Today's New Reason To Believe Archives

April 2004

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Friday, April 30, 2004

  • The Bible describes humanity as made in God’s image. This means that when modern humans appear on Earth, advanced culture, which manifests God’s image, should appear concurrently. This study reports on the contents of a Paleolithic site dated at 23,000 years in age that contains the oldest evidence of bedding. This find is consistent with the notion that advanced human behavior appears coincidently with the appearance of the first true humans.  This discovery supports the biblical view of humanity and is accommodated within RTB’s model for humanity’s spread from the Middle East after the Flood.
  • Related Resource: A Fashionable Find, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Who was Adam? (VHS video)

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Thursday, April 29, 2004

  • Even though embryonic stem cell research holds the promise to effectively treat several horrible debilitating diseases and injuries, many are troubled by it, since this research involves the destruction of human embryos. This report provides new insight into the process of dedifferentiation in the model organism Dictyostelium discoidem. This insight may one day lead to technology that can revert fully specialized tissue cells to a pseudo-embryonic state. These dedifferentiated cells could potentially serve as a starting point for the growth of replacement tissues. Scientific advance may provide the way out of the ethical dilemma created by emerging biotechnologies.
  • Related Resource: A New Direction for Stem Cell Research, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: A Christian Perspective on Biotechnology, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Wednesday, April 28, 2004

  • A team of German and Brazilian astronomers has discovered another design feature in gamma-ray burst events. They demonstrated that very high energy cosmic rays arriving from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy are the remnants of several gamma-ray burst events that occurred near the galactic center about a million years ago. They also determined that gamma-ray burst events occur about once every million years in the Milky Way Galaxy. Since galactic gamma-ray burst events would prove deadly for human life, the timing of humanity’s arrival and the maturation of human civilization must be fine-tuned to avoid such events.
  • Related Resource: Gamma Rays Burst Biological Evolution, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: The Creator and The Cosmos, by Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Tuesday, April 27, 2004

  • A team of biochemists uncovered evidence for design when they successfully mapped the structure of the light-gathering complex in the cells of spinach leaves. They found inside the cells on the sunward surfaces of spinach leaves a complex of 24 chlorophyll molecules arranged in a specific configuration that absorbed and redirected light energy efficiently. The chlorophyll molecules also functioned as light and heat dissipaters during high-light conditions when the cell is in danger of being cooked by too much sunlight. This amazing and exquisite design of the spinach leaf chlorophyll complex points to supernatural design.
  • Related Resource: Protein Structures Reveal More Evidence for Design, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Monday, April 26, 2004

  • Japanese scientists have discovered additional evidence for the supernatural design of Earth and the solar system for the benefit of advanced life. They found another source for nitrogen fixation, the life-critical process whereby molecular nitrogen is transformed into nitrogen compound nutrients for advanced plants. They demonstrated that buckminsterfullerenes (molecular spheres made up of 60 carbon atoms) can produce significant nitrogen fixation without the benefit of metal catalysts. Consequently, the fine-tuning of the steady rain of buckminsterfullerenes from interplanetary and interstellar space on to the surface of Earth qualifies as an additional evidence of the design of the solar system for the benefit of advanced life.
  • Related Resource: Forests and nitrogen fixation, Creation Update (air-date:11-12-2002).
  • Product Spotlight: The Creator and The Cosmos, by Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Sunday, April 25, 2004

  • Although some Christians question the veracity of the big bang, it continues to receive a steady stream of confirmations. The latest comes from observations of massive protostars (precursors to very massive stars). Big bang cosmology predicts in great detail how stars of different masses should form. These predictions have been verified by observations—with the exception of very massive stars. This is not surprising since big bang cosmology predicts that such stars should form relatively quickly in deeply embedded molecular cores, thus making their observation difficult. Recently, two different teams of astronomers made the first positive identifications of very young, very massive protostars. Their measurements confirm the predictions of big bang cosmology. Since the Bible predicted in considerable detail thousands of years ago that the universe possesses fundamental big bang features, scientific confirmations of such big bang features provide powerful evidence for the Christian faith.
  • Related Resource: Big Bang - The Bible Taught it First! by John Rea and Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: The Creator and The Cosmos, by Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Saturday, April 24, 2004

