‘SCIENTISTS “EVOLVE A FUNGUS” claims Science (AAAS) News 4 June 2021, and Scientific Reports 19 May 2021 doi:10.1038/s41598-021-89811-2. Researchers looking for a method of biological control of the Verroa mite, which has devastated honeybee colonies, have found a fungus that attacks and kills the mites. However, the fungus grows poorly in the warm temperatures of a beehive, which can be up to 35°C. A group of scientists led by Jennifer Han of Washington State University, Pullman, have used “directed evolution” to develop a strain of the fungus that can tolerate the heat and kill the mites. They subjected cultures of the fungus to stress by starvation and adding hydrogen peroxide to the growing medium to increase the rate of mutations. They then placed them in an incubator and raised the temperature. Some of the fungi survived this heat test, and these were selected out and cultured again. After seven rounds of heat and selection the researchers had a strain that would survive at 35°C. The researchers then worked on making the fungus more deadly. They placed a culture of the fungus in a beehive and then collected dead mites from the hive. Only 4% of the dead mites had died from the fungus, but the researcher collected the fungus from these, cultured it, and placed it in the beehive. More mites were killed by the fungus, so the scientists grew the fungus again from the dead mites, repeated the process until they had a strain that killed over 60% of the mites.
Link: Science
ED. COM. This is a clever piece of manipulation and artificial selection, but nothing has evolved, since scientists started with a fungus that already existed and already had strains (variations) that could kill mites in various conditions. If any mutations resulted from the stress imposed on the fungus they only resulted in variations of the same fungus. They did not make a new fungus. After some intelligent purposeful ‘unnatural selection’ the scientists had a strain of the fungus that killed mites at beehive temperatures. The fungus is still the classified as the same fungus since it has no real differences to the original. We commend these scientists making progress in controlling a serious pest, but we cannot commend their deliberate misuse of the language. The use of the words “evolve” and “evolution” for what they have done is another classic misuse of these words designed to keep Darwin’s evolution in people’s minds whenever they read any scientific study on change. This is a good reminder that evolution only really occurs in the minds of evolutionists. Out in the real world there are mutations and selection, both natural and artificial, but none of these are evolution. Mutations simply cause variation in what already exists. Selection only works on what already exists. These processes cannot make something that does not already exist, so they cannot make a new living thing, nor change one kind of living thing into another.’ https://creationresearch.net/
Creation
Psalm 9:1b “I will praise [thee], O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.”
There’s an old saying that people seldom remember how rapidly the job was done, but they do appreciate good workmanship. However, the staggering variety and number of things created by God did not limit the elegance of His fine workmanship.
The relationship between the snapping shrimp and a fish called the goby is a good example of the Creator’s attention to the finest detail. The snapping shrimp has very poor eyesight, while the goby has excellent eyesight. Both share the same burrow, which is dug by the shrimp and guarded by the goby.
The shrimp uses the goby as a blind person uses a Seeing Eye dog. Whenever the shrimp is outside its burrow, it always keeps one antenna on the goby. The shrimp stays hidden inside the burrow if the goby should temporarily swim away. When danger approaches, the goby signals and disappears inside the burrow. The shrimp is right behind him.
Neither the goby nor the shrimp can survive without each other, so pairs are established for life when both goby and shrimp are very young. In order for this system to work, both goby and shrimp reproductive systems, which differ greatly, are synchronized so that shrimp and goby youngsters are ready to pair at the same time.
This astonishing relationship shows us how our Creator’s standards of excellence bring His love to every corner of the creation.’https://creationmoments.com/sermons/seeing-eye-fish-2/?mc_cid=c6b26e1191&mc_eid=00c1dcff3c
Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding”
Human evolution has come to an end. Not only are humans not evolving anymore, we are actually devolving because of genetic mutations that are destroying our brains’ ability to solve problems. In a few centuries, human beings will have insufficient intellectual capacity to use the technologies invented by their ancestors.
These are not the words of frustrated parents and schoolteachers, irritated by the attitude to learning of members of the Millennial and Z Generations. These are the thoughts of Professor Gerald Crabtree of Stanford University, California, as reported in the British newspaper The Independent.
