicki, "The hand of birds revealed by early ostrich embryos," Naturwissenschaften online preprint (August 2002).
• Call-in Questions
  • Gary in Maine: If Darwinian evolution is true, shouldn't we see evidence for change in DNA?
  • George in Pasadena: Is string theory a proof of the Grand Unified Theory? For more about string theory, Hugh recommends his book, Beyond the Cosmos.
  • Cameron in Washington, D.C.: Is there any observational support for the limits of phenotypic plasticity?
    • Recommended resource: Evolution Explosion, by Stephen Palumbi.
  • Kenny in Milton FL:
    •  comment on dog breeding
    •  Are there any preliminary results on measuring the speed of gravity?
• Email Questions
  • Mike from San Antonio, TX: Shouldn't Fuz Rana have said "silicon" last week in his discussion about DNA computing instead of "silicone?"
  • Tim, RTB representative in Japan: Hasn't Venus's surface been reformed through volcanic eruptions, eliminating evidence of the late heavy bombardment?
• Theology/Philosophy segment
  • Is there credible evidence for the Bible code?
  • John D. wants to know: Even if the Bible code is bogus, couldn't it be used as a powerful apologetic argument for Christianity?
  • For more about the Bible code, we recommend:
    • Our series of web articles
    • Who wrote the Bible code?

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Earth formed faster than first thought
    • A.G.W. Cameron, "Birth of a Solar System," Nature 418 (August 29, 2002), 924-925.
    • T. Kleine, C. Munker, K. Mezger and H. Palme, "Rapid accretion and early core formation on asteroids and the terrestrial planets from Hf-W chronometry," Nature 418 (August 29, 2002), 952-.955
    • Qingzhu Yin, et al., "A short timescale for terrestrial planet formation from Hf-W chronometry of meteroites," Nature 418 (August 29, 2002), 949-951.
    • Harri A.T. Vanhala and Alan P. Boss, "Injection of radioactivities into the forming solar system," The Astrophysical Journal 575 (August 20, 2002), 1144-1150.
  • Chondridic meteorites
    • Yuri Amerlin, et al., "Lead Isotopic Ages of Chondrules and Calcium-Aluminum-Rich Inclusions," Science 297 (September 6, 2002), 1678-1683.
    • Jamie Gilmour, "The Solar System's First Clocks," Science 297 (September 6, 2002), 1658-1659.
  • Molecular motor update
    • Spencer Campbell and Anthony Maxwell, "The ATP-operated Clamp of Human DNA Topoisomerase Iia: Hyperstimulation of ATPase by 'Piggy-back' Binding," Journal of Molecular Biology 320 (2002), 171-188.
    • Keehwan Kwon and James T. Stivers, "Flourescence Spectroscopy Studies of Vaccinia Type IB DNA Topoisomerase," The Journal of Biological Chemistry 277 (January 4, 2002), 345-352.
    • For more about responding to criticisms to Paley's Watchmaker Argument, we recommend our video series, "Answering Atheist Objections to Christianity."
  • DNA computing
    • Roy Bar-Ziv, Tsvi Tlusty and Albert Libchaber, "Protein-DNA computation by stochastic assembly cascade," PNAS 99 (September 3, 2002), 11589-11592.
• Call-in Questions
  • George from Pasadena, CA:
    • What is the design and fine-tuning in stars in the observable universe?
    • Is it true that you have to have homochiral amino acids in proteins?
  • John from Tallahassee, FL: Do double slit experiments support the many worlds hypothesis?
    • Resources Hugh recommends related to this topic:
      • Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics: An excursion into metaphysics and the meaning of reality, by Nick Herbert
      • Quantum Physics: Illusion or Reality?, by Alastair Rae
      • Philosophical Consequences of Quantum Theory: Reflections on Bell's Theorem, edited by James T. Cushing and Ernan McMullin (this is the "10 views" book Hugh mentions)
• Email Questions
  • Soren, a 7th grader wants information about black holes.
    • Krista recommends: Young Oxford Book of Astronomy
    • Hugh recommends: Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia of Astronomy.
  • John B. saw a documentary on the Discovery Channel about the flood: Is it true that Moses stole Noah's flood account from the Gilgamesh epic?
  • Kathy R. wanted to know about the evidence for an old earth.
    • Hugh recommends:
      • The Genesis Debate
      • Our interview with John Mark Reynolds
      • The Presbyterian Church in America statement about creation
      • The Westminster Seminary statement about creation
• Boot Camp: What is "faith?"
