TASC Activities 2012

TASC is an acronym that stands for the Triangle Association for the Science of Creation. We publish newsletters and articles dealing with science, creation and God. TASC has recently planned a seminar for later this Fall, and has also planned other activities. In this article we look at what TASC has done, is currently doing, and plans to do in the near future.

Intelligent Design is Peer-Reviewed, but is Peer-Review a Requirement of Good Science?

Although belief in a young earth is not in the list of things we young-earth creationists have in common with intelligent design groups, the intelligent design proponents have mounted a commendable attack against the dogma of evolution in the last several years. Casey Luskin is a Research Coordinator for the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Instititue, a notable intelligent design research group. Luskin holds graduate degrees in both science and law. He earned his BS and MS in Earth Sciences from the University of California, San Diego. His law degree is from the University of San Diego. Luskin recently published an article at evolutionnews.org for Evolution News and Views presenting the fallacy that science is only good science if it is published in peer-reviewed literature. The organization provides original reporting and analysis about the debate over intelligent design and evolution, including breaking news about scientific research. The following is Luskin’s article first published at http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/02/intelligent_des056221.html

Mammoth Mystery

Mammoth
Figure 1 - Museum exhibit of a mammoth

Mammoths pose a mystery to science. How did they get frozen? The answer is not as simple as you might think. Normal cold weather would not freeze them quickly enough to preserve them as well as they are found. The temperature had to drop drastically, in only a few hours, to -150° F or lower! Based on the range of places where they are found, this had to be a widespread, not just a local, phenomenon.

Radioactive Decay Rates May Change

In 1 Corinthians 13 the Bible says, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.” Our knowledge is imperfect in this life, and we are continually learning more. This is also true in the scientific realm, and theories that were once held often have to be given up. We may see scientific theories change again very soon due to new discoveries concerning rates of radioactive decay, the speed of light, and the degree of ape-human similarity. All of these areas are significant for theories of the origin of life on earth, so it is helpful to examine them in more detail. Here there is only space to examine the first of these areas, namely, the rate of radioactive decay.