Crabtree is an evolutionary scientist. But as creationists, we would suspect that there is an element of truth in what he says. Clearly, we do not accept that humans stopped evolving – we do not accept that they evolved in the first place. The Bible tells us that God created Adam as a perfect human being and that he and his world were affected by his sin. So the devolution of mankind does, in fact, make sense.
We can understand this point when we read the Bible. Apostles, such as Peter and John, were working-class fishermen but lived in a high-information society where it was normal for such ordinary people to be able to speak and write in three languages and to have large portions of the Old Testament memorized. When even evolutionists are forced to recognize that evolution has not occurred, we should sit up and take notice.’ https://creationmoments.com/sermons/the-end-of-human-evolution/?mc_cid=4f9e5960b6&mc_eid=00c1dcff3c
‘The 1/50-inch-long ice plant scale is the scourge of a common landscaping plant. Since this creature is wingless, it was thought to spread from plant to plant by contact. This idea has turned out to be totally incorrect. Biologists have discovered that the ice plant scale sails the wind from plant to plant. This insect not only has the ability to accurately sense wind velocity and direction but can turn itself into a tiny bug-shaped parasail.
Once the insect senses a wind velocity of 10 miles per hour, it determines the wind direction with its antennae. It then proceeds to turn its back to the breeze, rear up on its hind legs, and extend its antennae and legs. This doubles the ice plant scale’s surface area and makes it possible for the insect to be lifted and carried by the wind. In essence, the scale makes a parasail out of its body. Scientists found that even one-day-old insects are knowledgeable about flight and ready to migrate. Both the intricate design and instincts within the smallest creatures testify to programming by their Creator.’http://www.searchforthetruth.net/
It’s not ok to mention God in a high school graduation speech BUT it is just fine to promote killing the unborn!
‘Earlier this spring, a Michigan high school graduate was asked to remove a reference to God in her speech, though the school later reversed its decision after the matter attracted wide-spread publicity.
Now, a Texas valedictorian’s speech is getting attention for a very different reason: She advocated for ending babies’ lives in abortion.
According to the Hill Reporter, Lake Highlands High School valedictorian Paxton Smith gave an unapproved commencement speech slamming her home state of Texas for passing a heartbeat law to ban abortions once an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable.
“As we leave high school, we need to make our voices heard,” Smith began her speech. “… in light of recent events, it feels wrong to talk about anything but what is currently affecting me and millions of other women in this state.”
Speaking Sunday at her commencement ceremony in Dallas, Smith criticized Gov. Greg Abbott for signing the law, saying it will ban abortions before most women even know that they are pregnant.
“And so, before they have the time to decide if they are emotionally, physically, and financially stable enough to carry out a full-term pregnancy, before they have the chance to decide if they can take on the responsibility of bringing another human into the world, the decision has been made for them by a stranger,” she continued.
The heartbeat law could save tens of thousands of unborn babies’ lives in Texas every year if it is not blocked by the courts. In 2019, more than 56,600 unborn babies were aborted in the state, according to state health statistics.
Smith, however, claimed the heartbeat law is “dehumanizing” because it takes away women’s bodily autonomy.
“I hope you can feel how gut-wrenching it is, how dehumanizing it is, to have the autonomy over your own body taken from you,” she said.’https://www.lifenews.com/2021/06/02/high-school-valedictorian-uses-her-speech-to-promote-killing-babies-in-abortions/
If you want to murder the unborn that’s fine for many as they believe the baby’s not human anyway! However, if you desire to save the unborn, well, that’s another story. ‘An NHS doctor has been banned from trying to save the babies of women who regret starting controversial ‘pills-by-post’ abortions introduced because of the pandemic.
Since GP surgeries and clinics closed in lockdown, women have been able to carry out terminations at home by swallowing two powerful pills over 48 hours.
But hospital consultant Dermot Kearney has treated dozens of women who changed their minds after taking the first pill by prescribing a sex hormone which he claims reverses its effects.
Dr Kearney, who is president of the Catholic Medical Association, says the anguished women turned to him in desperation after the NHS provided no solution to their predicament, and he believes his interventions may have saved dozens of babies.
