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LONDON – The discovery of well-preserved blood and proteins in a supposedly 75-million-year-old dinosaur fossil has stumped secular scientists and led one Christian apologist to herald the findings as evidence of a young Earth. A team of scientists at the U.K.’s Imperial College London carefully examined eight Cretaceous dinosaur bones discovered in North America, scrutinizing the bones’ interiors with an electron microscope. The researchers were stunned when they discovered what appeared to be red blood cells in one of the specimens. Upon closer examination, the British scientists identified an internal structure within the dinosaur cells, complete with nuclei and amino...

In a speech at his granddaughter's high school graduation Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia hinted that he may believe some tenets of creationism. "Class of 2015, you should not leave Stone Ridge High School thinking that you face challenges that are at all, in any important sense, unprecedented," Scalia said during the speech. "Humanity has been around for at least some 5,000 years or so, and I doubt that the basic challenges as confronted are any worse now, or alas even much different, from what they ever were." ThinkProgress notes that Scalia's statement is a bit odd, since the...

Who Are the Atheists? [excerpts] For reporting purposes at Barna, we often combine atheists and agnostics into one group, which we call skeptics. Skeptics either do not believe God exists (atheists) or are not sure God exists, but are open to the possibility (agnostics). Skeptics represent one-quarter of all unchurched adults (25%). Nearly one-third of skeptics have never attended a Christian church service in their lives (31%). That’s nearly double the proportion of “virgin unchurched” who are not skeptics (17%)... Five Demographic Shifts among Skeptics They are younger. Skeptics today are, on average, younger than in the past. Twenty years...

Secular scientists are at a loss over how to get their favorite origins story, Darwinian evolution, a more confident presence in schools.After nearly a century of one-sided control of education on origins, Darwinian scientists shouldn’t be faced with this dilemma. After all, their own theory presupposes that human beings are material entities that can be conditioned like other animals. And yet, despite a near total exposure to Darwinian evolution in textbooks, museums, educational TV – and often in the general culture, such as in many sci-fi movies – a substantial majority of the public doesn’t buy the completely materialistic...

FreeKentHovind.com is reporting that Mr. Hovind was moved to an isolation cell yesterday (7 by 9 cell shared by 2 people) in Santa Rosa County Jail.

Secular Study: No Big Bang? by Brian Thomas, M.S. * Christians who believe the universe began billions of years ago often point to the Big Bang model to try and verify a creation-like beginning.1 But a new origin of the universe model offers an "everlasting universe" and dismisses the whole idea of a Big Bang.2 Genesis does not describe a Big Bang. Instead of a hot explosion, it presents a rather cold, watery origin. Instead of stars first, followed by Earth's emergence billions of years later, God made Earth first, then stars four days later. If the Big Bang really...

Today is the 206th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, a day now celebrated by some as Darwin Day. Darwin, of course, is best known for his theory of evolution through natural selection. When Darwin's work was first made public in 1859, it shocked Britain's religious establishment. And while today it is accepted by virtually all scientists, evolutionary theory is still rejected by many Americans, often because it conflicts with their religious beliefs about divine creation.

Happy Darwin Day? If Darwin Day devotees want to be viewed as more than the mere members of a quirky cult, they need to start engaging their thoughtful critics. By John West Published on February 12, 2015 Today is the birthday of Charles Darwin, and enthusiasts around the globe will be marking the occasion with special dinners, lectures, birthday parties and more.Darwin boosters often insist they are inspired simply by a disinterested commitment to science, while their critics are motivated primarily by religion. But Darwin Day festivities make it painfully obvious that many promoters of Darwinian theory are just as interested...

The other day an old friend of mine said the following: “I believe in Christianity except for the part about the resurrection. We all know that didn’t happen. The New Testament may say Jesus arose from the dead. But that was probably due to corruption of the early manuscripts.” When you hear a quote like that you might assume it comes from reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. More likely, it comes from unwillingness to part ways with philosophical naturalism. In other words, it is not a surface factual problem. It is a deeper worldview problem. The problem,...

Creation Conversion: From Atheist to Creationist by Jerry Bergman, Ph.D. * I have always loved science, partly due to the influence of my engineer father, who was heavily involved in research and development. While growing up, my free-time diet consisted of Mr. Wizard, Disney nature films, and doing science experiments. At Wayne State University, where I earned my bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees, I was exposed to evolution. Influenced by my atheist father and my professors, I accepted this worldview, as did most of my peers. We also accepted the atheist philosophy that came with it. The university invited a...

