In 1990, an abnormal protrusion from a cliff side in Montana led to the chance discovery of a remarkable Tyrannosaurus Rex. The find, in itself, was amazing. Although it was mostly fossilized, a good portion of this specimen remained as authentic "fresh" dinosaur bones! It was a dinosaur hunter's dream as they quickly worked to excavate the specimen from the site for further analysis and preservation.
The excavation of the site was difficult, but the team found it worth it. Unfortunately, in order to transport the specimen, they had to saw a leg bone in two in order to get it out of the site in any sort of condition at all. At the end of the project, the stunning Tyrannosaurus Rex remains would land at Montana State University under the care of the paleontologist, Dr. Mary Schweitzer. While in the lab, a mistake was made and the rest is history.
A portion of the bone was accidentally dipped in an acid bath. This is not something that is typically done with dinosaur bones because it is assumed nothing worthwhile could be discovered by doing so. It is assumed hat the bones are so old that any sort of biological information that could be gathered from the bones would be long gone. But that was not the case. Blood vessels were discovered inside of the bone as a result of the blunder. What was more, stretchy tissue, from inside the dinosaurs bone, was also uncovered.
You would think that this discovery would be pure joy for the person who made the discovery, but the find was a mixture of emotions. It was, in part, an occasion for celebration. Nobody had discovered soft tissue within dinosaur bones before. On the other hand, releasing the news would be followed by immediate scrutiny. Dr. Mary Schweitzer, as a result, hesitated to release her findings.
You see, Mary Schweitzer is a Christian. No, she's not a young earth creationist, but she was well aware of what her findings could suggest. In fact, she was not so concerned about what they could suggest, but what the mainstream scientific community might think of her, if she revealed her findings to the world. They would think she only believed the world was no more than 10,000 years old.
Instead of embracing this stigma, she went back to the lab to confirm her findings. They ran several more tests to determine if what they found truly were blood vessels and soft tissue. Several alternative theories were developed, but in the end the conclusion was obvious. She had discovered blood vessels and soft tissue in dinosaur bones that she thought were 65 million years old.
Mainstream logic said this was impossible. When she revealed her findings to the world, she was met with scrutiny and accusations that she had some sort of crazy, young earth agenda. She had nothing of the sort. She still maintained that she rejected the young earth model of creation and proposed that the scientific community needed to develop a new theory to explain how such fresh samples of red blood cells and soft tissue could be preserved for, what was assumed to be, tens of millions of years. Because of her adamant denial of being a young earth creationist and the new explanations for the preservation of the organic material within specimen, Mary Schweitzer's reputation was allowed to maintain good standing with the scientific community.
Since this find, it has been discovered that other dinosaur bones retained organic material that should have been long gone according to conventional wisdom.
Creationist groups have approached Mary Schweitzer's boss, world renowned paleontologist Jack Horner, to ask for a carbon 14 test on the bone. Horner refused, even after being offered up to $20,000 to cover any inconvenient expenses. Horner's response was very telling. He refuses to allow testing because of the "spin" creationists might put on the results. What spin could he possibly be referring to?
If science is an unbiased pursuit of truth, why was Mary Schweitzer the least bit afraid of what her findings might suggest? Why would Dr. Jack Horner refuse a $20,000 donation to carbon date a dinosaur bone? Why does the mainstream scientific community maintain the belief that T. Rex bones are over 65 million years old? Why should such findings paralyze the scientist from seeking the truth?
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