Bits and Pieces from the Earth Sciences

Truth from an evolutionist?

                                                          Science via AP
                        From www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7285683/

Unfossilized soft tissue from bone of Tyrannasaurus rex

A: The arrow points to a tissue fragment that is still elastic. How could elastic tissue like this have lasted for 65 million years?

B: Another instance of “fresh appearance”.

C: Regions of bone showing where the fibrous structure is still present, compared to most fossil bones, which lack this structure.

This past January North Carolina State University held a dedication for a new wing of the Earth Sciences building, which, naturally, houses the geology department. Being an alumnus of the geology program (1975) I received an invitation to attend. When I saw that one of the featured speakers was to be Dr. Mary Schweitzer, the discoverer of red blood cells and soft collagen (a protein found in most tissues of living organisms) in a fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex bone, I could not miss it.

The event was “standing room only” as Dr. Schweitzer is somewhat of a celebrity in the world of paleontology. Her mentor was Dr. ‘Dinosaur Jack’ Horner who was the pattern for the main character in “Jurassic Park.” How cool is that? We all listened respectfully to the first speaker from the forestry department as he presented information about his work with a global effort to develop and maintain a seed bank for trees that are endangered and to start plantations in other parts of the world to re-introduce biodiversity. But it was not difficult to see that Dr. Schweitzer was the main event on the card.