Todd's Blog

Just two weeks ago I recorded lesson 3 of "The Historical Adam" short course I'm doing for Core Academy, and I asserted that Neandertals did not make bone tools.  Now I'm going to have to shoot a little insert scene to explain this new paper from PNAS which seems to indicate that Neandertals did indeed have some bone tools. Soressi et al. report bone tools from a site prior to  Homo sapiens ' arrival in Europe.  These bone tools would be used to work leather, indicating that Neandertals were even more advanced than just having bone tools.  It's pretty impressive stuff. Soressi et al.  2013.   Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe .   PNAS  doi: 10.1073/pnas.1302730110. Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

One of my readers reminded me of the Wayback Machine at the Internet archive, and I thought, "Well, duh, why didn't I think of that?"  So I'm pleased to present that missing article on natural selection, which remains online thanks to the Internet Archive: Natural Selection - Theory or Reality?  by Todd C. Wood from  Answers  magazine It's not a masterpiece by any means, but I think it's a good introduction to natural selection and creationist responses. Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

Natural selection is a source of disagreement among creationists.  Some think it exists and works to explain speciation within created kinds.  Others think it exists but only acts as a fine-tuning mechanism to keep populations from going extinct.  Others think natural selection is entirely bogus.  I think that the selection deniers have a much harder argument to make than either of the other two positions. Apparently, so does ICR's Nathaniel Jeanson.  In a paper published last week in Answers Research Journal , Jeanson evaluates a prominent denial of natural selection ... originally authored by ICR's Randy Guliuzza and published in Acts & Facts .  Some of you might recall the series of articles in question, where Guliuzza basically denied the existence of natural selection.  For myself, I found his claims unconvincing (and uninformed), and I was glad to see someone other than me trying to set the record straight.  Honestly though, I never, ever expected that correction to

Well, I guess I owe you a report on the ICC, and that's pretty much how I feel about it.  If you've never been before, ICC is an exhausting conference.  It's a four-day affair (five if you count the opening session on Sunday night), but each day has only four talks plus an evening plenary.  Each talk lasts one hour and forty-five minutes.  There are three tracks of talks going on simultaneously, but the tracks are not thematic.  There's just track A, B, and C, not a geology track or a biology track.  The speakers all get one hour to speak, then the microphone is opened to the crowd to ask questions for forty-five minutes. On Monday, my morning was entirely consumed with Core Academy talks.  I spoke on mitochondrial DNA at 8:00, and that was my best attended lecture of the entire conference.  Roger Sanders spoke on flower kinds at 10 am, and then it was time for lunch.  At 1:15 it was me again on Avialae (since neither of my co-authors could make it), and then I attend

Abstracts for Origins 2013 are now available from the Journal of Creation Theology and Science : Creation Biology Society 2013 abstracts Creation Geology Society 2013 abstracts Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

I'm here in Pittsburgh for Origins 2013 and the International Conference on Creationism. Yesterday was Origins 2013, and I thought it went really well.  The rest of the week is ICC.  I'll be posting thoughts as the week progresses, and you can follow more immediate updates at the Core Academy facebook page . Today, I'll be presenting on mitochondrial DNA at 8 am in Room B and on theropods and birds at 1:15 in Room C.  My Core Academy colleague Roger Sanders will present on angiosperm fossils at 10 am in Room B. I'll probably post again either this evening or tomorrow morning on my thoughts from the first day. Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.