Today's New Reason To Believe Archives

August 2006

Today’s New Reason To Believe-Thursday, August 31, 2006
More Supernova Remnants Found

  • A new observational technique promises to find more supernova remnants-removing a prominent argument some have used to support a young (around 6000-year-old) cosmos. Many stars "die" in a supernova, a spectacular explosion in which most of the star is ejected into space and the remaining material collapses to become a neutron star or black hole. By observing other galaxies, astronomers estimate how many supernovae have occurred in the roughly 10-billion-year history of the Milky Way Galaxy and how many of those remnants should be visible from Earth. This estimate greatly exceeds the number currently detected by their radio emissions; therefore some use this discrepancy to argue that the universe is only a few thousand years old. However, a new technique that observes emissions from hydrogen will close that gap significantly by finding supernova remnants that don’t give off radio emissions. Instead of providing evidence for a young cosmos, the new technique will bolster scientists’ understanding of star formation and, in turn, affirm RTB’s cosmic creation model.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Biochemical Design: Quality Control

  • New research characterizes the quality-control operations that are part of the initial steps in protein production. The first step in this process takes place when the information housed in the DNA molecule is copied in the form of a messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule. (The mRNA eventually makes its way from the nucleus to subcellular particles, called ribosomes, where it directs protein production.) After mRNA is produced the cell’s machinery cuts out regions of the message (called introns) and splices together the remaining sections of the molecules. Any errors made during this process result in errors in protein production. Biochemists have discovered proteins that proofread mRNA after it has been spliced to ensure the accuracy of the process. As biochemists continue to characterize the cell’s chemical systems, they find more such quality-control features. Thus, the evidence for design mounts and with it evidence that life is the product of a Creator.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Tuesday, August 29, 2006
New Planetary System Affirms Solar System’s Design

  • As scientists discover more planetary systems, the case for fine-tuning in the solar system grows. Recently, three Neptune-mass planets were discovered orbiting a nearby star. Interestingly, astronomers believe the star holds an asteroid belt and that one of the three planets orbits inside the habitable zone-the region where liquid water can exist. However, no detectable gas-giant planet like Jupiter resides in this system (Jupiter provides vital protection for Earth from cometary and asteroidal impacts). Similarly, the size of the planets will dramatically affect their capacity to support long-standing plate tectonics, form large moons, and many other characteristics important for advanced life. While planetary systems with one or two essential parameters for life may be found, RTB’s cosmic creation model predicts that no other planets will be found that match all the life-necessary parameters already known.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Monday, August 28, 2006
Biochemical Design: Organization of Simplest Life

  • Only a decade ago microbiologists viewed bacteria as "containers" of haphazardly arranged molecules, but recent advances indicate that this view is incorrect. Microbiologists now understand that these simplest of life-forms possess a remarkable degree of internal organization at the molecular level. New research on the cell cycle of bacteria that belong to the genus Caulobacter expands upon this emerging paradigm. This work identifies the master regulators that direct the localization of proteins that, in turn, control the progression of the cell cycle. Such internal organization of the simplest life-forms serves as a marker for biochemical design and is expected if a Creator is responsible for life.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Sunday, August 27, 2006
Supernovae Produce More Elements than Previously Thought

  • Studies of nuclear physics and element production provide additional evidence to buttress RTB’s cosmic creation model. Stellar fusion and supernovae generate essentially all the elements in the universe except for hydrogen and helium. However, models of these processes could not account for some elements scientists know to exist. Recently, scientists resolved this dilemma by including additional effects of neutrinos in supernova explosions. These neutrinos resulted in an abundance of neutrons, which subsequently led to the production of the formerly problematic elements. As scientists understand the universe better and resolve remaining problems, the strength of RTB’s cosmic creation model-which predicts that scientific inquiry will strengthen big bang cosmology-continues to grow.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Saturday, August 26, 2006
Brain Study Supports Behavioral Differences between Neanderthals and Humans