  • For more about this topic, Ken and Krista recommend:
    • The Word of God and the Mind of Man, by Ron Nash
    • Saved by Grace, by Anthony Hoekema.

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Quantized Red Shifts   (Part 2)
    • D. Russell Humphreys, "Our Galaxy is the Center of the Universe, "Quantized" Red Shifts Show," Technical Journal 16 (2) (2002).
    • D. Russell Humphreys, "The Battle for the Cosmic Center," Impact 350 (August 2002), i-iv.
    • E. Hawkins, S.J. Maddox and M.R. Merrifield, "No Periodicities in 2dF Redshift Survey Data," Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (August 6, 2002) in press.
    • Also recommended:
      • "The Unraveling Starlight and Time" article by Sam Conner and Hugh Ross
      • "Unraveling Starlight and Time" (audio cassette)
      • "Why doesn't Hugh Ross debate Russell Humphreys?" paper
      • Listen to: Testing the dipole moment of the cosmic background radiation (aired on 04-02-02).
      • A couple of web sites recommended by Dave Rogstad about the history of quantized red shifts:
        • Document at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
        • Document at Australian National University
  • Sticky gecko feet
    • Kellar Autumn, et al., "Evidence for van der Waals adhesion in gecko setae," PNAS Early Edition 99 (2002).
    • K. Autumn, et al., "Adhesive force of a single gecko foot-hair,' Nature 405 (June 8, 2000), 681-685.
  • Distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud
    • G. P. DiBenedetto, "On the absolute calibration of the cepheid distance scale using Hipparcos parallaxes," The Astronomical Journal 124 (August 2002), 1213-1220.
    • Ignasi Ribas, Edward L. Fitzpatrick, et al., "Fundamental properties and distances of Large Magellanic Cloud eclipsing binaries. III. Eros 1044," The Astrophysical Journal 574 (August 1, 2002), 771-782.
    • N. Panagia, "Distance to SN 1987 A and the LMC, New Views of the Magellanic Clouds," IAU Symposium #190, edited by Y.-H. Chu, N. Suntzeff, J. Hesser & D. Bohlender, (1999), 549.
• Call-In Questions
  • Elaine wanted to know: Has Dr. Ross heard of Planet X?
    • For more,  Listen to Dr. Ross's extended comment on Planet X  (Part 2)  (aired on 02-19-02)
  • George from Pasadena, CA: Does gravity affect the speed of light?
  • Ian from Santa Clarita, CA:
    • Questions concerning Russell Humphrey's cosmology
    • What does "heavens" refer to in Genesis 1:1?  Read Hugh's extensive discussion of the meaning of the phrase "heavens and the earth" in his book, The Genesis Question.
  • Greg from Oklahoma City, OK: What is the significance of the recent Toumai man discovery?
    • Listen to: Toumai "Man": A Barrel Full of Questions For Darwinian Evolution (aired on 07-16-02)
    • We also recommend our book, "Who was Adam?"
• Email Questions
  • Kenny from Milton, FL: Didn't Kenyanthropus man also cause a problem for the Lucy fossil?
  • Gabriel from Sacramento, CA: How does Hugh Ross figure out the probability that Moses would put the creation miracles in order?

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Fine-tuning of the cosmological constant  
    • Philip Ball, "Is physics watching over us?" Nature web publication (August 13, 2002).
    • L. Dyson, M. Kleban and L. Susskind, "Disturbing implications of a cosmological constant," Preprint (2002).
  • More verification of the cosmological constant  (Part 2)
    • Charles R. Keeton, "Rethinking Lensing and L," The Astrophysical Journal 575 (August 10, 2002), L1-L4.
    • For more information about the fine-tuning of the universe, see Hugh's book, The Creator and the Cosmos.
  • SETI update   (Part 2)
    • T. Joseph W. Lazio and Jill Tarter and peter R. Backus, "Megachannel extraterrestrial assay candidates: no transmissions from intrinsically steady sources," The Astronomical Journal 124 (July 2002), 560-564.
    • For more information about UFOs and extra-terrestrial life, we recommend the book, "Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men."
  • Impact event
    • Gary R. Byerly, Donald R. Lowe, Joseph L. Wooden, Xiaogang Xie, "An Archean Impact Layer from the Pilbara and Kaapvaal Cratons," Science 297 (August 23, 2002), 1325-1327.
  • Biodiversity
    • Shana E. Peters and Michael Foote, "Biodiversity in the Phanerozoic: a reinterpretation," Paleobiology v. 27, n. 4 (2001), 583-601.
• Call-in Questions:
  • James from Garland, TX wanted clarification about our creation timeline and the date for bi-pedal primates.
