February 15 , 2010
Baby Mammoth Amazes Scientists
The "42,000-year-old" animal is "surprisingly well-preserved."
Baby Mammoth Amazes Scientists
The "42,000-year-old" animal is "surprisingly well-preserved."
SUMMARY: Lyuba's skin was slightly shriveled, her eyes frozen shut, and her
trunk abnormally curled, but for a "42,000-year-old" baby mammoth, she was
"surprisingly well-preserved." She was not the typical subject Jason Polzin,
chief of GE Healthcare in Waukesha, Wisconsin, normally examines with his
X-ray, CT or MRI machines, but she may be the best-preserved mammoth ever
discovered.
Lyuba was found in 2007 by a reindeer herder in the frozen soil of
northwestern Siberia. The herder named the month-old baby animal Lyuba,
after his wife. The little mammoth found its way to Chicago's Field Museum for
a stay of several months. From Chicago, Lyuba was taken to Waukesha where
scientists had exclusive use of GE Healthcare's sophisticated equipment for a
day.
Daniel Fisher of the U. of Michigan who has studied mammoths for 30 years
was awe-struck at the chance to see the entire shape of a mammoth after
years of working only with skeletons, teeth, and tusks. Lyuba's soft tissue had
dried only a bit and, according to Fisher, the scientists found that her stomach
was filled with her mother's milk, although the milk by now had taken on the
consistency of "fine curd cottage cheese."
Their examination of Lyuba also led the researchers to the discovery that
mammoths had something called brown fat at the back of the neck. When the
body senses cold, the brown fat can start a metabolic sequence that produces
heat and warms the blood.
The scientists are trying to determine what caused Lyuba's death. Their best
guess: she accidentally became trapped in mud along a river bank and
suffocated. The cause of death is important because if it is determined Lyuba
was ill or otherwise not a normal mammoth, she might be of less value to
science.
(Photo of the reconstruction in Austria of a fully-grown mammoth is from
Wikimedia.)
To read the entire article and see a photo of Lyuba, click on this link to THE
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL.
COMMENT: Secular scientists continue to be surprised at the discovery of so
many ancient animals still in surprisingly good condition. Lyuba's good
condition, as a "42,000-year-old" creature, is nothing compared to the
discovery of soft tissue and red blood cells in "65-million-year-old" dinosaurs
or of ink still liquid in a "150-million-year-old" squid.
Creationist scientists think these animals died only within the past few
thousand years, making their remarkable preservations less amazing. They
furthermore believe the deaths happened as a result of a catastrophic burial
and not the gradual effect of uniform processes. Their theory that a
post-Flood Ice Age may have frozen the mammoths that have been
discovered would also help to explain their preservation.
Death will eventually come to all living things, of course, with one big exception.
All those of us who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, although we
may experience a temporary physical death, can still look forward to a life in
heaven that will never end, a life without catastrophes, Ice Ages, floods, sin,
illness, or death. Praise God!
****************************************************************************************************
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QUESTION OF THE DAY
What species of fish was dubbed "Frankenfish" after causing a panic
among Florida fish farmers?
****************************************************************************************************
trunk abnormally curled, but for a "42,000-year-old" baby mammoth, she was
"surprisingly well-preserved." She was not the typical subject Jason Polzin,
chief of GE Healthcare in Waukesha, Wisconsin, normally examines with his
X-ray, CT or MRI machines, but she may be the best-preserved mammoth ever
discovered.
Lyuba was found in 2007 by a reindeer herder in the frozen soil of
northwestern Siberia. The herder named the month-old baby animal Lyuba,
after his wife. The little mammoth found its way to Chicago's Field Museum for
a stay of several months. From Chicago, Lyuba was taken to Waukesha where
scientists had exclusive use of GE Healthcare's sophisticated equipment for a
day.
Daniel Fisher of the U. of Michigan who has studied mammoths for 30 years
was awe-struck at the chance to see the entire shape of a mammoth after
years of working only with skeletons, teeth, and tusks. Lyuba's soft tissue had
dried only a bit and, according to Fisher, the scientists found that her stomach
was filled with her mother's milk, although the milk by now had taken on the
consistency of "fine curd cottage cheese."
Their examination of Lyuba also led the researchers to the discovery that
mammoths had something called brown fat at the back of the neck. When the
body senses cold, the brown fat can start a metabolic sequence that produces
heat and warms the blood.
The scientists are trying to determine what caused Lyuba's death. Their best
guess: she accidentally became trapped in mud along a river bank and
suffocated. The cause of death is important because if it is determined Lyuba
was ill or otherwise not a normal mammoth, she might be of less value to
science.
(Photo of the reconstruction in Austria of a fully-grown mammoth is from
Wikimedia.)
To read the entire article and see a photo of Lyuba, click on this link to THE
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL.
