The ark was a mega-ship. (my comment)
Posted on 04/14/2014 8:43:16 AM PDT by fishtank
Students Surprised to Find Noah's Ark Feasible by Brian Thomas, M.S. *
Advanced physics students at Leicester University were tasked with determining if the Biblical dimensions of Noah's ark—assuming it was properly constructed—could have supported the mass of 70,000 animals. Student Kayie Raymer told UK's The Telegraph that after other "more serious" assignments, this one was "something different."1 What did they find?
The students used 48.2cm (almost 19 inches) as the length of a cubit to estimate the total dimensions of the ark. Using the density of water and Archimedes' principle of buoyancy, they calculated the total mass the ark could contain without sinking.
"Previous research has suggested that there were approximately 35,000 species of animals which would have needed to be saved by Noah," according to The Telegraph, though they cited no source for this estimate. Doubling this number to account for a male and female of each species, the student group estimated that the ark needed to have held approximately 70,000 creatures. To the students' surprise, they found that this amount did not exceed the total mass the ark could contain. Physics student Thomas Morris told The Telegraph, "You don't think of the Bible necessarily as a scientifically accurate source of information, so I guess we were quite surprised when we discovered it would work." The students published their results in Leicester University's Journal of Physics Special Topics.
The students' results at the ark having 70,000 creatures actually exceed biblical expectations, giving further assurance that the ark could hold all that it needed—including food and even water.
Creatures change within the boundaries of their own "kinds" or fundamental forms, so Noah certainly did not need to take on board all "species,"a modern term that seems to bear as many definitions as there are researchers who use it.
What about the biblical detail given in Genesis, which noted seven of each bird kind—probably meaning seven pairs of each bird kind—on board Noah's ark? If today's "species" were substituted for basic "kinds" here, then the total number of birds would probably have exceeded ark capacity. However, creation biologists have been combing the literature for breeding records that help them estimate which "species" likely belonged to a "kind."2 For example, breeding studies link sparrows and finches as within-kind creatures.3 Instead of over 1,000 sparrow or finch "species," perhaps as few as 14 sparrow-finch representatives were on the ark.
Applying this principle to all "species" would dramatically reduce Leicester University's student-estimated 70,000 animals. Creation researcher John Woodmorappe's book, Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study, estimated the number of ark kinds as the number of families of extant and extinct air-breathing, land-dwelling animals, totaling about 8,000 kinds or 16,000 individuals—including the sevens of birds and clean animals.4 That would require merely one third of the ark's volume, leaving plenty of space for provisions and people.
It's amazing what happens when the Bible's accuracy is put to the test. The Leicester University physics students "were astonished to find out that the Ark would have floated," according to The Telegraph.1 How much more astonished would they be to find that the Ark not only could have floated, but could have carried all its passengers and their provisions for a whole year, just as the Scriptures say? Since the Bible contains spiritual truths, discovering that the Bible also records historical truth turns out to be "more serious" than secularized students at first suspect.
References
Knapton, S. Noah's Ark would have floated...even with 70,000 animals. The Telegraph. Posted on telegraph.co.uk April 3, 2014, accessed April 3, 2014
Henigan, T. An Initial Estimate toward Identifying and Numbering the Ark Turtle and Crocodile Kinds. Answers Research Journal. 7 (2014): 1-10.
Lightner, J.K. 2010. Identification of a large sparrow-finch monobaramin in perching birds (Aves: Passeriformes). Journal of Creation. 24 (3): 117-121
Woodmorappe, J. 1996. Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study. Santee, CA: Institute for Creation Research.
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
Article posted on April 11, 2014.
The ark was a mega-ship. (my comment)
Many years ago, a company built an Olympic Sized Pool on the 5th floor of their new building.
Alas, they forgot to calculate the weight of the water and were never able to use it.
I find it fascinating that he was also told to take 7 pairs of clean animals (food animals). This was before the “food laws”.
Amazing how true, unbiased science and math with no agenda keeps lining up with God’s Word, the Bible. Of course, that makes sense when one realizes that the Creator of the universe, earth, math, and science is also the Author of the Bible.
Anything is feasible when you have the Hand of God guiding your way!
Don't forget how much waste 70,000 animals produce & the task of keeping the animals from killing each other.
“O ye of little faith”.
God brought the animals to the ark, two by two, seven by seven (from the bible). I’m sure they were not trying to kill each other then (angels leading them in)and I wouldn’t be surprised if angles had something to do with keeping the peace on the ark. The ark and everything on it were protected supernaturally. I don’t know about the waste but maybe Noah and his family threw it overboard? Food? Maybe some kind of supernatural hibernation? Just guessing But I would guess I’m not too far off.
Some of the waste produced by some animals, think cow manure and birds for instance, could well have been used as food for others. Do not discount the hand of God in this whole undertaking, God created and could control the actions of all the animals in the ark. I agree totally with your remarks, God said my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts, at best our explanations are merely guesses.
Yes, but what is Mythbusters going to conclude on this one?
An entity that can do what Scotty couldn’t will change the rules of the game.
Is modern science the be-all and end-all of knowledge?
The theist has to say no.
Science has also discovered most every kind of animal is able to hibernate in times of extreme stress.
Furthermore, the ark dimensions have been calculated at approx 350 rail cars or 20 pairs per car per your extremely high estimate of 70,000 pairs.
Last, taking smaller juvenile animals rather than fully grown adults would also help alleaviate for floor space, food, water and weight requirements.
Experts built the Titanic too and we some of us know all too well what often happens with experts. Pride goes before the fall.
The Titanic hit an iceburg...it didn't fail in itself.
When Moses penned the Torah [1st 5 books of the Bible], which was inspired text directly from the Holy Spirit, most of the Old Testament was already history.
Imho it proves God intervened in some/many ways from the very beginning. For instance, Hebrew was quite likely the only known language prior to the Tower of Babel. Some experts claim the book of Job to be the oldest in the Bible even though Job also follows proscribed Jewish customs.
Chapters 39 & 40 of Job describes 2 creatures Leviathan & Behemoth. Behemoth had a tail as big as a cedar tree trunk. Sure sounds like a dinoasaur too me. Now why should God ask Job about animals that he had not seen?
I’ve read estimates that as few as 16,000 animals may have been all that were required due to natural selection.
Either way sure sounds like they had plenty of room. The average animal sizes were estimated to be about the size of an adult sheep so the larger kinds were fewer and disproportioned to those smaller than sheep.
Another poster mentioned animal waste being a problem, but I’ve read where the rainwater and/or crude water pumps could keep the place clean and tidy and possibly even used animals to power the pumps.
Regarding the Titanic didn’t the captain ignore iceberg warnings and command excessive speeds for the claimed ‘unsinkable Titanic’?
- sure sounds like pride to me. but ymmv :’)
I just hope they weren't civil engineers or architects...
What about the plants, most of which would be destroyed in a flood violent enough to create the conditions supposed by flood geology? How long would it take to repopulate the world with all the animals starting with one breeding pair?
This can safely be filed with the recent “complexity disproves evolution” and science as a heresy if it causes doubt on literal Biblical language.
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