  • Recent brain-structure studies support the predictions of RTB’s model of human origins. The shape of the Neanderthal brain indicates that these hominids had an underdeveloped parietal lobe relative to the human brain. Functional MRI studies demonstrate that the parietal lobe plays a role in religious activity and establishes the sense of self. A new study showed that the parietal lobe is active in judgments involving symbolic numbers. This and other studies demonstrate that Neanderthals did not have the inherent mental capacity to behave in sophisticated ways (like humans). Thus, scientific evidence continues to distinguish modern humans from Neanderthals, in line with RTB’s model’s explanation for the hominid fossil record.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Friday, August 25, 2006
Neutrinos May Constitute Dark Matter

  • Theoretical calculations may shed light on the elusive nature of dark matter (which is thought to comprise about a quarter of the universe). While the existence and quantity of dark matter in the universe are well confirmed, scientists do not understand any of its properties except its gravitational behavior. Two scientists recently showed that a particular type of neutrino (a light, fundamental particle that also interacts weakly with matter) can account for the bulk of dark matter in the universe. Additionally, the presence of these neutrinos would explain some observations of pulsar velocities and result in accelerated star formation early in the universe. Whether these neutrinos actually comprise the dark matter remains to be verified by astronomical and laboratory observations, but scientists continue to make progress toward filling in the details of RTB’s cosmic creation model.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Thursday, August 24, 2006
Biochemical Design: Elegant Chemical Logic

  • A new study highlights the elegant chemical logic of cells’ chemical systems and provides more evidence for biochemical intelligent design. Research has identified a novel pathway that contributes to the cell’s unfolded protein response (UPR). The UPR occurs when proteins processed by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are overproduced. Protein production begins when the cell’s machinery copies the information found in DNA by making messenger RNA (mRNA). This molecule migrates from the nucleus to ribosomes, where it directs protein production. Proteins that are to be incorporated into the cell membrane or secreted from the cell are translocated to the ER for further processing before being sent to their final destination. If the proteins are overproduced, the ER’s machinery becomes overwhelmed and the UPR is set into motion. New work indicates that as part of this response, the cell’s machinery selectively destroys any mRNA molecules that specify the production of proteins destined for the ER. This process reflects planning and an elegance that bespeaks of a divine Designer.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Simulations Confirm Model of Galaxy Growth

  • More complete galaxy evolution simulations have provided additional evidence to buttress RTB’s cosmic creation model. In big bang cosmology, the universe begins with all matter spread uniformly throughout space. As the universe ages, the matter begins to clump together to form the irregularly shaped galaxies seen in the early universe. These irregular galaxies continue to grow and evolve into the more abundant elliptical galaxies seen today. Two Japanese scientists recently modeled this process, including more physical processes than previous simulations did. Their results confirm the course of elliptical galaxy formation predicted by big bang cosmology and, consequently, RTB’s cosmic creation model (which incorporates big bang cosmology).
  • Masao Mori and Masayuki Umemura, "The Evolution of Galaxies from Primeval Irregulars to Present-Day Ellipticals," Nature 440 (2006): 644-47.
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  • "A Beginner’s-and Expert’s-Guide to the Big Bang" by Hugh Ross
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  • The Creator and the Cosmos, 3rd ed., by Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe-Tuesday, August 22, 2006
More Evidence that Neanderthals and Humans Didn’t Interbreed

  • Ancient-DNA analysis indicates that Neanderthals are genetically distinct from modern humans and have no evolutionary connection to them. A recent study further confirms the genetic uniqueness of these two species and concludes, once again, that humans and Neanderthals did not interbreed. RTB’s creation model for humanity’s origin regards Neanderthals and other extinct hominids as nonhuman primates that lacked spiritual capacity. On this basis, the RTB model predicts that humans and Neanderthals should be biologically distinct from one another. The scientific evidence continues to distinguish modern humans from Neanderthals, in line with RTB’s explanation for the hominid fossil record.
  • Timothy D. Weaver and Charles C. Roseman, "Ancient DNA, Late Neanderthal Survival, and Modern-Human-Neanderthal Genetic Admixture," Current Anthropology 46 (2005): 677-683.
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  • "Neanderthal-to-Human Link Severed" by Fazale Rana
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  • Who Was Adam?, by Fazale Rana with Hugh Ross (book)

Today’s New Reason To Believe-Monday, August 21, 2006
Earth Offers Bleak Future for Humans

