Why do people deny evolution?

Having knowledge of how something works does not entail technical ability to manipulate the process.

We know how hurricanes work, but we still can't do anything about it.

My work I done here!

I don't see how continued interaction with the likes of Herald or Quahog will help either of them gain any skills n either debate or science.

I have those guys on ignore. I just look in when I see that you or somebody else that I respect has posted.

Que went into a bold, all-caps hissy fit one too many times, so I put him on Ignore. I think gunga did, too. I'm pretty sure he's on Ignore for me, anyway. Harold, at least, is reasonably concise with his jibberish and doesn't yell so much.

As for evolution, it's pretty much a non-issue over here, as far as I can tell. Never even heard a public debate about it. I haven't seen or heard much about any Korean anti-evolution groups - well funded or otherwise - over here, either, even among the religious crowd. Since the Miracle on the Han, early science education became the norm and even university freshmen are scientifically literate compared to, well, you-know-who.

Giant groundhog-like creature: Newly discovered fossil is a clue to early mammalian evolution
Date:
November 5, 2014
Source:
Stony Brook University
Summary:
A newly discovered 66–70 million-year-old groundhog-like creature, massive in size compared to other mammals of its era, provides new and important insights into early mammalian evolution.

A newly discovered 66-70 million-year-old groundhog-like creature, massive in size compared to other mammals of its era, provides new and important insights into early mammalian evolution. Stony Brook University paleontologist David Krause, PhD, led the research team that unexpectedly discovered a nearly complete cranium of the mammal, which lived alongside Late Cretaceous dinosaurs in Madagascar. The findings, which shake up current views on the mammalian evolutionary tree, will be published in the journal Nature on November 5.

...

"The discovery of Vintana will likely stir up the pot," added Krause. "Including it in our analyses reshapes some major branches of the 'family tree' of early mammals, grouping gondwanatherians with other taxa that have been very difficult to place in the past." The skull is huge, measuring almost five inches long, twice the size of the previously largest known mammalian skull from the entire Age of Dinosaurs of the southern supercontinent of Gondwana. At a time when the vast majority of mammals were shrew- or mouse-sized, living in the shadows of dinosaurs, Vintana was a super heavyweight, estimated to have had a body mass of about 20 pounds, twice or even three times the size of an adult groundhog. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that the cranium of Vintana has a peculiar shape, being very deep, with huge eye-sockets, and long, scimitar-shaped flanges for the attachment of massive chewing muscles.
...

they call this logical thinking??????????????

Very strange arguments indeed!


And stil NO EVIDENCE

Radiocarbon Dating: An Introduction
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Willard Libby developed radiocarbon dating as a method to measure radioactivity.
Carbon-14 is a weakly radioactive isotope of Carbon; also known as radiocarbon, it is an isotopic chronometer.
Radiocarbon dating is only applicable to organic and some inorganic materials (not applicable to metals).
Gas proportional counting, liquid scintillation counting, and accelerator mass spectrometry are the three principal radiocarbon dating methods.
Radiocarbon dating labs use Oxalic Acid I and Oxalic Acid II as modern standards.
Radiocarbon measurements are reported as Conventional Radiocarbon Age.
The impact of the radiocarbon dating technique on modern man has made it one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century. No other scientific method has managed to revolutionize man’s understanding not only of his present but also of events that already happened thousands of years ago.

Archaeology and other human sciences use radiocarbon dating to prove or disprove theories. Over the years, carbon 14 dating has also found applications in geology, hydrology, geophysics, atmospheric science, oceanography, paleoclimatology, and even biomedicine.

Radiocarbon Dating Pioneer

American physical chemist Willard Libby led a team of scientists in the post World War II era to develop a method that measures radiocarbon activity. He is credited to be the first scientist to suggest that the unstable carbon isotope called radiocarbon or carbon 14 might exist in living matter.

Mr. Libby and his team of scientists were able to publish a paper summarizing the first detection of radiocarbon in an organic sample. It was also Mr. Libby who first measured radiocarbon’s rate of decay and established 5568 years ± 30 years as the half-life.

In 1960, Mr. Libby was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in recognition of his efforts to develop radiocarbon dating.

Basic Principles of Carbon Dating

radiocarbon datingRadiocarbon, or carbon 14, is an isotope of the element carbon that is unstable and weakly radioactive. The stable isotopes are carbon 12 and carbon 13.

