Ham’s Ark

Saying “what the fark” would be kind off late as the Ark Encounters project is not really news, being punted some time ago already by Answers in Genesis’s Ken Ham.

Not surprisingly, the whole ludicrous idea has been the subject of much mirth since inception, but recent reports suggest that it will finally get off the ground because of a sudden flood of cash that has materialised, probably through the foolishness generosity of credulous supporters.

In the last week meme’s such as the one above have been doing the rounds on social media. So how is spending money on this project any different from spending money on say the space programme? It’s a valid question since space programme funding could equally be argued to be spent more productively on feeding poor and hungry people.

Well it is different and the difference is captured poignantly here by Gwen Pearson of Wired, the online publication:

This is an attraction that exists to promote a religious message. It’s not about animals at all. The welfare of the animals and their biology is less important than their ability to reinforce a religious myth.

This project will not enhance or better the current or future lives of human beings in any meaningful way as the scientific discoveries made on the space programme will. In fact, Ark Encounters not only will diminish the lives of people by keeping them chained to the outlandish ideology of Creationism, from the article it is apparent that live animals, should they be used, will be subjected to much distress.

Like the Creation Museum, another one of Ham’s obscene projects, this one will most probably become a reality. Reason alone seems unlikely to dissuade these perverters of science from going ahead. Perhaps nothing short of a biblical deluge in Kentucky will.

That old debate again

Just finished watching a marathon debate on YouTube between Ken Ham and Bill Nye held yesterday at a peculiar venue known as the Creation Museum in Kentucky.

For those of you who don’t know, Bill Nye also known as the Science Guy is the CEO of The Planetary Society and award-winning science educator, while Ken Ham is the President of Answers in Genesis, a Christian apologetics ministry, that runs that peculiar museum in Kentucky.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide who’s more credible, although it must be said that the veracity of the Evolution – Creation debate does not depend on the integrity of any one person. No, no, no, it’s all in the science.

Another nail in the Creation coffin

NASA’s major announcement on the 2nd of December basically just confirms what scientists have been saying all along; life adapts to its environment and evolves. Bleh!

The announcement follows findings from a recent study that demonstrates how a bacterium can survive using arsenic instead of phosphorus to develop its cell components. As all creationists supposedly know, arsenic is lethal to humans, but through this scientific study, they now also know that it is not lethal to all forms of life. Off course, we may have to first convince some if not all of them, that microorganisms like bacteria also constitute life.

And what of all that bunkum about the earth being placed the perfect distance from the sun and blessed with the right mix of elements to support life?

It has long been thought that carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and phosphorus which is a basic element of DNA and RNA, were an essential mix for sustaining life as we know it. This new discovery proves different, as pointed out by  Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate in Washington:

The definition of life has just expanded. As we pursue our efforts to seek signs of life in the solar system, we have to think more broadly, more diversely and consider life as we do not know it.

I wonder what Ken Ham and other evolution denialists will conjure up to discredit or rubbish this latest discovery? What new pseudoscientific explanation or crackpot display at the Creation Museum will they dream up to offset this latest nail in their creation coffin? What new feats of mental gymnastics will they demand from their followers?

The rational world waits with bated breath!