  • A University of Wisconsin Earth scientist has buttressed a biblical view of Earth. Most people assume that the relatively benign conditions for life that exist on Earth now will continue for a geologically long time into the future. However, the researcher notes that even within a million years ice ages, large meteor impacts, and giant volcanic eruptions will become almost inevitable. The mass extinctions resulting from any of these events will almost certainly destroy humankind. While this picture appears bleak, the Bible predicts just such a future for Earth in preparation for the formation of a new universe with new laws of physics. The future is indeed bleak from a naturalistic perspective, but a biblical worldview abounds with hope and anticipation.
  • Steven Ian Dutch, "The Earth Has a Future," Geosphere 2 (2006): 113-24.
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  • Fine-Tuning for Life On Earth by Hugh Ross, compiled June 2004
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  • Origins of Life, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe-Sunday, August 20, 2006
Human and Chimpanzee Genetic Differences

  • Many consider the supposed 99% genetic similarity between humans and chimpanzees as compelling evidence for evolution, but a report demonstrates that a 1% difference is still significant. Even subtle genetic differences can have profound biological effects. Studies have shown that the absence of a single sugar on the surface of cells is responsible for the varying susceptibilities that humans and the great apes have to disease-causing organisms. The recent report follows up on these observations by noting that this difference extends to the receptor proteins on the cell surface (Siglecs) that bind cell-surface sugars. This subtle difference appears to cause variations in human and chimpanzee responses to the AIDS virus, for example. The high degree of genetic similarity doesn’t necessarily mean that humans and chimpanzees are biologically similar. This study and others like it could be taken to indicate that the Creator used the same raw materials (genes) to construct both humans and chimpanzees but employed and altered these materials in such a way to generate radically different organisms.
  • Dzung H. Nguyen et al., "Loss of Siglec Expression on T Lymphocytes during Human Evolution," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 103 (2006): 7765-70.
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  • "Humans and Chimps Differ" by Fazale Rana

Today’s New Reason To Believe-Saturday, August 19, 2006
Massive Particle Accelerator to Test Big Bang Conditions

  • Scientists have been retooling a massive particle accelerator to test their understanding of the conditions that existed shortly after the big bang. The temperature of the early universe started high enough that the most basic subatomic particles were not bound to one another. The resulting quark-gluon plasma eventually cooled, smoothly transitioning to an epoch where the subatomic particles scientists study today formed. The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has already detected this quark-gluon plasma and is being reconfigured to search for where this transition occurs turbulently. If the scientists discover the turbulent transition, it will confirm the big bang picture of the universe and provide a landmark to further explore this early epoch. Such confirmation will also buttress RTB’s cosmic creation model.
  • Adrian Cho, "Scheme for Boiling Nuclear Matter Gathers Steam at Accelerator Lab," Science 312 (2006): 190-91.
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  • "Big Bang-The Bible Taught It First!" by Hugh Ross and John Rea
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  • Beyond the Cosmos, 2nd ed., by Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe-Friday, August 18, 2006
Advances in Ancient-DNA Analysis

  • New research demonstrates the utility of ancient DNA sequences to give information about the population dynamics of past organisms. Researchers illustrated this potential by studying the population history over the last 10,000 years of the rodent Ctenomys sociabilis. They showed that this rodent experienced a severe population crash, a genetic bottleneck, about 2,900 years ago. This type of event very well may have shaped the present-day characteristics of this rodent. This new methodology could be applied to the population history of the first modern humans by using DNA isolated from the ancient remains of the first modern humans. Understanding the population dynamics of the first humans would provide another opportunity to test biblical and evolutionary models for humanity’s origin.
  • Yvonne L. Chan, Christian N. K. Anderson, and Elizabeth A. Hadly, "Bayesian Estimation of the Timing and Severity of a Population Bottleneck from Ancient DNA," PLoS Genetics 2 no. 4 (2006): e59.
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  • "Neanderthal-to-Human Link Severed" by Fazale Rana

Today’s New Reason To Believe-Thursday, August 17, 2006
Nitrogen Recycling May Be Essential to, and a Signature of, Life

