Today's New Reason To Believe Archives

June 2004

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Wednesday, June 30, 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 origins of the single-cell amoeboid eukaryotes. The independent, multiple origins of the complex amoeboid form 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

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Monday, June 28, 2004

  • Evolutionary biologists maintain that junk DNA provides incontrovertible evidence for evolution. This study shows that a previously identified pseudogene actually codes for a useful protein. This new recognition indicates that careful planning by an Intelligent Designer, rather than undirected, random biochemical events, shaped the genomes of organisms.
  • Related Resource: “Function Found for a Pseudogene,” Creation Update (05-06-03)
  • Product Spotlight: Icons of Evolution (DVD)

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Sunday, June 27, 2004

  • Was there ever life on Mars? Some researchers think so. They point to putative chemical signatures for relic life in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. However, research to date eliminates all but one as a legitimate life marker. The one that researchers think may actually be life remains is the magnetite crystals associated with carbonate deposits. Some researchers claim that the magnetite is arranged in linear chains, a tell-tale sign of biogenicity. In this new study, researchers used three magnetic techniques to characterize the ALH84001 magnetite crystals and concluded that they are not arranged as chains, for the most part.  This means that these crystals were produced by inorganic processes, not biological ones. With the publication of this report, there is now no evidence for past life on Mars.
  • Related Resource: Mars Overview
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Saturday, June 26, 2004

  • Was there ever life on Mars? Some researchers think so. They point to evidence for liquid water on Mars as evidence that it once had a suitable environment to sustain life. The chief indicator that Mars once harbored water is the surface gullies that presumably formed when liquid water flowed on its surface. This study demonstrates that the flow of dry granular material under the reduced gravity conditions of Mars could produce the very features on the Martian surface attributed to the flow of liquid water. This result reconciles the fact that, at some latitudes, Mars surface temperatures have never been high enough for liquid water to exist. With the publication of this report, the evidence for past life on Mars ebbs.
  • Related Resource: Mars Overview
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Friday, June 25, 2004

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Thursday, June 24, 2004

  • How did the first proto-cells emerge? Some think that they arose when fatty acids spontaneously assembled into vesicles (model cell membranes). With exacting manipulation under carefully controlled laboratory conditions, these vesicles can grow and divide in a way that superficially mimics cell growth and division. In this study, these researchers show that, if the conditions are “just-right”, when these vesicles grow, a pH gradient forms across the vesicle wall. Since cells use pH gradients across membranes to harvest chemical energy, these researchers conclude that processes like the ones in their experiments contributed to the emergence of the first proto-cells. It’s unlikely, however, that the conditions needed for the first proto-cells to emerge existed on the early Earth. Ironically, these researchers demonstrate that in the presence of alkali ions, which would be present on early Earth at high levels, the pH gradient that form as a result of vesicle growth dissipates. They also showed that when pH gradients form, they prevent further vesicle growth.  The exacting requirements needed for cell membranes to form are consistent with the work of an Intelligent Designer, not natural process evolution.
  • Related Resource: Biotic Borders: Cell Membranes under Scrutiny, by Fazale R. Rana
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Wednesday, June 23, 2004

  • Although some Christians are skeptical about the veracity of the big bang model for the origin of the universe, it continues to receive a steady stream of confirmations. The big bang creation model predicts that a small percentage of the universe’s total density should be comprised of ordinary matter, some of it light-emitting, most of it dark. Astronomers have measured the predicted amount of total ordinary matter as well as the predicted amount of light-emitting ordinary matter. Now, for the first time they have directly detected dark ordinary matter. Using an interferometer, they discovered that the outskirts of the Milky Way Galaxy contain an enormous number of clumpuscules, dense clouds of molecular hydrogen only a few hundred million miles across. This discovery strengthens both the case for a big bang creation event and for the supernatural design of the universe.
  • Related Resource: “Baryon Update: Another Confirmation of the ‘Big Bang’ Creation Event,” Creation Update (air date: 11-18-03).
  • Product Spotlight: Journey Toward Creation, 2nd edition (DVD)