  • Planetary scientists have uncovered evidence indicating that liquid water was never abundant on Mars and, therefore, have removed one of the requirements for a naturalistic origin of life on Mars. Specifically, the scientists demonstrated that the streaks and gullies on Martian slopes that had been interpreted by others as water-bearing flows all can be easily explained by flows of dry granular materials (e.g., sand). Since dry granular materials exist in copious amounts on the Martian surface and since Martian meteorites show no evidence of internal water, the scientists conclude that the assumption that Mars once possessed huge quantities of standing and flowing water, as opposed to local intermittent water episodes, is not valid. Plus, an abundance of stable liquid water is just one of hundreds of different fine-tuned characteristics that must be met for life to be possible. Mars lacks these characteristics, thus it offers no hope to those seeking a naturalistic explanation for life’s origin.
  • Related Resource: Follow the Water …To Life? By Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Friday, April 23, 2004

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Thursday, April 22, 2004

  • RTB’s creation model for humanity’s origin regards Neanderthals and other extinct hominids found in the fossil record as nonhuman primates which lacked spiritual capacity. This biography describes the career of anthropologist Richard G. Klein, recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Klein’s work, which demonstrates 1) that Neanderthals were cognitively different and inferior to modern humans; and 2) that around 50,000 years ago advanced human behavior and culture appears explosively on the scene, provides support for RTB’s view of the extinct hominids.
  • Related Resource: Neanderthal-to-Human Link Severed, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Who was Adam? (video)

Today's New Reason To Believe - Wednesday, April 21, 2004

  • A watch requires a watchmaker. On this basis it logically follows that life requires a Creator, since biochemists have discovered that many molecules inside the cell function as molecular scale machines. In fact, some of these display an eerie resemblance to man-made machines. One of these is myosin. This protein is a linear motor replete with a lever arm and hinge mechanism. This new study offers new insight into myosin's function. It turns out that the movement of myosin's lever arm has quality control features that ensure its operational robustness. The elegant design and stark resemblance to man-made machinery, along with its quality control features, indicate that myosin, and all of life's chemistry, is the work of a divine "Motor Maker."
  • Related Resource: Nanodevices Make Megascopic Statement, by Fazale "Fuz" Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Travels to the Nanoworld, by Michael Gross

Today's New Reason To Believe - Tuesday, April 20, 2004

  • Irreducible complexity is a hallmark feature of designed systems. Many biochemical systems inside the cell appear to be irreducibly complex, and hence designed. This study provides another example. The biomolecular components involved in the trafficking of proteins in the nucleus form an irreducibly complex system. Natural process evolution simply cannot yield systems like those involved in protein transport. As biochemists continue to characterize the cell's chemical systems, the evidence for design mounts and with it evidence that life is the product of a Creator.
  • Related Resource: Biochemisty and the Bible: Collaborators in Design, by Joe Aguirre
  • Product Spotlight: Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, by Michael Behe

Today's New Reason To Believe - Monday, April 19, 2004

Today's New Reason To Believe - Sunday, April 18, 2004

  • As recently as ten years ago, microbiologists viewed bacteria as a "container" of haphazardly arranged molecules. Recent advances, however, indicate that this view is incorrect. Microbiologists now understand these simplest of life forms to possess a remarkable degree of internal organization at the molecular level. This article adds to this new understanding by identifying previously unrecognized organizational complexity for the chemical signaling pathways of bacteria. The internal organization of the simplest life forms serves as a marker for biochemical design and is expected if a Creator is responsible for life.
  • Related Resource: Origin-of-Life Predictions Face-Off, by Fazale "Fuz" Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face-Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today's New Reason To Believe - Saturday, April 17, 2004

  • Given its mechanism, evolution should not produce the same outcome repeatedly. Yet this study shows that this occurred. The authors of this research report describe the repeated, independent origin of plumage patterns in a number of unrelated bird species. The independent, multiple origins of plumage patterns challenge the veracity of the theory of evolution, but find ready explanation if a Creator repeatedly used the same good designs as He brought life into existence.
  • Related Resource: Convergence: Evidence for a Single Creator, by Fazale "Fuz" Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Biological Convergence (audiotape from the 2003 Conference: Who is the Designer?