  • A team of scientists further highlighted the fine-tuning required to produce a planet capable of sustaining long-standing life. Virtually all scientists realize liquid water and abundant carbon are essential to life. Nitrogen is equally important. However, nonbiological processes deplete nitrogen gas from the atmosphere and continents by increasing the amount of nitrates in the oceans. Thus, biological organisms that extract nitrogen from the oceans and return it to the atmosphere in gaseous form are essential for maintaining a stable nitrogen cycle, upon which terrestrial life vitally depends. Consequently, atmospheric nitrogen may also serve as a marker that astrobiologists can use to assess whether extrasolar planets house life. RTB’s cosmic creation model predicts such fine-tuning as seen in the maintenance of a stable nitrogen cycle. The model also predicts that new tools developed to search for life in the universe will continue to show the uniqueness of Earth’s habitability.
  • Douglas G. Capone et al., "Follow the Nitrogen," Science 312 (2006): 708-09.
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  • "Predictive Power: Affirming Cosmic Creation" by Hugh Ross
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  • Origins of Life, by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross

Today’s New Reason To Believe-Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Convergence of Muscles in Sharks and Mammals

  • New work has uncovered yet another remarkable example of convergence, in which similar biological features appear in unrelated organisms. Scientists have discovered that red, aerobic, endothermic locomotory muscles in tuna, laminid sharks, and mammals appear to have emerged independently on at least three separate instances. These muscles operate at only an elevated temperature range, which gives them physiological advantages compared to ectothermic muscles (which operate over a wide temperature range, but inefficiently). Like mammals, laminid sharks and tuna (though cold-blooded) must maintain high core-body temperatures, which allow their endothermic muscles to power fast, continuous swimming. This newly discovered example of convergence challenges the veracity of the theory of evolution, since evolutionists maintain that evolution will not produce the same outcome repeatedly, because its mechanism relies on a sequence of chance events. In contrast, the RTB model expects that a Creator would repeatedly use the same good designs as He brought life into existence.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Design in Earth’s Magnetic Field

  • New observations and simulations reveal design in the behavior of Earth’s magnetic field. A measured decline of the magnetic field strength since 1840, coupled with the length of time since the last field reversal, led scientists to conclude that the field polarity was beginning to reverse. (Also, many young-earth creationists use the field strength’s decline to argue for a few-thousand-year-old universe.) However, new research reveals that the current magnetic field strength is still larger than the average strength since the last reversal. The recent decline of the field is nothing unusual either. Further, stronger fields lead to longer times between field reversals. Thus, the high magnetic field strength and long period since the last reversal ensure the protection from life-threatening cosmic radiation required for human habitation. Once again, as scientists’ understanding of Earth increases, the evidence for RTB’s cosmic creation model-and the design it predicts- continues to grow.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Monday, August 14, 2006
The Cambrian Explosion Is Real

  • A new paper argues that the Cambrian explosion-biology’s big bang-was a real event as described by the fossil record. Around 540 million years ago, between 50% and 80% of all animal phyla to ever exist appeared explosively over a short period of time (less than 5 million years in duration). Due to this unexpectedly short time frame, the Cambrian explosion stands as one of the biggest enigmas facing the evolutionary paradigm. Some evolutionary biologists seek to avoid the troubling consequences of the Cambrian explosion by arguing that it never occurred. Rather, they maintain that it is an artifact of an incomplete fossil record. In the face of this challenge, several paleontologists studied a variety of environmental, developmental (genetic), and ecological explanations for this event and conclude that the Cambrian explosion indeed occurred. Biology’s big bang defies an evolutionary explanation but serves as a powerful fingerprint for the Creator’s intervention in life’s history.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Sunday, August 13, 2006
Galaxy-Disc Formation Time-Scales Confirmed

  • Observations of local stars confirm standard models of galaxy formation and reaffirm the antiquity of the universe. The thickness of the gas disc in the Milky Way Galaxy (MWG) decreases over time. Early stars, formed when the disc was young and thick, typically date around 12 billion years. In contrast, stars that formed when the disc was thinner date around 8 billion years. Additionally, the chemical composition of the stars change as the disc thins. Astronomers found stars that should date between the two populations, based on their composition. These intermediate stars were recently dated at 10 billion years-precisely the date expected based on their chemical composition. These results further buttress RTB’s cosmic creation model while providing additional evidence against a 6,000-10,000-year-old cosmos.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Saturday, August 12, 2006
New Analysis Says Horses More Closely Related To Bats than Cows

