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High ResolutionThis teacher is putting the intellectual equivalent of a “kick me” sign on the back of this child.
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High ResolutionEarliest dinosaur to walk Earth believed discovered
(Photo: Natural History Museum, London / Mark Witton)
A wonky beast about the size of a Labrador retriever with a long neck and lengthy tail may be the world’s earliest known dinosaur, say researchers who analyzed fossilized bones discovered in Tanzania in the 1930s.
(via ikenbot)
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Here Is What Louisiana Schoolchildren Learn About Evolution
Fifth graders in some state-sponsored schools in Louisiana study both creationism and evolution as competing theories. “Fact or Theory?”
This from Slate.com:
Bobby Jindal is spending millions of dollars of state money to support the teaching of creationism in private schools.
The state of Louisiana has had a problem with evolution for a long, long time. In 1981, it passed a “Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act,” which required the teaching of creation science alongside “evolution-science” in public schools. The Supreme Court struck it down in 1987 (in Edwards v. Aguillard), finding that creationism is inherently religious, and that the law’s “preeminent religious purpose” placed it in violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Case closed? Not really.
When Jindal stepped into Republican politics in Louisiana, he had a choice to make. He could defend mainstream science, which sees evolution as the powerful, strongly supported, and widely tested theory that it is today. Or he could have joined the doubters and deniers that populate the electorate in his party. Campaigning for the governorship in 2007, Jindal touted his Christian faith, shied away from specific statements about evolution, and emphasized his commitment to local control of education. Louisianans didn’t have to wait long to find out what this meant for science.
(Source: BuzzFeed)
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Sauroposeidon (“earthquake god lizard”).
Its head could reach up to 56ft in height, and with a weight of around 50-60 tonnes and a length of around 112ft, Sauroposeidon was one of the largest land animals known to have ever lived. It was as tall as a six-story building. The fossils found date from the Upper Cretaceous (110 million years ago)- a time when the larger sauropods were losing both their size and numbers, making Sauroposeidon one of the last known giant dinosaurs on the American continent.(via abcstarstuff)
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Puke? Stomach acid? Liquid fire? FIRE?So I didn’t know that freaking dragons existed. Just look at them. Just look. They hide under a disguise of feathers and call themselves bearded vultures. But I see through their lies.
Whaaaaaaat.
Just a reminder:the natural diet of these birds is BONES. Not just bone marrow; actual bone shards. They pick up huge freaking bones from carcasses and drop them onto rocks until they get spiky pieces and then they swallow them. Their stomach acid dissolves bone. Also fact: when sufficiently threatened, they’ve been observed to deliberately puke on the threat.
what a GOOD BIRD
Birds are seriously the best thing ever.
You can clearly see their dinosaur heritage.
(via contemplatingstardust)
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High ResolutionAnd now, I’d like to have more children just so that I could do something as awesome as THIS! :D
(Enlarge)
(Source: skepticalavenger)
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High ResolutionDinosaurs may have been warm-blooded
Researchers found tree-like growth rings on the bones of mammals, a feature that until now was thought to be limited to cold-blooded creatures. -
Mesosaurus
When: Early Permian (~300 to 280 million years ago)
Where: Southern Africa and South America
What: Mesosaurus is one of the first secondarly aquatic tetrapods. It seems like almost as soon as tetrapods adapted to land, they were already moving back to the waters. Most Mesosaurus fossils have been found in costal depositions and are relatively small at only about ~1 foot (40 cm) long. The largest specimens, however, reach about 3 feet (~1 meter) long. It is possible that Mesosaurus had indeterminate growth, like most reptiles, and that the largest individuals were able to swim farther from the coast line, thus, they are not as well represented in the fossil record. Mesosaurus had what would become the fairly standard suite of adaptations for aquatic life in reptiles: its feet were webbed and becoming more like paddles, they had lost the ability to rotate at their wrists and ankles and thus were always held to the side, the tail was elongated and semi-flattened laterally, and the mouth was elongated and full of dozens of sharp teeth. It is possible that Mesosaurus was somewhat of a filter feeder, with its mouth closed these teeth would function like a sieve to allow it to filter water out and feed on the small fish and other animals trapped inside. As Mesosaurus has been predominately found in fresh water deposits in both South America and Africa, this is another fossil which heavily supported the concept of plate tectonics when the theory was just getting off the ground.