He says that if taken within about 24 hours of the first pill, the hormone progesterone doubles the chance of the foetus surviving from 25 per cent if nothing is done, to 50 per cent.
But earlier this month, a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) panel ordered him to stop offering the treatment, which is not approved by health officials. The decision came after a complaint by abortion provider MSI Reproductive Choices, formerly known as Marie Stopes International.
It is understood MSI claimed he inappropriately prescribed progesterone to a patient for a use not backed by evidence, failed to present a balanced picture of its benefits and risks, and imposed his anti-abortion beliefs on her.
Dr Kearney now faces a full ‘fitness to practise’ hearing, likely to be held later this year, where he could be struck off. The Mail on Sunday has been told that he will vigorously contest the allegations and is being supported by The Christian Legal Centre.
Three women he helped are to give evidence in his defence. One of them, ‘Laura’, said: ‘Without Dr Kearney’s help, the alternative would have been horrific. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself. I’d be racked with guilt, with the shame of what I did, for the rest of my life. He was so supportive, compassionate and completely non-judgmental – and there was no mention of religion.’
Dr Kearney, a cardiologist and emergency physician at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Tyne and Wear, has been told by the MPTS that ‘he must not prescribe, administer or recommend progesterone for abortion reversal treatments’. Otherwise, he can practise as normal until the hearing.’https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9632581/NHS-consultant-banned-saving-babies-mothers-started-pills-post-abortiions.html?utm_source=Christian+Concern&utm_campaign=4f2588fc49-BN-20210601-Dermot&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9e164371ca-4f2588fc49-127681039
Is the Uk now under Sharia? Even if you are not a Christian believer this is scary and will affect you in someway in the future. If the Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park is truly a place for FREE SPEECH https://www.speakerscorner.net/ who is the real criminal in this article? Also take time to view the video at the conclusion of this article.
In the UK the ‘Speakers’ Corner is known as the home of free speech. Yet a brave Christian preacher has once again been arrested there because she was being critical of Islam.
Hatun Tash is a regular feature at Speakers’ Corner. Just last September she was escorted out of Speakers’ Corner by police; again, because she was being critical of Islam. Hatun has been warned that there are Muslims who want to kill her and that it is therefore dangerous for her to attend Speakers’ Corner. But Hatun is not intimidated or cowed. Even though she has been assaulted there before, she continues to preach there every week. She feels called to preach to the Muslims there and she is very effective in her ministry.
Provocative style
Hatun’s style is provocative. Deliberately so. This is how she attracts attention and gets people to listen. In September, the offending item was a copy of the Qur’an with holes drilled through it as a visual aid to point out that there are holes in the narrative around the Qur’an. As I pointed out then, no other book with holes in it would cause any problems or be seen as beyond the bounds of free speech. Only if we are effectively enforcing sharia law would we prohibit display of a Qur’an with holes in it.
Last Sunday she was wearing a T-shirt with a cartoon of Mohammad on it. Cartoons of any other figures would be clearly within the bounds of free speech. Only if we are effectively enforcing sharia law would a cartoon of Muhammad be prohibited. This is the home of free speech after all.
Home of free speech or not, Hatun was arrested, carried into a police van to cheers by the Muslim mob. She was held overnight in a police cell, before being released without charge. You can watch a video of the arrest here.
Capitulation to the mob
In the video, it is clear that there is a group of aggressive Muslims who are threatening Hatun. They are doing so right in front of the police officers. The police response is to arrest Hatun and take her out of the park. But she has committed no offence. After the arrest, a police officer talks to one of the Muslim protagonists who suggests to the officer that he has recognised that wearing that t-shirt was a breach of the peace. The officer denies this and explains (from 2:58):
Officer: She was here, and causing trouble. There’s one of her, and fifty-odd of you. So what we do is we take her from the situation. That’s what we’ve done.
Muslim: Appreciate that man, thanks.
Earlier the same Muslim man had challenged Hatun to go to France and wear her t-shirt.