  • Recent work by a team of Japanese scientists provides another reason to be skeptical about the theory of evolution. Using DNA-sequence data, the team demonstrated that bats (chiroptera), horses (perissodactyla), dogs and cats (carnivora), and scaly anteaters (pholidota) appear to share a common evolutionary history. According to this analysis, these mammals share a closer evolutionary connection than would have been expected from study of anatomical features, which groups horses (perissodactyla) with cows (artidactyla) and whales (cetacea). This egregious discrepancy between molecular and morphological (anatomical) evolutionary relationships suggests a deep-seated problem with evolutionary explanations for life’s patterns and history.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Friday, August 11, 2006
Silicon Needed for Planetary Formation

  • Astronomers have discovered more evidence for fine-tuning in planetary formation by observing an overabundance of silicon in planetary systems. Planets form in the gas clouds surrounding forming stars as dust grains coalesce into larger and larger bodies. While elements heavier than helium are necessary for this process to occur, the stars with known planets exhibit silicon (and nickel) abundances larger than the general metal-rich star population. These results demonstrate the fine-tuning in the solar system formation. While the silicon and nickel abundances increase as the universe ages, other vital metals such as uranium and thorium (which drive long-standing plate tectonics) began decreasing around the time the solar system formed. Such fine-tuning comports well with the work of a supernatural Designer preparing a life-supporting habitat, as posited by RTB’s cosmic creation model.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Thursday, August 10, 2006
Convergence of Cold Shock Proteins in Plants and Bacteria

  • New work has uncovered another remarkable example of convergence, or "repeated evolution." Scientists have discovered that the structure of cold shock proteins in the bacterium E. coli is the same as that found in higher plants. Cold shock proteins play a protective role when organisms encounter unusually cold conditions. According to Stephen Jay Gould, if one were to rewind the tape of life and replay it, the outcome would be different each time. This idea, known as historical contingency, maintains that evolution will not produce the same outcome repeatedly, since its mechanism relies on a sequence of chance events. However, this newly discovered example of convergence 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.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Big Bang Passes Another Test

  • Observations of galaxy formation in the early universe validate predictions of big bang cosmology and thereby further confirm RTB’s cosmic creation model. After the universe expanded and cooled from the creation event for about one billion years, the stars and galaxies that formed caused the intergalactic hydrogen to be reionized (stripped of its electrons). Apart from making the universe more transparent, this reionization should have suppressed formation of dwarf galaxies. Astronomers confirmed this prediction by detecting the dwarf galaxy suppression. Additionally, astronomers now predict that the galaxies causing the reionization will be discovered at an even earlier epoch. These results demonstrate the validity of RTB’s model by confirming previous predictions and directing future research.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Stem Cells from Testes

  • Recent advances suggest that there may be an ethically acceptable alternative to embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). New research has demonstrated that stem cells which behave just like ESCs can be isolated from adult tissues. These adult stem cells can be coaxed into a variety of cell types needed to replace damaged tissue in heart, muscle, and brain. New work demonstrates that injecting adult stem cells into the brains of laboratory animals with neurological damage (similar to that suffered by humans after a stroke) dramatically improved their conditions. It’s hoped that this research will pave the way for a similar treatment in humans in the near future. Scientific advance will undoubtedly provide the way out of the ethical dilemma created by emerging biotechnologies such as stem cell therapies.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Monday, August 7, 2006
Pollution Reduces Global Warming

  • Atmospheric scientists have discovered more evidence to support the notion that a superintelligent Designer prepared and continues to maintain Earth as a suitable habitat for advanced life. The carbonate-silicate cycle has removed carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, to precisely offset the heating from the Sun’s luminosity increase, but that cycle cannot compensate much longer because the biosphere needs a minimum amount of CO2. However, increased aerosol and particulate matter in the atmosphere-from both natural and man-made sources-reflects sunlight and therefore serves to cool the planet. While increased aerosols in clouds and smog diminish humans’ ability to admire the heavens, it appears they also serve to extend the habitability of Earth. These findings comport well with RTB’s cosmic creation model, in which this planet becomes uninhabitable shortly (in astronomical terms) after the arrival of humans, but not before the full conquest of evil is accomplished and the Creator prepares a new heaven and Earth.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Sunday, August 6, 2006
Biochemical Design: Molecular Machines