Today's New Reason To Believe - Friday, April 16, 2004

  • Given its mechanism, evolution should not produce the same outcome repeatedly. Yet this study shows that this occurred. The authors of this research describe the repeated, independent loss of bony armor in sticklebacks. From an evolutionary perspective, it appears as if the armor loss resulted from mutations that affected the same genes. This observation runs counter to evolutionary theory that predicts that independent origins, when they do rarely occur, should involve unique combinations of genetic mutations. The independent, multiple loss of a complex anatomical feature caused by the same underlying genetic changes challenges the veracity of the theory of evolution, but finds ready explanation if a Creator repeatedly used the same good designs as He brought life into existence.
  • Related Resource: Convergence: Evidence for a Single Creator, by Fazale "Fuz" Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Biological Convergence(audiotape from the 2003 Conference: Who is the Designer?

Today's New Reason To Believe - Thursday, April 15, 2004

  • A watch requires a watchmaker. On this basis it logically follows that life requires a Creator. Biochemists have discovered that many molecules inside the cell function as molecular level machines. In fact, some of these display an eerie resemblance to man-made machines. These biomolecular machines also operate with incredible efficiency and elegance. These two new studies highlight the phenomenal properties of biomolecular machines. Two independent teams of chemists designed and synthesized man-made molecular machines. This work represents science at its very best, yet the newly produced man-made molecular machines are crude and cumbersome compared to those found inside the cell. Given that the best scientists in the world can't duplicate the elegance and efficiency of biomolecular machines, does it make sense to conclude that the cell's chemical systems arose as the product of blind, natural processes?
  • Related Resource: Nanodevices Make Megascopic Statement, by Fazale "Fuz" Rana
  • Product Spotlight: (Travels to the Nanoworld , by Michael Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Wednesday, April 14, 2004

  • Astronomers have discovered more evidence for the universe’s fine tuning in new measurements on cosmic dark energy. The new measurements include six of the seven most distant type Ia supernovae yet discovered and indicate that the dark energy factor either does not change over cosmic history or “if it’s changing, it’s not changing very quickly.” The measurements also show that the universe transitioned from an expansion rate that slowed down to one that sped up about five billion years ago. The indicated value of the dark energy factor demonstrates a level of fine-tuning at least 1,097 times superior to the best example of human engineering design. This evidence also strengthens the conclusion that dark energy yields the greatest evidence among all cosmic parameters for supernatural design.
  • Related Resource: A Beginner’s—and Expert’s—Guide to the Big Bang, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: The Creator and The Cosmos, by Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Tuesday, April 13, 2004

  • Even though embryonic stem cell research holds the promise to effectively treat several horrible debilitating diseases and injuries, many Christians are troubled by it, since this research involves the destruction of human embryos. This report describes the generation of stem cells from fruit fly cells that are precursors to egg cells. If this discovery has applicability to other animals, it holds the promise of leading to biotechnology that can restore lost tissue function without relying on embryonic stem cells. Scientific advance may provide the way out of the ethical dilemma created by emerging biotechnologies.
  • Related Resource: A New Direction for Stem Cell Research, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face-Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: A Christian Perspective on Biotechnology, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Monday, April 12, 2004

  • Well-designed systems include quality control checkpoints at critical junctures to ensure efficient production of high quality products.  Many biochemical operations inside the cell employ quality control procedures and hence appear to be designed. This study describes new insights into one such system, an enzyme that repairs damage to tRNA molecules.  This repair is necessary to ensure the fidelity of protein synthesis.  As biochemists continue to characterize the cell’s chemical systems, the evidence for design mounts and with it evidence that life is the product of a Creator.
  • Related Resource: Biochemistry and the Bible: Collaborators in Design, by Joe Aguirre
  • Product Spotlight: Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, by Michael Behe