The police have allowed the mob to dictate what the police should do. Rather than protecting Hatun and controlling the behaviour of the mob, the police remove Hatun and the mob cheers. The mob now knows that if they kick up enough fuss the police will remove Hatun again. The police have as good as said so. If this policy continues then it is clear that the mob have achieved their aim of Speakers’ Corner becoming Sharia Corner.
Muslim antagonists
At the start of that video, a man called Mohammad Hijab tells the police to “go away” and “get out of here.”
Hijab has a large following on YouTube. On the same day he posted a video of himself preaching in Speaker’s Corner criticising world leaders for saying that Israel has a right to defend itself and saying we shouldn’t be shocked if some Muslim “blows himself up in the next couple of weeks.”
“I’m not going to be shocked if I see that. I’m going to expect it. I’m not going on trains. You’re putting your own populations in danger.”
Earlier the same day, Hijab was involved in a pro-Palestinian counter-demonstration against the rally for Israel and for peace. In this video he can clearly be seen being antagonistic. Hijab referred to some Jews as Zionists and threatened to a police officer that he would kill their dogs if he saw them again (from 0:57).
This mob had thrown bottles and eggs at some Jews who took a wrong turning and ended up mixed in with the Islamists.
Hijab then led the Muslim antagonists to Speakers’ Corner. A member of the mob openly said in front of police officers:
“We’ll find some Jews there! We want the Zionists! We want their blood!”
Hijab is seen saying: “We believe that life begins at death. We don’t care about death. We love death!”
Preacher arrested – antagonists go free
These same people were in the mob which then threatened Hatun. The police did not arrest the antagonists – they arrested Hatun who had made no threats and committed no offence.
The police are meant to operate without fear or favour. This is clearly no longer the case. Where there’s a mob, the police don’t dare to step in. The person being threatened is arrested, not the members of the mob. The one who has committed no offence is kept in a cell overnight. The threatening mob get their reward and go free. This is how law and order break down.
Unless police policy changes, these mobs will enforce sharia law in more and more areas. This is how Speakers’ Corner becomes Sharia Corner.’https://christianconcern.com/comment/speakers-corner-becoming-sharia-corner/
Presently in our Bible teaching we are in Genesis 6 and heading to the chapter on the flood. Let me tell you when Noah built the Ark according to the instructions the Creator gave him he was precise in his maths for his family’s lives were at stake. Anyway, now days did you know ‘…mathematics could be racist, and that there is such a thing as ‘white math’? A claim is being made in some US academic circles that to insist that there is a correct answer to a statement like ‘2 + 2 = x’, is inherently racist, and that mathematics needs to be made antiracist. An organization1 funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has published a document entitled, “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction“2. The document’s Letter to Reader states, “The framework for deconstructing racism in mathematics offers essential characteristics of antiracist math educators and critical approaches to dismantling white supremacy in math classrooms by visualizing the toxic characteristics of white supremacy culture … with respect to math.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) a prominent anti-Christian philosopher and mathematician,3 a professed atheist,4 and Sergiu Klainerman, a professor of mathematics at Princeton University,5 among others, would disagree with the premise that mathematics is inherently racist. From a Christian perspective, we can add the fact that the basic principles of logic and mathematics cannot be racist nor are they in any way subjective human constructs, because they come from the perfect (Psalm 18:30) and holy (1 Samuel 2:2; Revelation 4:8) mind of God. Let us explore the reality that mathematics comes from the mind of God.
In Genesis 1–2, the narrator (God) uses concepts of mathematics embedded within the account without expounding the conceptual depth which underlies these concepts. For example, the enumeration of the days of Creation Week in Genesis 1 and 2 (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Genesis 2:2) may appear to be rather routine. After all, we count from our earliest days—a child counts the number of days until his or her birthday. Some writers have observed that the use of the ordinal adjective (‘second’, ‘third’, etc.) with the word ‘day’ indicates that God is speaking of standard 24-hour days, and that the use of the cardinal (‘one’) and ordinals to number the days of creation demands a sequential chronological reading of the text. However, while this is true, they often fail to observe that the use of the ordinals indicates that the enumeration of the creation days is of fundamental importance. In addition, Genesis 5 implicitly uses addition, such as in the statement, “When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.” (Genesis 5:6–8)—i.e., 105 + 807 = 912.