The phylogenetic position of Mesosaurus is uncertain. It could be the basal most ‘parareptile’, falling in a clade with Scutosaurus, or this group could be non monophyletic and it is outside of most of the rest of reptiles, OR it could be a basal sauropsid (modern reptiles). There has even been the suggestion that it is a synapsid, but this has not received much attention.
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Nest Full of Baby Dinosaurs Found: The fossils 15 juvenile Protoceratops in a nest were recently found in Mongolia, indicating that dinosaurs provided extended parental care, despite the fact that many of their babies would probably not survive (hence giving birth to such a large clutch). (via Discovery News)
(submission from veiledisis)
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Near perfect dinosaur fossil unearthed in Germany
Most of the time, if you’re lucky enough to find any dinosaur bones at all, it’s a piece here, a piece there, a fragment here, a fragment there and it’s up to a paleontologist to slowly and meticulously assemble the remains into something coherent. And then, if you’re impossibly lucky, you’ll find something like the above young theropod that’s 98% intact, including some hair (proto-feathers) and skin.
This was put there by God, please stop being stupid.
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High Resolutioncwnl:
“What we’re trying to do is take our chicken, modify it, and make a chickenosaurus.” - Jack Horner, reverse evolver of chickens/dinosaur-maker.
(via How to Hatch a Dinosaur - Wired Magazine, pic by Joe Pugliese)
That’s amazing, Jurassic Park beginnings ftw. Science fiction truly dues inspire or take on after science fact and vice versa.
(via ikenbot)
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Thinkingtheist, you’ve clearly never spent any time on my blog. Had you done so you would have learned that not only was I a Christian until I was in my 30s, I also attended a seminary and studied apologetics. When I say that I will not accept biblical, creationist, or apologetics sources, it’s because I’ve read almost everything those sources provide and instead of strengthening my faith, they helped to solidify my disbelief in God. As for not being able to get through to me, I’ve spent time on your blog, and none of your arguments have caused me to pause and reconsider my departure from Christianity. People far better versed in scripture, biblical history, and theology than you have tried their best to “save” me and failed.
I’m actually very open minded, I’m just selective about who or what I chose to spend my time on. I’m not going to address the rest of the things you’ve said about me, because I’m not into arguing with people in life or in tumblr. I will however re-issue, or re-word my challenge, since you were so offended before.
Evolution is not substantiated by evolution as you put it. Those of us who believe in evolution do not go around quoting On the Origin of Species as our gospel. Biology, genetics, chemistry, bio-chemistry, physics, paleontology, sociology, anthropology, and history are just a few of many independent disciplines that support evolution. Presenting me with a link to a Christian site does not even come close to supporting your claim. I want you to provide me undisputed, peer reviewed, universally accepted, non-biblical proof or evidence of periods when both men and dinosaurs were co-inhabitants of the earth. While I love science, I’m the first to admit that I’m not well versed on all scientific research and discoveries. I’m also really good about apologizing when someone points out that I’m wrong, and I’ll do so if you are able to provide me with the information I’m requesting.
There is nothing wrong with using your bible to support your faith. However, in order for you to make a convincing argument, your primary source cannot be the very book you are trying to support. Using the bible to support the bible is like writing a book report, and that’s not what I’m after. That kind of circular reasoning will not get you very far with me, or any other atheist, skeptic, agnostic, freethinker, or non-theist. ~ Kim
I’d love to read more about the scientific evidence that proves dinosaur lived alongside humans. Please don’t provide any biblical, creationist, or apologetics sources, because those will not be considered. ~ Kim
In the beginning, dinosaurs and creationist lived happily in the Garden of Eden.
Interesting you’d post something like this, there’s actually a lot of scientific evidence that dinosaurs lived alongside humans, but evolution says that dinosaurs came millions of years BEFORE humans, so… how you’d explain that I wouldn’t know.
uh yeah that is probably one of the most biased statements I have ever heard in my entire life. Your statement that “biblical, creationist, or apologetical sources will not be considered” summarizes so well why no one can get through to you. You have shut yourself up in this pen of secularism. Rather than bravely facing the evidence and arguments provided by Christian theists you cowardly say they “will not be considered.” Who now is the close-minded one, I ask?