Carbon 14 is continually being formed in the upper atmosphere by the effect of cosmic ray neutrons on nitrogen 14 atoms. It is rapidly oxidized in air to form carbon dioxide and enters the global carbon cycle.

Plants and animals assimilate carbon 14 from carbon dioxide throughout their lifetimes. When they die, they stop exchanging carbon with the biosphere and their carbon 14 content then starts to decrease at a rate determined by the law of radioactive decay.

Radiocarbon dating is essentially a method designed to measure residual radioactivity. By knowing how much carbon 14 is left in a sample, the age of the organism when it died can be known. It must be noted though that radiocarbon dating results indicate when the organism was alive but not when a material from that organism was used.

Radiocarbon Datable Materials

Not all materials can be radiocarbon dated. Most, if not all, organic compounds can be dated. Some inorganic matter, like a shell’s aragonite component, can also be dated as long as the mineral's formation involved assimilation of carbon 14 in equilibrium with the atmosphere.

Samples that have been radiocarbon dated since the inception of the method include charcoal, wood, twigs, seeds, bones, shells, leather, peat, lake mud, soil, hair, pottery, pollen, wall paintings, corals, blood residues, fabrics, paper or parchment, resins, and water, among others.

Physical and chemical pretreatments are done on these materials to remove possible contaminants before they are analyzed for their radiocarbon content.

Principal Methods of Measuring Radiocarbon

radiocarbon datingThere are three principal techniques used to measure carbon 14 content of any given sample— gas proportional counting, liquid scintillation counting, and accelerator mass spectrometry.

Gas proportional counting is a conventional radiometric dating technique that counts the beta particles emitted by a given sample. Beta particles are products of radiocarbon decay. In this method, the carbon sample is first converted to carbon dioxide gas before measurement in gas proportional counters takes place.

Liquid scintillation counting is another radiocarbon dating technique that was popular in the 1960s. In this method, the sample is in liquid form and a scintillator is added. This scintillator produces a flash of light when it interacts with a beta particle. A vial with a sample is passed between two photomultipliers, and only when both devices register the flash of light that a count is made.

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a modern radiocarbon dating method that is considered to be the more efficient way to measure radiocarbon content of a sample. In this method, the carbon 14 content is directly measured relative to the carbon 12 and carbon 13 present. The method does not count beta particles but the number of carbon atoms present in the sample and the proportion of the isotopes.

Radiocarbon Dating Standards

The radiocarbon age of a certain sample of unknown age can be determined by measuring its carbon 14 content and comparing the result to the carbon 14 activity in modern and background samples.

The principal modern standard used by radiocarbon dating labs was the Oxalic Acid I obtained from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland. This oxalic acid came from sugar beets in 1955. Around 95% of the radiocarbon activity of Oxalic Acid I is equal to the measured radiocarbon activity of the absolute radiocarbon standard—a wood in 1890 unaffected by fossil fuel effects.

When the stocks of Oxalic Acid I were almost fully consumed, another standard was made from a crop of 1977 French beet molasses. The new standard, Oxalic Acid II, was proven to have only a slight difference with Oxalic Acid I in terms of radiocarbon content. Over the years, other secondary radiocarbon standards have been made.

Radiocarbon activity of materials in the background is also determined to remove its contribution from results obtained during a sample analysis. Background radiocarbon activity is measured, and the values obtained are deducted from the sample’s radiocarbon dating results. Background samples analyzed are usually geological in origin of infinite age such as coal, lignite, and limestone.

Radiocarbon Dating Measurements

A radiocarbon measurement is termed a conventional radiocarbon age (CRA). The CRA conventions include (a) usage of the Libby half-life, (b) usage of Oxalic Acid I or II or any appropriate secondary standard as the modern radiocarbon standard, (c) correction for sample isotopic fractionation to a normalized or base value of -25.0 per mille relative to the ratio of carbon 12/carbon 13 in the carbonate standard VPDB - Cretaceous belemnite formation at Peedee in South Carolina, (d) zero BP (Before Present) is defined as AD 1950, and (e) the assumption that global radiocarbon levels are constant.

Standard errors are also reported in a radiocarbon dating result, hence the “±” values. These values have been derived through statistical means.