Another use of a fundamental mathematical concept in Genesis 1 is the inclusion of entities in sets (e.g., six days of creative activity and “two great lights” [Genesis 1:16]). Sets are based on the abstract concept that assumes the existence of universals and not merely particulars by which each entity is viewed as independent from all others. A universal is the grouping of instances by their consistent characteristics or qualities. For example, when God later spoke to Adam and told him that he could eat from every tree in the garden, but one (Genesis 2:16–17), he used a universal to describe a set and Adam would have understood the concept to include grapes from vines, berries from bushes, and pears and nuts from trees. Universals are usually grouped into three classes: types or kinds (e.g., boats, birds, or chairs), properties (e.g., heavy, big, or small), and relations (e.g., parent, higher, colder). Since we use universals all the time, we may not understand an inherent difficulty with their existence. The problem of universals has perplexed philosophers from the earliest days.6 The challenge is how to account for their existence: Are they real? Do they exist independent of particulars? Can they exist if the universe is merely the product of random events in a material universe? Are they purely constructs of language?
The correspondence between abstractions—mathematical concepts such as ordinal counting and sets—and phenomena in nature is difficult for materialistic naturalists to explain. If mathematics is purely an invention of human minds, then it is a challenge to explain the correspondence between a mathematical equation and what happens in the natural realm.7
The efficacy of mathematics is astounding. With calculations, men and women guided the Apollo missions to the moon, can triangulate on signals generated by ‘black’ boxes to find a lost airplane at the bottom of the ocean, and can synchronize computers 20,000 kilometers apart so that they receive e-mail messages correctly. A materialistic naturalist cannot explain why pure abstractions—e.g., trigonometric equations, can have such an effect on the physical universe.
The existence of counting and mathematics is evidence that the universe was created by an intelligent designer—the God of the Bible. The laws of mathematics (e.g., commutative, associative, and distributive) come from God’s mind. Mathematics is one form of God’s thought—others include descriptive (Genesis 1), naming (Genesis 1:5), animating (Genesis 2:7), visualizing (Exodus 25:40; Exodus 26:30), and logical (Isaiah 1:18). The laws of mathematics exist in God’s mind and were not affected by the Fall of man into sin. The laws of mathematics are therefore perfect (Psalm 19:7) and can be derived without error. Of course, this does not mean that accountants and engineers (and others), affected by the Curse (Genesis 3:17–19), will always perform their arithmetical calculations without error.
Unbelievers can use the mechanics of mathematics without being able to explain what counting is or provide a logically consistent reason for why mathematics works, particularly when applied to natural systems. The problem is that their worldview claims that the universe came into existence by chance and has no non-material dimension (e.g., everlasting human souls). The fact that materialistic naturalists count and use complex mathematics to accomplish amazing things illustrates that they live in practical terms as if there is a God behind the universe, while denying His existence (Romans 1:18).8
When we examine the laws of nature (e.g., the Law of Gravitation or Coulomb’s Law of Electric Charge), we quickly discover that they are based on mathematics and that they model how God has chosen ordinarily to govern the universe; not how He must govern it—the laws of nature are descriptive, not prescriptive. The fact that nature can be described mathematically has been a continuing surprise to those who cannot think beyond their presuppositions of materialistic naturalism. They have difficulty explaining why there is a connection between physical reality and abstract mathematics. The fact that there is, indicates that the universe is more than the sum of its parts and is the product of intelligent thought.’ For the entire article go to https://creation.com/mathematics-from-the-mind-of-god?utm_campaign=infobytes_au&utm_content=Math+isn%27t+racist%2C+it%27s+Divine%21&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mailing.creation.com&utm_term=Fortnightly+Digest+-+2021.05.28
‘In this Climate Discussion Nexus “Backgrounder”, Dr. John Robson offers a constructive alternative to the infuriating tendency to label people and consign them to pigeonholes such as “denier” when the climate “mainstream” is actually broad and complex with plenty of room for skepticism about the supposed crisis.’
whatyareckon 