In the Darwin Debate, How Long Before the Tide Turns in Favor of Intelligent Design? Casey Luskin January 19, 2015 4:36 PM | Permalink A student emails me to ask how long it will be before the "tide turns from Darwinism to ID." He follows the debate over intelligent design and is aware that the Darwin lobby's rhetoric typically fails to address ID's actual arguments (which are scientific in nature), instead focusing on personal attacks or trying to claim ID is religion. This student feels it is obvious that ID has the upper hand in the argument, but wonders when...

Full Title:New Evidence For Anthropic Theory That Fundamental Physics Constants Underlie Life-Enabling Universe For nearly half a century, theoretical physicists have made a series of discoveries that certain constants in fundamental physics seem extraordinarily fine-tuned to allow for the emergence of a life-enabling universe. Constants that crisscross the Standard Model of Particle Physics guided the formation of hydrogen nuclei during the Big Bang, along with the carbon and oxygen atoms initially fused at the center of massive first-generation stars that exploded as supernovae; these processes in turn set the stage for solar systems and planets capable of supporting carbon-based life...

In a dozen polls taken from 1982 to 2014, Gallup has asked Americans to choose among three views of evolution. One view is that humans “developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process.” Another view is that humans “developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process.” The third option is that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.” In that three-decade span, the young-Earth creationist option has always...

Dear Dr. Eric R. Pianka I am writing to you in regards to the speech you made at the 109th meeting of the Texas Academy of Science at Lamar University in Beaumont on 3-5 March 2006 in which you advocated the reduction of the earths population by 90%. The idea of reducing the earths population by 90% has stimulated my mind and I wish to add the following thoughts on the issue: You said your favorite candidate for eliminating 90 percent of the world's population is airborne Ebola ( Ebola Reston ), because it is both highly lethal and it...

The FBI is looking for a man who lives in the San Francisco apartment where agents found a large stash of what appears to be the deadly poison ricin. On Saturday, FBI agents searched the apartment, which belongs to Ryan Chamberlain, according to KGO, an ABC affiliate. The FBI said Chamberlain could be armed and dangerous. The apartment search was expected to resume Sunday. Chamberlain owns a Nissan that reportedly could be rigged with explosives. The FBI did not evacuate apartments during the search, and FBI spokeswoman Alice Heller said there was “no threat to public safety.” She said agents...

The developer of a Noah's Ark-based theme park in Kentucky said on Wednesday he would fight for his religious rights after state officials warned he could lose millions in potential tax credits if he hires only people who believe in the biblical flood. Ark Encounter, which is slated to open in 2016 in Williamston, Kentucky, is not hiring anyone yet, but its parent company Answers in Genesis asks employees to sign a faith statement including a belief in creationism and the flood.

When people joyously discover on Ancestry.com that they're related to, say, a medieval archduke or a notorious Victorian criminal, evolutionary biologists may be permitted to snicker. Because in actuality, we are all related: Humans all share at least one common ancestor if you go far enough back. You are related to every king and criminal who ever lived, to Gandhi and Paris Hilton and Carrot Top. You are even related to me. But buckle up — that's only the beginning. Humanity, after all, is but one ugly branch on the big tree of life. Go back far enough, and you'll...

New Findings Presented at Creation Research Society Conference by Nathaniel T. Jeanson, Ph.D. * ICR’s BioOrigins team is entering a new, exciting phase of investigation. In August, we will present several preliminary research advances at the Creation Research Society (CRS) conference. This represents an important step forward in our current biology research initiatives. To date, we have made significant progress toward answering the four major research questions that we described over four years ago.1-5 For example, Dr. Jeffrey Tomkins has found that the supposed human chromosome 2 “fusion site” actually sits in the middle of a gene and encodes a...

A California university says it is investigating religious discrimination allegations made by a prominent scientist and former employee who claims he was fired for his creationist beliefs. Mark Armitage, a scientist and evangelical Christian, claims he was fired from his job as a lab technician at California State University at Northridge because he published an academic paper which appeared to support his creationist views, according to a lawsuit filed last week. Armitage, who does not believe in evolution, was lauded by his colleagues and the science community after he discovered in 2012 the largest triceratops horn ever recovered from the...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (BP) -- Two New Mexico scientists have alleged that a government-owned museum used tax money to denigrate religion and promote atheism at its annual Darwin Day celebration without giving believers in God an opportunity to present their case. A flier promoting "Darwin Day" at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque -- a division of the New Mexico state government's Department of Cultural Affairs -- listed New Mexicans for Science & Reason, the Humanist Society of New Mexico and Freedom From Religion, Albuquerque as cosponsors of the Darwin celebration in February, provoking to action...