Posted on 04/01/2006 10:50:28 AM PST by Condorman
Lincoln, NE (AP) - Researchers at the University of Nebraska have, for the first time, confirmed a prediction of the controversial theory known as intelligent design, or ID. The unexpected discovery was made by Paavamanti Ashook and Jessica Aylesworth, two graduate students working under the direction of Dr. Peter Harl, a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Nebraska, while they were sequencing a section of the genetic code for the turquoise-browed motmot, Eumomota superciliosa, a Central American songbird.
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During the relatively routine procedure, the research team uncovered a gene in the turquoise-browed motmot that does not appear in any of its nearest relatives. “It came as a complete surprise,” said Aylesworth, “when we showed Dr. Harl he went to the lab and reran the sequence himself.”
“What we found is a gene with no evolutionary precursor,” said Dr. Harl. “There is no homologous gene in any other species of motmot. There's nothing like it in any other kingfisher that we can tell. It looks like someone stuck in an extra gene in the middle of the genome when no one was looking. At this point, the theory of evolution cannot provide a satisfactory answer. ID provides an explanation that works.”
ID is the scientific theory that evolution was guided is some way by an intelligent force, and was the subject of a controversial court ruling in Dover, PA last December in which the school board was forbidden from mandating ID as part of the science curriculum. Although the theory refuses to identify the designer, many adherents claim that the designer is God. According to one interpretation of the theory, some animals will contain certain features without a direct evolutionary pathway, as if the designer inserted or deleted a component of the species independent of the commonly accepted forces of natural selection.
“We will need to do more research,” Ashook said, “In the meantime, this definitely causes problems for evolution. But as a scientist I have to choice but to follow the evidence.”
The team’s results will be published in the next issue of the journal The Natural World.
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Well, actually, the main campus for Nebraska is in Lincoln, not Omaha, but I don't think it matters as you've already been hooked ;)
Well, as the man said, we have no choice but to follow the evidence. I know where I'll be on Sunday morning.
Science is self-correcting.
It's gonna take a lot more than one Sunday morning in your case.
Don't expect any. But surely there is some irony in the choice of UofN, Lincoln for the howlers.
There's where you're wrong - I've started working on an outline of what I need to cover the next time I go to confessional. A little confession, a little penance, and I'm good to go. It's been a while, though - so far the outline is up to 46 pages, single spaced. I'll probably be through with the outline and ready to start a rough draft pretty soon.
Yeah (slaps head) I even went to the Lincoln site and looked up Harl at that point I clued in LOL.
Well, there seem to be a few deleted posts. I don't recall them being offensive. Something's going on here.
Add some pictures, tables, and graphs. You may be able to get by with fewer pages of text that way and get your point across better. It should shorten the 'presentation' time.
sounds like they're grasping at straws......again.
Say, that's much better than my original idea of an interactive puppet show...
This is indeed intriguing. I've met Dr. Harl before, and if he backs this then I have no choice but to believe it. I am also very familiar with The Natural World . It's a pretty respectable journal.
This could change our entire understanding of biology. Fascinating read!
It helps me keep my 'resume' up to date with minimal effort. I'm just not planning on making a 'presentation' until near death.
I never thought of it before, but a confessional is about the same size and shape as a Punch and Judy theater.
I'm just not planning on making a 'presentation' until near death.
Following Constantine's good example.
Harl, Harl, it reminds me of someone else at Nebraska ... on the tip of my tongue...
Shhhhh, you'll give it all away.
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