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Tuesday, June 22, 2004

  • Although some Christians are skeptical about the veracity of the big bang model for the origin of the universe, it continues to receive a steady stream of confirmations. One such confirmation comes from the first-ever direct detection of exotic matter. The big bang creation model predicts that exotic matter should predominate ordinary matter by about a factor of five. This exotic matter explains how the stars and galaxies necessary for life could arise from the big bang creation event. It had been indirectly measured, but now, using a gravitational lens, scientists distinguished for a galaxy cluster the ordinary matter peak from the exotic matter peak and determined that exotic matter indeed predominates ordinary matter. This discovery strengthens both the case for a big bang creation event and for the supernatural design of the universe.
  • 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 – Monday, June 21, 2004

  • The most rigorous proofs for the existence of a transcendent Creator rest upon the reliability of general relativity to describe the dynamics of massive bodies in the universe. Now, these proofs can be bolstered thanks to a Jet Propulsion Laboratory physicist who has derived for the first time a set of equations that correctly describes the flow of charge and changes in the electromagnetic field for conditions where both special and general relativistic effects are significant. These new equations will provide new opportunities to subject general relativity to even more rigorous testing, and subsequently greater evidence for a transcendent Creator.
  • 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 – Sunday, June 20, 2004

  • One of the great mysteries in evolutionary theory is explaining how solitary individuals of an insect species first banded together to divide their labor and their reproductive tasks so as to produce highly complex societies. A team of evolutionists studied a species of Australian bees and discovered that individuals within a particular colony are motivated to sustain the social structures. They failed, however, to uncover any evidence for how such a complicated social structure could possibly arise under natural conditions alone. The only feasible explanation for the origin of such advanced social structures is that a Being far more intelligent than the bees or the mechanisms of natural biological evolution must have planned and organized the social structures.
  • Product Resource: “Five species symbiosis,” Creation Update (02-04-2003).
  • Related Resource: Symbiosis - More Complex Than We Knew, by Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Saturday, June 19, 2004

  • The more astronomers study the cosmos, the more they discover evidence for supernatural design. Italian astronomers analyzed measurements of 176 type Ia supernovae and strengthened the conclusion that dark energy—residual energy in empty space that is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate—yields the greatest evidence among all cosmic parameters for supernatural design. Their analysis places the best limit to date on the possible level of any “quintessence,” (variation) of cosmic dark energy. They found that the dark energy factor either does not change over cosmic history or if it’s changing, it’s not changing very quickly or by very much. Such fine-tuning of this cosmic parameter—at least 1097 times superior to the best example of human engineering design—points to a supernatural Creator.
  • Related Resource: Early Quintessence: Emerging Evidence for a Third Factor Controlling the Expansion Rate of the Universe, Creation Update (07-29-2003).
  • Product Spotlight: The Creator and The Cosmos, by Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Friday, June 18, 2004

  • Biologists have discovered a new design feature for shrimp. They found that the peacock mantis shrimp possesses the fastest appendicular striker (quickest arm) in the animal kingdom. This striker is like a crossbow. It possesses a ratchet device that allows the shrimp’s muscles to slowly stretch a powerful paraboloid spring to maximum tension. The shrimp can suddenly release that tension to deliver a lightning-quick hammer blow 9,000 times the force of gravity. Such an amazing structure points to a Divine engineer with supernatural intelligence.
  • Related Resource: Sticky Gecko Feet, Creation Update (air-date 09-03-2002)
  • Product Spotlight: MP3 CD-ROM – Receive an entire quarter of Creation Update on one CD-ROM for only $24.95.

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Thursday, June 17, 2004

  • More evidence that Earth is fine-tuned for life comes from a study of possible oceans on other planets. An astronomer demonstrated that oceans on terrestrial (Earth-like) planets, if they exist, will be short-lived without the extraordinary fine-tuning that Earth manifests. This water loss is due to a chemical process called photodissociation, and should be detectable with current technology for extrasolar terrestrial planets. Therefore, astronomers should soon be able to determine what percentage of extraterrestrial planets possess or possessed significant quantities of water. Such research could produce additional fine-tuning evidence and, thus, additional evidence for a supernatural Creator.
  • Related Resource: The Faint Sun Paradox, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: Journey Toward Creation, 2nd edition (DVD)