Today’s New Reason To Believe-Saturday, August 5, 2006
Mathematics’ Correspondence with Nature Points to God

  • Scientific advance continues to support the Christian worldview by establishing the remarkable correspondence between mathematics and nature. From a biblical perspective, nature reflects God’s attributes-such as His immutability and purpose. Thus, one expects to find orderly principles, such as the mathematical rules scientists use, governing the universe. Scientists recently discovered that the physical principles describing some forms of magnetism are mathematically identical to those governing the onset of tropical downpours. While this correspondence is remarkable from a naturalistic perspective, it is anticipated in a Christian worldview.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Friday, August 4, 2006
Biochemical Design: Optimization of Glycolysis

  • New research provides evidence for biochemical intelligent design in a process called glycolysis. Scientists have demonstrated that the energy-generating glycolytic pathway found throughout the living realm is optimized for power output and subsequent utilization of ATP. Glycolysis involves the breakdown of six-carbon sugars. The cell’s machinery couples this breakdown with energy-harvesting processes that capture the chemical energy in the sugar molecules. This captured energy is used to produce the high-energy molecule known as ATP. Biochemists refer to ATP as the cell’s energy currency, since this molecule serves as a source of energy for a myriad of processes in the cell. Optimization, like that just discovered for glycolysis, defines many of the cell’s biochemical systems and pathways. Optimization is also a hallmark of well-designed man-made devices. As such, the optimized fine-tuning characteristic of biochemical systems suggest that life originated from the Creator’s hand.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Thursday, August 3, 2006
"Jupiters" Affect Formation of Earth-like Planets

  • Recent planetary simulations have provided more evidence of fine-tuning in the solar system. Gas giants form faster than rocky planets like Earth, so the presence of a Jupiter-type planet affects the development of the rest of the planetary system. By simulating the growth of rocky planets with "Jupiters" of different sizes, distances from parent stars, and eccentricities, a Colorado astrophysicist has shown the difficulty of forming a sufficiently large planet with adequate water for the presence of life. If the gas giant forms inside a distance 3.5 times greater than the Earth-sun distance, no watery earthlike planets form-assuming the gas giant has a nearly circular orbit. For more eccentric orbits, no watery planets form. The solar system shows fine-tuning in having a gas giant with a circular orbit and a just-right distance from the Sun to permit Earth’s formation and provide adequate protection from cometary and asteroidal bombardment. Such fine-tuning is a natural part of RTB’s cosmic creation model, in which a supernatural Creator carefully crafted the solar system to support advanced life-especially humans.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Wednesday, August 2, 2006
"Junk" DNA Contributes to Human Genetic Diversity

  • New research indicates the functional importance of mobile "junk" DNA sequences known as L1 retrotransposons. Junk (noncoding) DNA has become an icon of evolutionary theory. Numerous recent studies, however, have identified functions for many types of noncoding DNA. This most recent analysis indicates that L1 sequences of DNA vary from individual to individual in their tendency to move around within the human genome. When these mobile DNA elements move, they alter DNA sequences, contributing to human genetic diversity. The growing recognition of the functional importance of noncoding DNA undermines one of evolution’s best arguments and suggests that careful planning by an intelligent Designer, rather than undirected, random biochemical events, shaped the genomes of organisms.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe-Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Consistent Dates from Different Methods Support an Old Earth

  • Geologists have applied multiple dating techniques to an Arizona geological feature, resulting in concordant dates that argue against a young Earth. Young-earth creationists (YECs) often insist that radioisotope dating cannot be trusted because different radioisotope techniques can give different results. Frequently scientists employ multiple dating techniques to verify a questionable date. Scientists recently dated a lava dam on the Little Colorado River in Arizona using a luminescence technique, two different radioisotope chains, and paleomagnetic field directions. All four methods yielded consistent results, giving an age of around 20,000 years-clearly older than the 6-to-10-thousand-year age of the earth proposed by YECs. While radioisotope dating does occasionally give inaccurate results, those exceptions do not negate the vast amount of well-verified evidence for a much older Earth.
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