Photograph by David Young.

Spider courtesy of Alex Young.

The underside of the spider is displayed below the fold.

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When evolutionary biologists argue with creationists or advocates of Intelligent Design about the effectiveness of natural selection, the biologists often use the example of artificial selection. And almost invariably, the ID advocate or creationist tries for a “gotcha” by saying “but artificial selection is an example of intelligent design, and is nothing like natural selection!”

We’re going to go into why this is not a “gotcha” but is a mistaken analogy on their part.

Artificial selection is a very old practice, dating back to inadvertent selection when wild animals were domesticated, with the wildest ones being eaten or chased away, or they successfully escaped. With the start of agriculture, farmers often bred from their best animals (or plants). Charles Darwin paid close attention to the ways animals had been changed by breeding, both for food production or as pets. He was particularly attentive to the results of pigeon breeding. “Natural selection” was named in analogy to artificial selection.

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Astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore is an ardent supporter of Answers in Genesis. Captain Wilmore is stuck, possibly until next year, on the International Space Station (ISS) because of concerns with the safety of the Boeing Starliner capsule. Apparently, Ken Ham will get tons of publicity from support by astronaut Wilmore, who can be seen wearing an Ark Encounter T-shirt and hat in the photo. Captain Wilmore has also taken separate photos of two different Ark baseball caps on the ISS.

Mr. Ham is already hawking “as seen in space” merchandise promoting the Ark here. He writes:

These “as seen in space” items are available on our online store or at the attractions. It’s a fun way to promote the Ark and talk about a man who is bold in his witness for Jesus Christ and the truth of God’s Word from the very first verse, even while working as an astronaut with NASA.

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Photograph by James Kocher.

Photography Contest, Honorable Mention.

Fans of Dan Phelps may be interested in his lecture on Kentucky Fossils as part of the Frankfort (Kentucky) Heritage Lecture Series. You may see the lecture, which was delivered on August 27 and is about 90 min long, here.

According to the Lecture Series notes,

This presentation [was] an overview of the various types of fossils found in Kentucky, discussing specimens from the Late Ordovician (450 million years ago) to the Pleistocene (ending about 12,000 years ago). There will be numerous fossil specimens on display before and after the talk. The public is encouraged to bring in local fossils for identification.

Daniel J. Phelps is a native of Lexington and a retired environmental geologist with degrees from the University of Kentucky. Besides his environmental work, he has been employed as a petroleum and coal geologist. Additionally, Dan has taught part-time in Kentucky’s Community College system.

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