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Wednesday, June 16, 2004

  • What’s life’s minimum complexity? For the evolutionary model to work, life in its minimal form must be simple. In contrast, RTB’s creation model predicts that life in its minimal state is irreducibly complex. This work provides added support to the notion that life requires minimally 1500-1900 genes to exist independently. In this study researchers sequenced the genome of the thermophile, Thermusthermophilus, and determined that it consists of ~2,200 genes. Interestingly, microbes like T.thermophilus are representative of some of the first life forms on Earth. The irreducible complexity of independent life provides clear-cut evidence that life is the product of a Creator.
    • Anke Henne et al., “The Genome Sequence of the Extreme Thermophile Thermus thermophilus,” Nature Biotechnology 22 (2004): 547-53.
    • No abstract for this article.
  • Related Resource: “Life’s Minimum Complexity –Archaeal Parasite,” Creation Update (air-date 10-21-03).
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Tuesday, June 15, 2004

  • Although some Christians are skeptical about the veracity of the big bang model for the origin of the universe, it continues to receive a steady stream of confirmations. The big bang creation model and the stellar evolution models that arise from it predict that no burned out stars should exist between the Chandrasekhar limit (limit at which black holes form) and the electron capture limit (limit at which electron captures detonate the star’s core). While observations had established the accuracy of Chandrasekhar’s limit many years ago, only now has the lower limit also been confirmed. This discovery strengthens both the reliability of big bang physics and the physics of stellar structure and evolution.
  • 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 - Monday, June 14, 2004

  • Harvard University astronomers have discovered more evidence for the cosmic creation model described in the Bible (aka the big bang) and for the design of the universe for the benefit of life. They were able to test three predictions based on the biblical model. One prediction is that the Population III era (when the universe’s first stars formed) should end when the universe is less than 300 million years old. Second, the Population II stars (the next generation) should enrich the intergalactic medium with life-essential heavy elements at a specified abundance level. And third, the Population III era should quickly be followed by a star formation period dominated by low-mass stars. Using high-resolution cosmological simulations based on the big bang, the researchers observed all three of the predicted outcomes. Thus, the evidence for the biblical cosmic creation model has grown stronger.
  • Related Resource: Predictive Power: Confirming Cosmic Creation, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: Journey Toward Creation, 2nd edition (DVD)

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Sunday, June 13, 2004

  • Geologists at Stanford University have confirmed the exquisite design for life of Earth’s past atmosphere that compensated for a less brilliant Sun at that time (the faint Sun paradox). They performed measurements that established a lower limit for the carbon dioxide level of Earth’s atmosphere 3.2 billion years ago. A carbon dioxide upper limit was recently established for Earth’s atmosphere 2.75 billion years ago. Taken together, these measurements confirm that indeed just-right geological processes combined with just-right creations and removals of life perfectly compensated for a Sun that first got fainter through rapid mass loss and then got brighter through helium production at its core. Such exquisite, ongoing, step-by-step fine-tuning demands a supernatural Creator with supernatural foresight.
  • Related Resource: The Faint Sun Paradox, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: Journey Toward Creation, 2nd edition (DVD)

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Saturday, June 12, 2004

  • Is there life on Mars? Some researchers think so. They point to methane in the Martian atmosphere as evidence for life. Methane has a short atmospheric residence time because of its reactivity. There must be an ongoing source of methane production for this to exist in the Martian atmosphere. Some life forms (methanogenic bacteria) generate methane. Therefore, this gas can be considered a life signature. This study demonstrates that methane (along with ethane and propane) can be produced under abiotic conditions, and does not necessarily indicate life’s presence.
  • Related Resource: Mars Overview
  • Product Spotlight: Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Friday, June 11, 2004

  • One of the most remarkable discoveries in paleontology is the rapid and early appearance of life on Earth. The first life forms were single-cell microbes. Even though Earth’s first life was morphologically simple, it displayed metabolic complexity. For example, sulfide deposits in rocks that date between 3.3-3.5 billion years in age indicate that chemoautotrophic sulfate-reducing bacteria were present on early Earth. This study provides insight into the extensive complexity of sulfate-reducing microbes. These researchers sequenced the genome of a sulfate-reducing bacterium and discovered that approximately 3400 genes make up its genome. The rapid appearance of complex metabolic forms of life so rapidly after the Earth became suitable for life defies a naturalistic explanation. This fact finds ready explanation if a Creator supernaturally intervened to make the first life forms on Earth.
    • John F. Heidelberg et al., “The Genome Sequence of the Anaerobic, Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough,” Nature Biotechnology 22 (2004): 554-59.
    • No abstract for this article.
  • Related Resource: Telltale Rocks, 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, June 10, 2004

