No future in horoscopes

According to a medical study
reported in The Courier Mail (Australia) 19 Aug 2003, p5.
Astrologers claim many physical, psychological and social
characteristics of people are determined by what star sign they
were born under, and where the sun, moon and planets are at the
time, e.g. those born under the sign of Pisces should be kind,
sensitive, selfless and intuitive but prone to escapism, secrecy
and being easily led. Medical researchers who have been carrying
out a long term study since 1958 on how circumstances surrounding
birth affect long term health, analysed data collected from over
2000 people born within minutes of one another, i.e. under the
same star sign, with the sun, moon and planets in the same
positions. Rather than finding similarities in many
characteristics claimed to be predictable by astrology, they
found "beyond reasonable doubt that there is no similarity in
character between people born within minutes of one another".

John’s
comment: Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a prominent
court astrologer who became a Christian. He then tested his own
predictions and those of fellow astrologers and found them to be
wrong. That was four centuries ago! The Hebrew writer of
Ecclesiastes proved a better predictor of truth when he wrote:
"There is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Kepler went on
to become the founding father of modern astronomy and his work
was the death knell of astrology in his day and for centuries
afterwards. One hidden reason for the recent increase in belief
in astrology is increasing acceptance of an evolutionary world
view that robs people of confidence in the Creator God's guidance
for their lives, leaving a vacuum, which they fill with
astrological foolishness.

New carnivorous
dinosaur preyed on long necked herbivores of Indian
subcontinent, according to a report on CNN.com/Science &
Space, 14 Aug 2003. The report came with a great picture of a
whole dinosaur. University of Chicago palaeontologist Paul
Sereno, working with Indian scientists, examined bones found in
the Narmada River region in India and "realized we had the
partial skeleton of an undiscovered species". The species has
been named Rajasaurus narmadensis and is described as "8 -10m
(25-30 ft) long. They had a horn above their skulls, were
relatively heavy and walked on two legs." The work on the
dinosaur was sponsored by the National Geographic Society.

John’s
comment: In order to find out how "partial" the skeleton
was, the editors of this newsletter looked up the National
Geographic website: http://www.nationalgeographic.org/news
and found the four actual bones found consisted of the central
part of a skull, a partial left hip, a partial right hip and a
sacrum. (Visit this site and see the photos yourself.) The report
is dated 13 Aug 2003 and entitled "New Dinosaur Species found in
India". The National Geographic story also claimed Rajasaurus ate
long necked Titanosaur plant eating dinosaurs because "bones from
both dinosaurs were found together". In fact, finding partial
skeletons from both dinosaurs together only proves they were
buried together.

Wetas saw dinosaurs come
and go, according to an article in the Waikato Times
(NZ) 19 July 2003, pA4. Wetas are ferocious looking insects only
found in New Zealand. They were considered to be on the brink of
extinction until conservationists carried out a captive breeding
program and re-introduced them to the wild. A list of "Weta Facts
and Figures" states, "There are more than 100 species of Weta,
and all are largely unchanged from their ancestors which lived
190 million years ago".

John’s
comment: The fact that Wetas are "largely unchanged from
their ancestors" means they have reproduced after their kind,
just as Genesis says they were created to do. They have not
evolved. The fact that they nearly died out is no help to the
theory of evolution, either. It only indicates that life has
become harder for all living organisms since the original good
creation was corrupted by sin.

Snow cones could be cradle
of life of on mars according to reports in the New
Zealand Herald 11 August 2003, The Courier Mail (Australia), p3,
& ABC (Australia) National News, 19 August 2003. Australian
planetary scientist, Nick Hoffman of University of Melbourne
analysed infrared (heat) maps of Mars and found unusually warm
spots in the southern hemisphere which could indicate heat is
escaping from the below the ice on the Martian surface, creating
conditions warm enough for bacteria to grow. Belief that these
may contain life is based on the fact that similar warm spots
have been found in Antarctica where large hollow towers
containing thriving colonies of bacteria have been found.
Hoffman's study has intensified the hope that American and
European spacecraft currently on route to Mars will find life on
the red planet. However, Hoffman himself urges caution. He says
there is "too much bad science" in the search for life on Mars.
"Its not a good way to find the truth by starting with the answer
you want."

