In Europe, gas mileage is expressed in liters per 100 km. Growing up with miles per gallon (mpg), this was a double assault on my abilities to convert units, and it never made sense to me. RealClimate has a post on the case for going to the same concept in the United States: The mpg …
Denver geologic map
The US Geological Survey has published the Geologic Map of the Denver West 30' x 60' Quadrangle, North-Central Colorado. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a good geologic map can be worth a thousand pictures. The geological story told by this map portrays 1.79 billion years of sedimentation, igneous activity, metamorphism, deformation, …
Just when I said something nice about PETA…
Last week I said something nice about PETA: Sometimes PETA is right. But now they're back to wackiness, as reported in Yahoo news:Mama's milk ice cream cone, anyone? The PETA proposal came in a letter to the makers of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, suggesting that they use human milk, rather than cow's milk, in …
Continue reading Just when I said something nice about PETA…
Christianity — protection against superstition and the paranormal
Atheists, and other opponents of the truthfulness of Christianity, often equate Christianity with superstition. A quote from "Look Who's Irrational Now" by Mollie Ziegler Hemingway in the Wall Street Journal: The reality is that the New Atheist campaign, by discouraging religion, won't create a new group of intelligent, skeptical, enlightened beings. Far from it: It …
Continue reading Christianity — protection against superstition and the paranormal
Batty Arguments
This item was originally posted in September 2007. I have added it to my blog recycling program. Because I have new readers of The GeoChristian, I will occasionally go back and re-use some of my favorite blog entries. One way for me to have my faith strengthened is to get in discussions with skeptics. They …
And the newest official dwarf planet is…
Now there are eight planets, and five dwarf planets. Pluto, Ceres, Eris, and Makemake have been joined by Haumea (how-MAY-ah, like "how may ah help you?"). From LiveScience: Dwarf Planet Named for Hawaiian Goddess. Some day soon, the number of dwarf planets could number in the dozens. May I suggest names that are easier to …
Ike damage
NASA Earth Observatory has some pictures of damage done by Hurricane Ike: The writeup explains the value of images taken from an airplane, as compared to the value of satellite shots: The photos were taken to help communities respond to the disaster. Aerial photography is valuable because it provides a highly detailed view of damage …
Futurology
I always find books and articles about the future to be fascinating. Here are some quotes from Futurologist Richard Watson's 2050 vision: goodbye Belgium, hello brain transplants in the Telegraph. [T]he environment will remain vitally important, but climate change won't be the only game in town - the approach of peak oil, peak coal, peak …
Rare Earth?
Many Christians, including myself, find the arguments expressed in the 2003 book Rare Earth to be a powerful statement of the uniqueness of the Earth in the universe. The thesis of the book, written by two respected University of Washington scientists (Ward, a geologist, and Brownlee, an astronomer) is that the conditions present on the …
A model for youth ministry
I was once a guest missionary at a missions conference at a midwest church. A friend of mine was also a guest missionary at this conference, and he had the privilege of speaking before the youth Sunday school. For the first five or so minutes of class, the youth pastor/leader talked about all the fun …
Ike flooding from space
Satellite imagery can often be used for a fast and accurate assessment of conditions on the surface of Earth, as can be seen in these images of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coast before and after Hurricane Ike. The extent of flooding is clearly evident. The images are the NASA Earth Observatory site. Grace and …
Sometimes PETA is right
I'm not a big fan of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), as I've noted before. It is certainly wrong to abuse animals, but at times PETA puts animals before humans. When one counts cockroaches on a movie set to make sure none of them got hurt, something is wrong. But the core …
Evolution/Religion stories in the news
Some news stories in the past week that have to do with religion and evolution: Vatican official, professor dismayed by Christian groups that reject evolution A professor at a Vatican-sponsored university expressed dismay Tuesday that some Christian groups reject the theory of evolution — implicitly criticizing the literal interpretation of the Bible. Church Owes Darwin …
Bear vs. bike
Montana man rides bike into bear, and lives to tell about it. From the Missoulian. Grace and Peace
Atheism on Issues Etc.
Issues Etc. is one of the best programs on Christian radio. Host Todd Wilken has done three segments on atheism in the past couple weeks that are excellent: 9/3/08 - Dinesh D'Souza on Responding to Atheists 9/11/08 - Dr. Albert Mohler on the New Atheists 9/15/08 - Dr. Doug Groothuis on Christopher Hitchens' Book, "God …
Lascaux cave paintings threatened
Paleolithic paintings in Lascaux Cave, France, are threatened by mold. These are among the oldest works of art in existence, dated at around 16,000 years old. This is reported in an article from Radio Netherlands Worldwide. HT: Geology News Image: Wikipedia - Lascaux Grace and Peace
Video — How a Surge Swamps Galveston
Click here for an animation of a 20-foot storm surge covering Galveston, Texas. This could happen in reality tonight. This is why the National Hurricane Center warns that those who stay put on Galveston Island face "certain death."
Barrier islands and hurricanes
LiveScience.com has a timely article: Ike Underscores Foolishness of Building on Barrier Islands. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, many (including me) questioned the wisdom of having a city in a sinking swamp along a river that would rather run in a different channel. I'm not saying I'm in favor of abandoning New Orleans now …
Hurricane Ike — headed for Galveston & Houston
The deadliest natural disaster in US history was the Galveston hurricane of 1900 (they didn't name hurricanes back then). The storm surge from this category 4 hurricane washed over much of Galveston Island, killing 6,000 to 12,000 people. Galveston is now protected by a seawall, and much of the city has been raised to a …
Continue reading Hurricane Ike — headed for Galveston & Houston
The Bible Rocks — endorsements
I received my copy of The Bible, Rocks, and Time yesterday (I thought I wouldn't get it until October!). Here are some of the endorsements from inside the front cover: What an enjoyable tour of the history of geology, the interaction between geological study and biblical exegesis, and the current field of geology itself! Professors …
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