And no, miss NonPlussed, I am not obliged to provide completely secular sources as support. I am free to provide evidence from sources on my side of the debate, in the same way as you appeal to talk-origins.com. I am sorry for my outburst, but you had to know that the sort of arrogance that you showed in your reply was extremely provocative. Saying that I cannot substantiate Christianity by using Christian sources is like me saying to you that you cannot substantiate evolution using sources from evolutionists. Who else is going to substantiate Christianity but Christians?
Even if I am deluded I am open to evidence from both parties. You on the other hand put yourself on this kind of pedestal and erect a sort of close-minded bastion around you into which you allow only secular material.
So here is your link. It is a Christian link, of course. I did not feel like looking for secular sources for you on this topic, to tell you the truth, but I did it anyways for the sake of the discussion. I did not find any, primarily because the existence of dinosaurs with humans is an area with important Creation-related implications. All the links I visited had something to do with God or Creation. And if you don’t want to read it just because it’s “religious,” then fine but that is an act of extreme pettiness and immaturity.
Wow. Ladies and gentleman, this is called “Projection”:
the tendency to ascribe to another person feelings, thoughts, or attitudes present in oneself, or to regard external reality as embodying such feelings, thoughts, etc., in some way.
Also, we have a major case of Begging the question/circular reasoning.
One cannot use the source of a claim to varify a claim. You cannot varify the acuracy of a story by reading the story. If a story book told of a place called Wagamaroo, but you’d never heard of such a place, wouldn’t you consult a map for proof instead of just citing the pages of the story where Wagamaroo is mentioned? Maybe several different maps? Or would you point to the story’s description of Wagamaroo and say “well, see? It says here that they have streets and houses in Wagamaroo, that is proof that it’s a real place!”? In other words, you can’t prove Hamlet existed just by citing Shakespeare.
ThinkingTheist has one single source to support their claim, and that is the source making the claim in the first place. When that source is barred from the debate, this thinker has nowhere else to turn. Nonplussed cites many independent sources from different COMPETING disciplines of science to support her claim of evolution. Barr biology from the debate, we’ll cite genetics, barr that, we’ll cite geology, barr that and we’ll cite chemistry, barr that and we’ll cite history, palentology, archeology, astronomy, physics ect. The competition factor is very important. Apologists for creationism work on proving each other RIGHT, Scientists work on proving each other WRONG. When scientists agree on something it’s because they have tried and failed to prove it wrong. I’d love to find a creationist who’s mission is to disprove any part Genesis.
Nonplussed refuses to consider one source of evidence out of many, many alternative sources and thinkingtheist refuses to consider ANY source other than the bible. And thinkingtheist claims that it is nonplussed who is close-minded and biased. This is the kind of irony I’m all about folks. It’s both comedic and tragic.
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One thing i don’t understand about some atheist, is that they think Christians don’t believe in dinosaurs, YES WE DO! God created them on day 6 when He created man. Genesis 1:25. There are a few times that dinosaurs are talked about in the Bible, but are referred to by different names. (This is because the word “Dinosaur” was not invented until the mid 1800’s)
Holy Fucking Christ.
The Fundie Freak Stupidity and Ignorance.
It Burns.
sadly she is not trolling.
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High ResolutionThe Oldest Bird Was Actually a Dinosaur
“It’s a stunning affirmation of evolution…and it’s sort of fitting that Archaeopteryx, the emblem of evolution since Darwin’s time, is still part of the story.”
I would also highly recommend to check out the following article:
As far as I’m concerned birds still are dinosaurs.
I posted this little guy before when it was the topic of the day on one of my sons favorite shows, Dinosaur Train on PBS. I loved that he was learning about transitional species at 2 years old!
Divine Irony
is a rich archive of religious delusions, scientific truths and political implications.
"Tell people there’s an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure."
-George Carlin
“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed”.
-Albert Einstein