  • Patrick from Eastbrookfield, MA: Could both the young-earth and the old-earth perspectives be true?
  • George from Pasadena, CA: What does the "vast array" refer to in Genesis 2:1?
• Email Questions:
  • Kim from Denmark asked: How does Dr. Ross figure out all of those probabilities for the fine-tuning of the universe?
  • David wanted to know: Are the probabilities calculated and the methods used to get them commonly accepted by the scientific community?
  • Mark S. wanted to know: If the Arizona crater could be dated to 50,000 years ago, could it be an evidence against a global flood?
• Truth or Fiction: Are crop circles a valid evidence of UFO activity?

• Discoveries Discussed
  • Language gene in humans   (Part 2)
    • Steven Pinker, "Talk of genetics and vice versa" Nature 413 (October 4, 2001), 465-466.
    • Cecilia S. L. Lai, Simon E. Fisher, et al., "A forkhead-domain gene is mutated in severe speech and language disorder" Nature 413 (October 4, 2001), 519-523.
    • Wolfgang Enard, Molly Przeworski, et al., "Molecular evolution of FOXP2, a gene involved in speech and language" Nature advance online publication (August 14, 2002).
  • Other genetic similarities and differences between chimps and humans
    • B. Bower, "The DNA Divide: Chimps, people differ in brain's gene activity" Science News 161 (April 13, 2001), 227-228.
    • Wolfgang Enard, Philipp Khaitovich, et al. "Intra- and Interspecific Variation in Primate Gene Expression Patterns," Science (April 12, 2002), 340-343.
    • Derek E. Wildman, "A map of the common chimpanzee genome," BioEssays 24 (2002), 490-493.
    • Read Fuz's article, "Humans and Chimps Differ" (Connections 2001 Quarter 3) for more of his perspective about the genetic differences between primates.
    • For more about our perspective on the origin of humans, we recommend our book, "Who was Adam?"
  • Eukaryotic big bang
    • Joel B. Dacks, Alexandra Marinets, et al., "Analyses of RNA Polymerase II Genes from Free-Living Protists: Phylogeny, Long Branch Attraction, and the Eukaryotic Big Bang," Molecular Biology and Evolution v. 19, n. 6 (2002), 830-840.
    • David Moreira, Herve Le Guyader, and Herve Philippe, "Unusually High Evolutionary Rate of the Elongation Factor 1a Genes from the Ciliophora and Its Impact on the Phylogeny of Eukaryotes," Molecular Biology and Evolution v. 16, n. 2 (1999), 234-245.
    • Andrew J. Roger, Olof Sandblom, W. Ford Doolittle, and Herve Philippe, "An Evaluation of Elongation Factor 1a as a Phylogenetic Marker for Eukaryotes," Molecular Biology and Evolution v. 16, n. 2 (1999), 218-233.
  • Myosin molecular motor
    • M. Yusuf Ali, Sotaro Uemura, et al., "Myosin V is a left-handed spiral motor on the right-handed actin helix," Nature Structural Biology v. 9, n. 6 (June 2002), 464-467.
  • Examples of convergence
    • Molecular convergence in primates
      • Fabrice Dupuy, Agnes Germot, et al., "a1,4-Fucosyltransferase Activity: A Significant Function in the Primate Lineage has Appeared Twice Independently," Molecular Biology and Evolution v. 19, n. 6 (2002), 815-824.
      • Angelina S. Palma, Cidalia Vila-Verde, et al., "A novel plant a4-fucosyltransferase (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) synthesises the Lewis adhesion determinant," FEBS Letters 499 (2001), 235-238.
    • Kangaroos, wallabies and ungulates
      • D.O. Fisher, S.P. Blomberg, and I.P.F. Owens, "Covergent maternal care strategies in ungulates and macropods," Evolution 56 (2002), 167-176.
    • Dolphin mirror self-recognition
      • Diana Reiss and Lori Marino, "Mirror self-recognition in the bottlenose dolphin: A case of cognitive convergence," PNAS 98 (May 8, 2001), 5937-5942.
• Email Questions:
  • Jim sends article on crows that made fish hooks
  • Patrick had some follow up questions to our recent discussion of the Discovery Channel documentary, "The Real Eve."
  • Walter R. asked: What is the shortest self-replicator with exponential growth currently known?
• Theology/Philosophy segment:
  • Does Christianity stifle scientific inquiry? Can it co-exist with the methodological naturalism of the scientific method?
    • Resource recommendations:
      • Books:
        • The Savior of Science
        • The Soul of Science, by Nancy Pearcey and Charles Thaxton