Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Islamic creationists and walking efficiently - Lauren

I found two new articles this morning.
New York Times article about Islamic creationist:
Islamic Creationist and a Book Sent Round the World
This creationist does not try to claim that the earth is too young for evolution, rather, he claims that fossil evidence shows that old species are the same as modern ones, and therefore no evolution happened. He wrote a book explaining his creationist ideas. According to the article: "At 11 x 17 inches and 12 pounds, with a bright red cover and almost 800 glossy pages, most of them lavishly illustrated, “Atlas of Creation” is probably the largest and most beautiful creationist challenge yet to Darwin’s theory."

The author has mailed out many copies of the books to evolutionary biologists and French high schools and universities. He sent a copy to all the professors in Columbia University's medical school. What surprises people about the book is not the content but the fact that he must have spent millions of dollars on this enterprise, and he is giving the books away.

The second article was from the BBC:
Energy use 'drove human walking'

In a study, adult humans and adult chimps walked on treadmills, and the humans were more efficient walkers than chimps (with chimps on two legs or on four legs). Efficiency of walking is a possible reason for humans evolving to walk on two legs.

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