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Sunday, April 11, 2004

  • Planetary scientists have uncovered evidence that places another constraint on the “follow the water” hypothesis that currently drives the search for extraterrestrial life. In a meteorite that probably came from the asteroid Vesta, they discovered a crack-seal quartz veinlet. Such veinlets are difficult to form without liquid water solutions. However, since the meteorite shows no indication of internal water, the planetary scientists deduced that the water came from a comet impact (comets are 80 percent frozen water). Since comet impacts (and therefore water) are ubiquitous throughout the solar system, evidence of water chemistry on Mars or other solar system bodies really adds nothing to the probability of finding life in those locations. Life requires hundreds of fine-tuned characteristics in addition to water and the level of fine-tuning is so extreme as to demand a supernatural Creator.
  • Related Resource: Follow the Water …To Life?, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face-Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Saturday, April 10, 2004

  • Although some Christians still question the veracity of the big bang, it continues to receive a steady stream of confirmations. In discovering the most distantly imaged galaxy, astronomers have confirmed an important feature of the big bang creation model. Taking advantage of a powerful gravitational lens, the astronomers captured the image of a galaxy at a redshift distance of 10, beating the previous record holder at redshift 7. This image reveals an extremely small galaxy when the universe was only 460 million years old (about 3 percent its age). It supports the big bang prediction of a cosmic progression from the formation of a few extremely massive stars to the formation of a second generation of stars in star clusters—many of which merge to form mini galaxies which later merge to form larger galaxies. Since the Bible predicted (in considerable detail) thousands of years ago that the universe possesses fundamental big bang features, scientific confirmations of such big bang features provide powerful evidence for the Christian faith.
  • Related Resource: Predictive Power: Confirming Cosmic Creation, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: Journey Toward Creation, 2nd edition (VHS or DVD)

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Friday, April 9, 2004

  • In an attempt to give naturalistic origin-of-life scenarios as much time as possible, some scientists propose that life arose during the high temperature conditions of Earth’s Hadean era, prior to 3.9 billion years ago. This requires the first organisms to be heat-loving, thermophilic microbes. The results of this recent study make this scenario unlikely. These researchers demonstrate that in order to achieve chemical stability at high temperatures, the messenger RNAs of thermophiles must be enriched inpurines. This restriction reduces the probability that random processes can generate functional biomolecules at high temperatures. In other words, evolutionary scenarios for life’s origin are more difficult at high temperatures, than at moderate temperatures in which this chemical restriction does not apply. The bottom line: origin-of-life researchers cannot look to the Hadean era for the extra time needed in order to make naturalistic origin-of-life scenarios plausible.
  • Related Resource: Some Like It Hot - But First Life Did Not, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face-Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Thursday, April 8, 2004

  • The results from genetic studies of contemporary human population groups correlate nicely with the biblical description of humankind’s origin. In a quest to gain even deeper insight into humanity’s origin and spread, geneticists now study the origin and expansion of human disease. These techniques rely upon genetic analyses of pathological microbes. Intimate association with humans allows these microbes to function as surrogate indicators of their hosts’ origin and migrations. Initial work with Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium implicated in gastric cancer and peptic ulcers, shows promise and yields results that comport with studies of modern human populations. This new study indicates that H. pylori gene sequences may even be more informative about human history than human gene sequences! This sets the stage for future work with H. pylori and will provide new opportunities to test the veracity of the biblical account of humanity’s origin and prehistory.
  • Related Resource: Diseases Follow Human Origin and Spread, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Who was Adam? (VHS)

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Wednesday, April 7, 2004

  • Are the cell’s chemical systems the work of a Creator? This recent study provides an opportunity to put this question to the test. This team of physicists theoretically modeled the network of metabolic interactions that operate during the yeast’s cell cycle. It turns out that the yeast cell cycle displays the tell-tale features of a robustly designed network. This study’s conclusions are consistent with the idea that a Divine Engineer designed life’s chemistry.
  • Related Resource: Biochemistry and the Bible: Collaborators in Design, by Joe Aguirre
  • Product Spotlight: Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, by Michael Behe