John’s
comment: Hoffman's caution about bad science is a good
one. Melting ice may create conditions warm enough for bacteria
to grow, but bacteria will only be on Mars if someone puts them
there. Although all living organisms need water to sustain them,
water and chemicals alone cannot make life. On earth, bacteria
have been found just about everywhere on the planet, but that is
because God put them on earth by a deliberate act of
creation.

Brief opening for big hot
flower as described in Nature Science update
(www.nature.com/nsu) 23 May 2003. A specimen of the
world's biggest bloom, the Titan arum, kept at the botanical
gardens in Bonn has produced a record breaking 2.7 m (10 ft)
flower. This floral colossus unfurls from a bud in a matter of
hours and only lasts for only a few days. The flower is a
combination of separate male and female flowers that mature at
different times so the plant does not pollinate itself, but its
size and rapid well co-ordinated opening are not its most unusual
feature. The flower heats itself up to the equivalent of human
body temperature by burning up stored carbohydrates. During the
time it is hottest it gives off a smell like rotting flesh. This
attracts flies which carry its pollen to other flowers. The
function of the heat seems to be to enable heavy sulphur
containing molecules that make up the flower's "scent" to become
airborne and spread out to attract more flies. (See
http://www.news.wisc.edu/titanarum/facts for more
information.)

John’s
comment: This plant may also help us answer that old
ditty: "The Lord in His wisdom hath made the fly; and then forgot
to tell us why". This plant, along with other Arum species that
have similar "fragrances" is well designed to attract flies to
pollinate the flowers and would have done so in the good world
God originally created. After the world degenerated following the
Fall of man and Noah's flood, there would have been many dead
animals emitting smells similar to Arum flowers. Flies would be
attracted to them, feed on the rotting flesh and lay eggs on it.
This would also assist in breaking down the dead animal for
recycling into the soil. But the increasing abundance of rotting
flesh plus the original Arum flowers meant flies would multiply
in abundance, far more than in the original good world. The
result would annoy humans and animals.

Let's call it a
day. Following the successful Creation Forum at Berkeley
University (California) in April, International Director of
Creation Research, John Mackay purchased a copy of the Torah from
a local bookshop. The Torah is the Jewish rendition of the first
five books of the Old Testament - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy, and covers the subjects Creation, the
Fall, the Flood, the Law, etc. The introduction to this Torah by
Rabbi Mariner was dated Adar 5756 with a little note below to
explain this corresponded to February 1996. 1996 is the AD system
- after the birth of Christ. But 5756 is the AC system - after
creation. So for those trying to figure how an Orthodox Hebrew
would read Genesis and whether he'd ever believe the days could
be long periods of time, Rabbi Mariner provides one useful answer
- they don't see it that way. They take it quite literally and on
that basis the world is still less than 6,000 years old and
nowhere near billions of years old.

Bacterial organelle
puzzles evolutionary scientists, according to BBC online
news, 20 June 2003. For all the millions of different living
organisms there are basically two kinds of cells - prokaryotic
and eukaryotic. Prokaryotic cells include bacteria and other
simple micro-organisms, which have a simple structure with no
nucleus or separate membrane-bound organelles within their
cytoplasm. Eukaryotic cells are larger and have a separate
nucleus and many membrane-bound organelles. They are theorised to
have evolved when some prokaryotes engulfed other prokaryotes.
The engulfed prokaryotes are believed to have become organelles.
This theory has been challenged by Professor Roberto Docampo who
has found an organelle in a bacterium named Agrobacterium
tumefaciens. The organelle helps regulate acids in the cell and
is identical to acid regulating organelles in single celled
eukaryotes. According to Docampo, "This argues against the belief
eukaryotic organelles were formed when early eukaryotes swallowed
prokaryotes".

John’s
comment: There are two reasons for the engulfing theory.
One is that some organelles contain genes and can make some of
their own proteins. The other reason is that organelles are
highly complex structures that do not work until all their
components are not only present but in the correct position.
Therefore it is very difficult to explain how they could have
evolved by slow chance "engulfing", one step at a time. The
engulfing theory is the evolutionist's attempt to get instant
complexity, but it ignores the problem of where the engulfed
prokaryote got its complexity. Organelles, complete with their
own genes, are far better explained by intelligent design, i.e.
the Creator gave cells whatever components they needed to carry
out their functions.