Dinosaurs to birds[edit]Further information: Origin of birds
Further information: Evolution of birds
The Dinosaurs → birds Evolutionary Series
Appearance Taxa Relationships Status Description Image
152-151 Ma Genus:

Juravenator
Primitive traits
Undifferentiated hind digits displaying no specialties for climbing
Spine attaches to the back end of the skull rather than the base
Moderately long, bony tail
Derived traits

Basic proto-feathers cover parts of the body for insulation

168-152 Ma Genus:

Pedopenna
The find is represented only by a hind leg, but one that is very bird-like. It belonged to a small maniraptoran dinosaur with long, pennaceous feathers on its hind legs and (in all likelihood) arms.
161-151 Ma Genus:

Anchiornis
Basal troodontid Although once classified as a bird, Anchiornis is now considered a basal troodontid which bears pennaceous, symmetrical feathers on all four limbs. Primitive traits
Wings symmetrical and rounded, probably not used for flight but instead insulation, mating displays, and gliding
Long legs overall morphology similar to that of other troodontids
Spine attaches to the back end of the skull rather than the base
Moderately long, bony tail
Derived traits

Flexible wrists which are more similar to aves than other theropods
Like birds and unlike troodontids, Anchiornis had arms nearly the same length as the hind legs
Bore primary and secondary pennaceous symmetrical wings on both arms, legs, toes, and wrist

150–145 Ma Genus:

Archaeopteryx
Known for its mosaic of avian and theropod characteristics Archaeopteryx is both the first primitive bird in the fossil record and one of the first transitional fossils discovered. Traditionally seen as the first proper bird, though it is not directly ancestral to modern birds.[39] An excellent intermediate form between dinosaurs and birds. Capable of gliding, but lacking alula and keel, it could likely not sustain powered flight. Primitive traits
Slower dinosaur-like growth rate
No keel
Spine attaches to the back end of the skull rather than the base
Forelimbs have three unfused, clawed fingers, no alula
Maxilla and premaxilla bore unserrated teeth
Moderately long, bony tail
Derived traits

Fully developed asymmetrical flight feathers
Fused furcula from two joined clavicles
Backward and elongated pubis similar to maniraptors, but not found in more primitive theropods

120 Ma Genus:

Confuciusornis
Found in the famous Liaoning province Confuciusornis is the first primitive bird with a pygostyle. With its short tail and toothless beak, Confuciusornis is very modern looking compared to Archaeopteryx. The toothless beak is however a case of convergent evolution, as more advanced birds retained teeth, illustration the sometimes confusing mosaic evolution of the dinosaur-bird transition. Primitive traits
Retained unfused clawed digits, no alula
Sideways-facing glenoid joint
Derived traits

Short tail with fused vertebrae at the end (pygostyle)
Larger sternum with a low primitive keel
Unlike other early birds Confuciusornis had a toothless beak

115 Ma Genus:

Eoalulavis
Primitive bird and possibly a descendant of "urvogels" like Archaeopteryx. First bird to possess an alula. Plesiomophic traits
Two unfused, functional digits remain on second and third digit
Derived traits

First digit bearing an alula rather than claw

93.5-75 Ma Genus:

Ichthyornis
Considered a close relative to the ancestor to modern birds A flying bird found in several epochs in the late Cretaceous which still bore teeth, but in most respects very similar to Neornithes. Primitive traits
Numerous sharp teeth in much of the beak
Derived traits

Fused bones (metacarpals) II & III of the hand
Rigid ribcage with a well-developed carina
No functional claws on the hand
Short childhood with distinct adult stage.[40]


Bird evolution[edit] This documentation needs attention from an expert in Birds. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the documentation. WikiProject Birds (or its Portal) may be able to help recruit an expert. (May 2010)

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
The Bird Evolutionary Series
Appearance Taxa Relationships Status Description Image
60-58 Ma Genus:

Waimanu
The earliest-known Penguin.

??? Ma Genus:

Elornis
An early flamingo.
??? Ma Genus:

Colymboides
An early gaviiform.
55-48 Ma Genus:

Mopsitta
An early psittacine.
??? Ma Genus:

Masillaraptor
A basal falconiform.
50 Ma Genus:

Primapus

You call what you are doing "logical thinking", quahog?

You're intellectually dishonest and a liar.

We have repeatedly provided evidence, which you have not.