In August, 354 creation scientists and supporters from nine different countries attended the 2013 International Conference on Creationism (ICC) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dozens of authors presented their peer-reviewed papers—nearly all of them technical in nature. Well represented at this year’s ICC, the Institute for Creation Research sent its entire science staff, several of whom presented a number of papers, which are also available for online viewing at www.icr.org.

Geologist Tim Clarey discussed gravity-driven “overthrusts,” showing that these geological features (in which older strata are found on top of younger strata) are exceptionally difficult to explain in an old-earth framework. However, they do fit the catastrophic, gravity-driven events that occurred during the Genesis Flood.¹ Dr. Clarey was also the lead author on another paper discussing catastrophic earth movements.²

Geneticist Jeffrey Tomkins co-authored a paper that described how a reassessment of evolutionary literature, including previously published data, reveals a huge gap in DNA similarity between the human and chimpanzee genomes.³ The oft-touted figure of 98 percent DNA similarity was shown to be based on “cherry-picking” only the highly similar data and ignoring the many dissimilar regions between the two genomes.⁴ Dr. Tomkins also presented his own independent systematic chromosomal comparison results of the chimp and human genomes, indicating an average DNA similarity of only about 70 percent overall.⁵

Biologist and science writer Brian Thomas presented the phenomenon of original tissue fossils, including the Tyrannosaurus rex soft tissue discovered by paleontologist Mary Schweitzer and dozens of similar finds.⁶ The existence of such original tissue fossils is an enormous challenge for those who believe in an old earth, as biochemical decay rates are much too fast for fragile soft tissue to have survived for tens of millions of years.⁷

In addition to technical papers, ICC speakers shared informative talks during the evening sessions, and a lively panel also discussed meteorites within a biblical framework.

Russell Humphreys (Ph.D., physics), John Baumgardner (Ph.D., geophysics), and Steve Austin (Ph.D., geology) received the Byron C. Nelson Award for their significant contributions to creation science. Ken Ham, founder and president of Answers in Genesis, was honored with the Luther D. Sunderland Award for his contributions to the cause of biblical creation.

Those unable to attend the 2013 ICC in person can access recordings of the five informative evening sessions, which are currently available for online viewing until the end of December at www.creationicc.org. In addition, ICC attendees may view online recordings of the technical presentations and conference proceedings; proceedings from most of the earlier years may be purchased from the ICC website.

Many thanks to the Creation Research Foundation; Reid Moon, ICC Executive Committee Chairman; Mark Horstemeyer, ICC Editor; the technical referees; and all the other hard-working volunteers who helped to make this ICC a success!

References

1. Clarey, T. L. 2013. South Fork and Heart Mountain Faults: Examples of Catastrophic, Gravity-driven “Overthrusts,” Northwest Wyoming, USA. In Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Creationism. M. Horstemeyer, ed. Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship.
2. Clarey, T. L. et al. 2013. Superfaults and Pseudotachylytes: Evidence of Catastrophic Earth Movements. In Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Creationism. M. Horstemeyer, ed. Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship.
3. Bergman, J. and J. Tomkins. 2013. The Chasm Between the Human and Chimpanzee Genomes: A Review of the Evolutionary Literature. In Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Creationism. M. Horstemeyer, ed. Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship.
4. Tomkins, J. 2013. New Research Evaluating Similarities Between Human and Chimpanzee DNA. In Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Creationism. M. Horstemeyer, ed. Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship.
5. Tomkins, J. 2013. Comprehensive Analysis of Chimpanzee and Human Chromosomes Reveals Average DNA Similarity of 70%. Answers Research Journal. 6 (1): 63-69.
6. Thomas, B. 2013. A Review of Original Tissue Fossils and Their Age Implications. In Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Creationism. M. Horstemeyer, ed. Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship.
7. Thomas, B. 2009. Dinosaur Soft Tissue Is Here to Stay. Acts & Facts. 38 (9): 18.

* Dr. Hebert is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.