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For
in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and
all that is in them...
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Copyright © 1988, 2000 by the Creation Research Society. All rights reserved.
Volume 23, Number 1
June, 1986
Abstracts
Volume 23, Number 1
June, 1986
Abstracts
Yuccas Of The Southwestern United States: A Study In Numerical Taxonomy And In Origins At The Species Level
The lily family in general and the Yucca genus in particular are discussed in the context of origins. Eleven criteria are presented by which species in the genus Yucca may be compared. Nine Yucca species are contrasted using these same criteria. The results are then subjected to numerical taxonomy by which three subgroups or "sections" are established in the genus Yucca rather than the usual four sections proposed by other workers. Furthermore, it is asserted that the origin of these sections and species in the genus Yucca is not easily explained by evolutionary descent within the genus. The data of paleobotany and pollination also fail to support the origin of Yucca species by evolution. It is a credible alternative to evolution to suggest that the Creator endowed each particular group with its own assemblage of morphological characteristics.
Stereochemical Design In
Lipids
Creationists have successfully challenged evolutionists with the evidence of clever engineering design in optically active isomers such as the L-amino acids and D-sugars found exclusively in life forms. That these resolved isomers cannot be synthesized or maintained in significant quantities outside of living organisms has been recognized as strong evidence against any spontaneous generation of biopolymers from some primeval broth.
Nevertheless, the evidence found in geometric isomers is largely unknown in spite of the critical role played by this sort of stereoisomerism in living cells. Some biolipids found in cell membranes (phospholipids) are always in the cis-same side-configuration. While this geometry is essential for the proper functioning of cell membranes, it turns out that this cis configuration is not what we would expect to find in nature because it is the higher energy form. The trans-opposite side-configuration is the lower energy form and thus would be expected to be found.
A creationist teleological (planning and purpose apparent in design) explanation seems to be demanded by these facts. It is true that certain low probability molecules can be synthesized in the laboratory, such as certain substituted benzene ring isomers or even cis-polyethylene. However, these only serve to buttress the teleological argument since they require intelligence in planning the synthesis, fabricating and arranging the complex apparatus, environmental control, and in carrying out the stepwise chemical reactions in the presence of highly specific reagents, using controlled (not random) energy sources.
Further, the phyletic distribution of many biolipids may very well follow a mosaic pattern previously alluded to by some creationists.
Earth's Young Magnetic Age
Confirmed
The depletion of the earth's magnetic field is documented in scientific literature. This field shields the earth from some of the cosmic rays. The depletion of this shield has two side effects: 1) harmful biological effects, and 2) lowering the carbon-14 dates. The decay preocess is explained in terms of an equivalent circuit, providing simple solutions for the decay process. The theory and data are employed to set a limit on the age of the earth's magnet and, by inference, the age of the earth. Three independent checks provide confirmation of the theory.
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Research Society. All rights reserved.