COMMENT: Secular scientists continue to be surprised at the discovery of so
many ancient animals still in surprisingly good condition. Lyuba's good
condition, as a "42,000-year-old" creature, is nothing compared to the
discovery of soft tissue and red blood cells in "65-million-year-old" dinosaurs
or of ink still liquid in a "150-million-year-old" squid.
Creationist scientists think these animals died only within the past few
thousand years, making their remarkable preservations less amazing. They
furthermore believe the deaths happened as a result of a catastrophic burial
and not the gradual effect of uniform processes. Their theory that a
post-Flood Ice Age may have frozen the mammoths that have been
discovered would also help to explain their preservation.
Death will eventually come to all living things, of course, with one big exception.
All those of us who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, although we
may experience a temporary physical death, can still look forward to a life in
heaven that will never end, a life without catastrophes, Ice Ages, floods, sin,
illness, or death. Praise God!
****************************************************************************************************
Want to be automatically notified each time there is a new post? Just e-mail
your request to [admin@lutheranscience.org].
****************************************************************************************************
QUESTION OF THE DAY
What species of fish was dubbed "Frankenfish" after causing a panic
among Florida fish farmers?
****************************************************************************************************
1 Comment
Gerhold L. Lemke wrote: Let us assume that there might be a mere trace of
Carbon-14 in this or any Siberian mammoth or just the bones of these creatures. That's
what should concern you first of all, when doing "science." But the Bible is 100%
correct on Earth existing less than 10,000 years, so "created thus" is the only valid
answer. And the baby in question here wasn't dug out of the ground -- river water just
left it lying high and dry to be picked up. A great Ice Age after the Flood (ca. 2350-1650
BC) is another delusion of pseudoscience ruining credible Christian apologetic. How
much better to say that, when God created everything to look like a going concern, he
supplied the "evidence" for what would happen with Earth going through "past"
100,000-year cycles. God only never changes, so creation of any fossil forms with an
appearance of change through time would be appropriate (supplying a theological
answer for evolutionists). Our Creator/Savior knew before creation!
that he would lay down his life in a sin/death world, so why not created "death" in the
geology? NO death in creation of "age" would be a walk-by-sight proof of original
perfection; but God would have us "walk by faith" in his Word. Saying "God wouldn't do
that" ignores Isaiah 55:8, where God's thoughts & God's ways aren't our own. Yes, we
want to "justify the ways of God to men" (Milton, 1667, in "Paradise Lost" 1:26), but
let's first "Test everything" (1 Thes. 5:21), starting with impossible myths of sectarian
prehistory
Gerhold L. Lemke wrote: Let us assume that there might be a mere trace of
Carbon-14 in this or any Siberian mammoth or just the bones of these creatures. That's
what should concern you first of all, when doing "science." But the Bible is 100%
correct on Earth existing less than 10,000 years, so "created thus" is the only valid
answer. And the baby in question here wasn't dug out of the ground -- river water just
left it lying high and dry to be picked up. A great Ice Age after the Flood (ca. 2350-1650
BC) is another delusion of pseudoscience ruining credible Christian apologetic. How
much better to say that, when God created everything to look like a going concern, he
supplied the "evidence" for what would happen with Earth going through "past"
100,000-year cycles. God only never changes, so creation of any fossil forms with an
appearance of change through time would be appropriate (supplying a theological
answer for evolutionists). Our Creator/Savior knew before creation!
that he would lay down his life in a sin/death world, so why not created "death" in the
geology? NO death in creation of "age" would be a walk-by-sight proof of original
perfection; but God would have us "walk by faith" in his Word. Saying "God wouldn't do
that" ignores Isaiah 55:8, where God's thoughts & God's ways aren't our own. Yes, we
want to "justify the ways of God to men" (Milton, 1667, in "Paradise Lost" 1:26), but
let's first "Test everything" (1 Thes. 5:21), starting with impossible myths of sectarian
prehistory
| LSI stands for the Lutheran Science Institute, an organization of WELS and ELS Lutherans interested in science and health issues with a special emphasis on the creation and evolution controversy. This blog's purpose is to search the Internet to find articles of interest to Christians. Views expressed are those of the author (Warren Krug) and are not necessarily those of the Lutheran Science Institute, Inc. |
The walking catfish (picture from Wikimedia
Commons) began invading aquaculture
farms in Florida and feeding on fish stocks.
A native of southeastern Asia, it can
breathe air and make short migrations
across land. An army of walking catfish
can wipe out a farmer's stock of fish in a
short time.
Source: http://www.usefultrivia.com
Commons) began invading aquaculture
farms in Florida and feeding on fish stocks.
A native of southeastern Asia, it can
breathe air and make short migrations
across land. An army of walking catfish
can wipe out a farmer's stock of fish in a
short time.
Source: http://www.usefultrivia.com