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Tuesday, April 6, 2004

  • Although some Christians still question the veracity of the big bang, it continues to receive a steady stream of confirmations. In discovering the most distantly imaged galaxy, astronomers have confirmed an important feature of the big bang creation model. Taking advantage of a powerful gravitational lens, the astronomers captured the image of a galaxy at a redshift distance of 10, beating the previous record holder at redshift 7. This image reveals an extremely small galaxy when the universe was only 460 million years old (about 3 percent its age). It supports the big bang prediction of a cosmic progression from the formation of a few extremely massive stars to the formation of a second generation of stars in star clusters—many of which merge to form mini galaxies which later merge to form larger galaxies. Since the Bible predicted in considerable detail thousands of years ago that the universe possesses fundamental big bang features, scientific confirmations of such big bang features provide powerful evidence for the Christian faith.   
  • Related Resource: Predictive Power: Confirming Cosmic Creation, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: Journey Toward Creation, 2nd edition (VHS or DVD)

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Monday, April 5, 2004

  • Given its mechanism, evolution should not repeatedly produce the same outcome. Yet this study shows that this occurred. The authors of this research report describe the repeated, independent origin of plumage patterns in a number of unrelated bird species. The independent, multiple origins of plumage patterns challenges the veracity of the theory of evolution, but finds ready explanation if a Creator repeatedly used the same good designs as He brought life into existence.
  • Related Resource: Convergence: Evidence for a Single Creator, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Biological Convergence (audiotape from the 2003 Conference: Who is the Designer?)

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Sunday, April 4, 2004

  • The Cambrian Explosion (also called biology’s "big bang") stands as one of evolutionary biology’s greatest enigmas. From our perspective, it bears the fingerprint for a divine Creator. The Cambrian Explosion refers to an episode recorded in the fossil record around 540 million years ago in which nearly every animal phylum (body plan) to exist in Earth’s history explosively appears within less than 10 million years. Some evolutionary biologists have proposed that the Cambrian Explosion is not a real event, but an artifact of the fossil record. In this study, researchers put that theory to the test by analyzing the genetic characteristics of a wide range of organisms. They conclude that the Cambrian Explosion is, in fact, a real event. This genetic work provides independent confirmation of the fossil record and of RTB’s biblical creation model.
  • Related Resource: The Explosive Appearance of Skeletal Designs, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Rare Earth, by Donald Brownlee and Peter Ward

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Saturday, April 3, 2004

  • Biochemists have traditionally regarded the cell membrane to be a chaotic system that lacked order beyond the phospholipids bilayer structure. A new picture, however, is emerging. It turns out the cell membrane displays remarkable organization that hinges on the fine-tuning of its molecular composition. This study supports this new paradigm. It turns out that the membrane composition plays an important role in maintaining the structures of proteins associated with it. This compositional fine tuning, along with its newly recognized complexity and organization, are indicators of Intelligent Design.
  • Related Resource: Biotic Borders: Cell Membranes under Scrutiny, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life, by Hugh Ross and Fuz Rana

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Friday, April 2, 2004

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Thursday, April 1, 2004

  • Astronomers have strengthened an important tool for determining the creation date of the universe and for measuring the fine-tuning of the nucleosynthesis history (history of heavy element burning) of the universe that is required for life to exist. They compared narrowband photometry (a light-measuring technique) of extensive surveys of star clusters and galaxies to mathematical models for the buildup of metals. The comparisons established that the oldest stellar structures in the universe indeed are blue globular clusters and dwarf nucleated elliptical galaxies. The observational-to-theoretical comparison establishes that such objects make excellent tools for determining the universe’s birthday and are the key to reconstructing the nucleosynthesis history of the universe. The universe’s creation date and nucleosynthesis history so derived affirm a biblical cosmic creation model.
  • Related Resource: A Precise Plan for Humanity, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: Journey Toward Creation, 2nd edition (VHS or DVD)