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Wednesday, June 9, 2004

  • Genetic studies of mitochondrial DNA taken from representatives of different population groups indicate that humanity had a recent origin from a single location. Mitochondrial DNA analysis also indicates that humanity’s original population size was small and that all of humanity traces back to a single woman, called mitochondrial Eve. These results square fully with the biblical account of humanity’s origin. One point of departure, however, is the date for mitochondrial Eve. Molecular clock analysis indicates that Eve lived around 150,000 years ago, about 50,000 years outside the biblically allowable range for Adam and Eve’s creation (10,000 to 100,000 years ago). This study adds to the growing body of evidence that the mitochondrial DNA molecular clock may be inaccurate on the high side. With a more realistic mitochondrial DNA date (likely well under 100,000 years ago), the biblical account of humanity’s origin has even more powerful scientific confirmation.
  • Related Resource: “Complications with mDNA Dating Methods,” Creation Update (air-date 1-14-2003).

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Tuesday, June 8, 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 describing the operation of two proteins in the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus. These proteins control the genetic circuitry that generates the spatial and temporal organization required for successful cell division. 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: Evolution Vs Biblical Creation, Fazale R. 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, June 7, 2004

  • An extensive survey of solar-type stars has uncovered more evidence for our solar system’s design for the support of life. European astronomers studied 17,000 of these stars within 150 light years of the Sun and found that about one-third exist in binary (two-star) systems where the mutual dynamics of the stars would pull any possible life-support planet out of its habitable zone. They also found that the past history of the sun’s neighborhood was much more turbulent than once thought—making the likelihood of other possible life-support planets a more remote possibility. This survey confirms that the more astronomers learn about the physics and chemistry of the Milky Way Galaxy, the more evidence they uncover for supernatural design.
  • Related Resource: A Precise Plan for Humanity, by Hugh Ross
  • Product Spotlight: Journey Toward Creation, 2nd edition (DVD)

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Sunday, June 6, 2004

  • Human genetic diversity is remarkably limited. This study highlights how limited human genetic diversity truly is. These researchers characterized the genetic diversity of chimpanzees from select regions in Africa and showed that it is much more extensive than observed for the human species. Anthropologists interpret humanity’s limited genetic diversity to reflect a recent origin from a small initial population in a single location. This pattern is consistent with the biblical description of human origins.
  • Related Product: New Y Chromosome Studies Continue to Support a Recent Origin and Spread of Humanity, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Saturday, June 5, 2004

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Friday, June 4, 2004

  • Biologists have discovered a remarkable design feature in green sea turtles. They noted that these turtles possess the capacity to return from hundreds of miles away in all different directions to a particular coastal site with pinpoint accuracy. They performed experiments on captured turtles that were placed in large tanks where the magnetic field intensity and direction could be controlled. They simulated the ambient magnetic field of different regions throughout an ocean region encompassing over 200,000 square miles and found that the turtles consistently oriented themselves in the direction that would have returned them to the coastal site. This experiment demonstrates that green sea turtles possess a global positioning system that relies on a complex compass and a geomagnetic map of their ocean habitat. Such an advanced system defies a naturalistic explanation.
  • Related Product: The Genesis Question, by Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Thursday, June 3, 2004

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Wednesday, June 2, 2004

  • Many consider the 99% genetic similarity between humans and chimpanzees as incontrovertible evidence for evolution. This study demonstrates that while a high degree of genetic similarity exists, several human and chimpanzee genes have structural differences that manifest in biologically significant ways. This study shows that even subtle biochemical differences can have a huge impact. The high degree of genetic similarity doesn’t necessarily mean that humans and chimpanzees are closely related organisms. It appears that the Creator used similar building blocks (genes) to construct both humans and chimpanzees, but altered these building blocks in such a way to generate radically different organisms.
  • Related Resource: Humans and Chimps Differ, by Fazale “Fuz” Rana

Today’s New Reason To Believe – Tuesday, June 1, 2004

  • Evolutionary biologists maintain that “junk DNA” provides incontrovertible evidence for evolution. This study shows that microsatellite DNA associated with genes has a functional role, and as such, is resistant to mutational change. This new recognition indicates that careful planning by an Intelligent Designer, rather than being the junky genetic leftovers of undirected, random biochemical events.
  • Related Resource: Function Found for a Pseudogene, Creation Update (05-06-03).
  • Product Spotlight: Icons of Evolution (DVD)