Debatable...

Today I am at DACC for the WYSE Academic Challenge. I don't normally get into these sort of events, but there was no one else to "coach" this group of kids, so I was the one selected. (Honestly, I don't mind. They are a great group of kids.)

I mention this only because when I arrived for the orientation and all of the schools were in the gymnasium, I overheard another teacher talking about the upcoming Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate that is going to be streaming live tonight. For some reason I assumed that this teacher was speaking on behalf of Ken Ham. I heard him saying something about looking forward to seeing the other guy get "trashed" in this debate.  As I approached and mentioned that I was going to watch the debate as well, I quickly realized that he wasn't on the Creation side of the debate, but instead, he was in support of Bill Nye, and was assuming that the other guy (Ken Ham) didn't have a chance.

Now, I would've challenged this fella, seeing that I was in support of Ken Ham, but also because even other evolutionists and atheists have distanced themselves from Bill Nye, not feeling that he is adequately prepared for this encounter. I would've challenged him, as I said, except he was a "I can't get a word in edgewise" sort of guy.  I finally smiled and nodded and strolled away. He may have still been talking when I got out of earshot, but I couldn't take much more of this guy's attitude that said, "Who would actually be in support of a Creationist?!?"

I find this attitude annoying. Especially when guys like Bill Nye the Science Guy makes statements like this,

"Many people have been critical of me for taking this debate because I'm not an expert on evolution," Nye said. "But this is not advanced evolutionary theory. This is not high-school science. It might be elementary-school science. That Mr. Ham and his followers don't embrace it is troubling." (full article here)

Many Creationists (and others who are latching onto Intelligent Design) are not idiots. We are not unintelligent, backwoods hillbillies. For the most part, we are people who are questioning the consensus. I haven't held onto creation science because of Scripture alone... I am too much of a mathematician to not ask questions... I have held onto creation because it makes sense scientifically as well. For me, Creationism is easily more believable than the established Darwinian Evolutionary Theory.

For the record, I am not afraid of exploring and considering both options, and even exposing my children to both options, I mean, I really want my boys to think... I am in agreement with Ken Ham's thoughts as he stated in a response video where he originally challenged Bill Nye to the debate,

“Creationists, of course, are very happy to teach their children about evolution and teach the problems with it and teach their children how to think critically. Isn’t it interesting how Christians are not frightened to teach their children about evolution!”

Anyway, I could rant for awhile, so I will stop here. If you want to watch this live debate, here it is: (I know it will be playing in my home tonight.)

 

For more information about when this begins visit debatelive.org.

Netflix pick of the week: Microcosmos

My Netflix pick this week is going to be a documentary that my whole family enjoyed... Even my wife!  The documentary was called Microcosmos.  Here is the Netflix description:

Employing unique microscopic cameras and powerful specialized microphones, this highly praised French documentary is a fascinating look at the seldom-explored world of insects and other minute creatures as they go about their daily lives. With footage of ladybugs feasting and snails mating to a mystical score by composer Bruno Coulais, the film won five César Awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Music.

Like I said, we all enjoyed the movie.  There was only a little bit of talking at the beginning, but this method of exploring this "microcosmos" was simply captivating. Once we started it, we couldn't finish it.  I will warn you though, more than once it shows some insects mating... and some snails... fascinating, but gross.

It is available for instant viewing, so if you have Netflix, you can click here and go straight to the movie's page.  Here is the youtube trailer for the movie: (The Netflix version is in English, but the trailer is in French.)

Through the Clouds

From Life's best photos of the week, here is the final Space Shuttle mission as it broke through the clouds.

click to enlarge

Let's Put Things in Perspective

Check out this amazing site that can really put things into perspective:

Cell Size and Scale (From the University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center)

Once you get to the site, use the slider at the bottom of the picture to go from coffee bean size to a carbon atom.

The site where I snagged this link posted this phrase, "God's creation is beyond comprehension!"  I couldn't agree more.

5 truths that can't be proven by science:

• Logic and Mathematics
• Metaphysical truths
• Ethical beliefs
• Aesthetic judgments
• Science itself

[HT: 22 Words]

lemur-man

This is it! This is what we have all been waiting for!

They have finally found it! The whole world is talking about it, even Google is featuring it on their main page today. It is proof beyond a shadow of a doubt. It has been settled, it is conclusive, it is... "Ida," the small "missing link"

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, your ancestor is a small squished monkey.

From the National Geographic website:

"This is the first link to all humans," Hurum, of the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway, said in a statement. Ida represents "the closest thing we can get to a direct ancestor."

Here is a picture of the little guy from that same National Geographic site:


I don't know. I don't really see the family resemblance.

Logical Point of View

Great perspective on this controversy. Love the logic.



[HT: Mmmm, That's Good Coffee]

Sunrise

In honor of the beginning of another school year, I have changed my background image again.  As usual, I snagged this image from the NASA image of the day site.  This is a martian sunrise photographed by the Phoenix lander.

Read the rest of the information about this picture.

Scaled Perspective

I really wish I knew who to give credit to for these pictures. I got the e-mail forwarded from my mom.










Louie Giglio did a presentation similar to this during his Indescribable tour. I found a copy that someone did with their video camera.



God breathed the stars into existence?!?

leading up to π day... (part 2)

In case you were still wondering about π...

Here is π to 1 million digits.

leading up to π day...

In case you didn't know, π day is coming up. (It is 3/14... get it?) To lead into π day I thought I would throw in some random mentions of π.

The first one is from an identity called Euler's Identity. It is an equation that involves π and a few other prominent numbers. Maybe even the most prominent and important numbers. Here is that equation:


Here is a clip from Wikipedia that does a pretty good explanation of this amazing equation:

Euler's identity is considered by many to be remarkable for its mathematical beauty. Three basic arithmetic operations occur exactly once each: addition, multiplication, and exponentiation. The identity also links five fundamental mathematical constants:

• The number 0.
• The number 1.
• The number π, which is ubiquitous in trigonometry, geometry of Euclidean space, and mathematical analysis.
• The number e, the base of natural logarithms, which occurs widely in mathematical analysis (e ≈ 2.71828).
• The number i, imaginary unit of the complex numbers, which contain the roots of all nonconstant polynomials and lead to deeper insight into many operators, such as integration.

Furthermore, in mathematical analysis, equations are commonly written with zero on one side.

Whether you are a mathematician or not, this is amazing. the five most important numbers all in one equation with all of the basic mathematical operations... Weird.

New Background

Here is my new desktop background, brought to you by NASA's image of the day.

The image came from here.

From the Earth to the Moon

I know when I do posts like this, most of you probably don't care, but when I find stuff like this, I find it truly amazing.

Here is part of the caption that came with this picture:

2001 Mars Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) took this portrait of the Earth and its companion Moon, using the infrared camera, one of two cameras in the instrument. It was taken at a distance of 3,563,735 kilometers (more than 2 million miles) on April 19, 2001 as the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft left the Earth. From this distance and perspective the camera was able to acquire an image that directly shows the true distance from the Earth to the Moon.

So that is a true image picture, showing the actual distance from the Earth to the Moon. It blows my mind. Not only considering how small we are, but also considering how we could take that picture! If you would like to read more about it, click here. That is also the source of the original image.

To read a little more about the distance from the Earth to the moon, check out wikipedia's article.

NASA Image

Here is a picture of Saturn (again).

Sorry, I know that you may not care for pictures of Saturn, but I am always amazed at these images that they are taking. This one was taken by the Cassini-Huygens mission, which I believe is now simply called the Cassini Mission, because the Cassini probe is all that is left. The Huygens probe actually landed on the surface of Titan, one of Saturn's moons. (Which blows my mind.) I actually posted a picture that was taken from the surface of Titan around the time that it landed.

This image is called Crescent Rhea Occults Crescent Saturn, in case you were wondering...

I have added the Image of the Day Gallery to my Google Reader, and I would like to recommend it.

NASA image of the day

On my Google personalized home page, I have NASA's image of the day. They only seem to update the image a couple of times a week, so I don't know why they call it the image of the day, but they do have some really cool pictures. My favorites are the ones that come from the Hubble space telescope and the ones that come from actual missions. I am constantly using these images as my desktop background.

This most recent one I thought was awesome. It was discovered in 1787 by an astronomer named William Herschel and was named the Eskimo Nebula because of its resemblance to an Eskimo in a parka. You can read all about it here.

It is such a beautiful thing, but what gets me the most is its size. We are talking about a Solar-System sized image. I can't get my mind around it. Yet all of this Universe exists in the mind of God. He created it and He sustains it. It is like the night sky is some grand canvas that He is still working on, and it puts any paint splatter artist to shame.

Intelligent Design

"The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Day to day pours forth speech,

And night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;

Their voice is not heard."

Psalm 19:1-3

All creation shouts, "There is a God!" Without a doubt, there is design. We live in a world of irreducible complexity. And if you study this world with an open mind, following true scientific principles, you will see it. And there are those who have seen it.

Even Darwin, after contemplating the eye, admitted,

"To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have come about by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree."

--Charles R. Darwin, The Origin of Species..., first edition reprint (New York: Avenel Books, 1979), p. 217 - (Chapter 6, "Difficulties on Theory", First edition: 1859).

The movement is called Intelligent Design. Here is a link.