Latest news with #NoahsArk
South China Morning Post
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Is the Bible true? US attractions like huge Noah's Ark replica argue that it all is
With a colossal replica of the biblical Noah's Ark rising incongruously from the countryside of America's Kentucky state behind him, Ken Ham gives a presentation he has often repeated. Advertisement The ark – the main feature at the Ark Encounter theme park – stretches 155 metres (510 feet), making it 'the biggest freestanding timber-frame structure in the world', Ham says. It holds three massive decks with wooden cages, food-storage urns, life-size animal models and other exhibits. It is all designed to argue that the biblical story was literally true – that an ancient Noah really could have built such a sophisticated ship, and that he and a handful of family members really could have sustained thousands of animals for months, floating above a global flood that drowned everyone else in the wicked world. 'That's what we wanted to do through many of the exhibits, to show the feasibility of the ark,' says Ham, the organiser behind Ark Encounter and its related attractions. Ken Ham poses with an animal model at the Ark Encounter. Photo: AP With that, Ham furthers his goal to assert the entire biblical Book of Genesis should be interpreted as written – that humans were created by God's fiat on the sixth day of creation on an Earth that is now only 6,000 years old. Advertisement All this defies the overwhelming consensus of modern scientists – that the Earth developed over billions of years in 'deep time' and that humans and other living things evolved over millions of years from earlier species.
Fox News
26-05-2025
- Science
- Fox News
Researchers find 'compelling evidence' of possible Noah's Ark remains in one country
A group of international researchers say they're getting closer and closer to identifying the possible remains of Noah's Ark – and new test results are promising. The focus of the research, the Durupinar site in eastern Turkey, was first identified in the 1950s. For decades, it's been speculated that the boat-shaped site once harbored Noah's Ark, but no definitive proof has emerged. Now, an organization called Noah's Ark Scans believes that recent soil samples point toward the site once housing "ancient wood." (See the video at the top of this article.) Researchers collected soil samples from the site last September and analyzed them through this winter. The results "show significantly higher levels of organic matter and potassium compared to surrounding areas," according to a recent statement from the organization. "[The results] provide compelling evidence of a unique, potentially man-made structure beneath the surface, distinct from the surrounding mudflow," Noah's Ark Scans said. "These findings suggest the presence of decayed wood or other organic materials, consistent with a large, ancient structure preserved within the mudflow," the statement added. Lead archaeological researcher Andrew Jones told Fox News Digital that researchers are registering 2.72 times more carbon inside the "boat-shaped object" compared to its immediate outside location. "The soil composition is markedly different from the natural mudflow, indicating something extraordinary at this site." "The rotting ancient wood inside the boat-shaped area is likely creating a localized soil microenvironment by lowering pH … increasing organic matter [and] elevating potassium," he said. "Rotting wood directly contributes to soil organic matter," he added. "As wood decomposes, it breaks down into humus, a stable form of organic matter rich in carbon. This increases the organic matter content in the soil where the wood is located." In a statement, soil scientist William Crabtree said the results indicate "something extraordinary." "The soil composition is markedly different from the natural mudflow, indicating something extraordinary at this site," Crabtree stated. But not all proof of the hypothesis is scientific. The 515-foot-long formation "aligns exactly with the biblical dimensions of Noah's Ark," according to Noah's Ark Scans. "Unlike the surrounding volcanic mudflow, the site's unique soil and subsurface anomalies set it apart," the project noted. The research builds on previous 3-D ground penetrating radar scans from 2019 that "struck subsurface features," and found anomalies. "The scans show a 234-foot central corridor and angular structures – potentially rooms or corridors – extending up to 20 feet deep," the project noted in a statement. "These right-angled formations, uncommon in natural geological processes, suggest intentional design. " Jones said the "presence of hallways and room-like structures points to a man-made origin for the boat shape." "The re-analysis confirms what we suspected: These are not random shapes in the mudflow," Jones said. Though no excavations are planned this year, Jones told Fox News Digital the analysis of the site will continue, with additional geophysical surveys and possible core drilling slated for next year. "We are focused on more non-destructive techniques to understand what's below the ground and more soil analysis as well," Jones said. The expert added, "Our plan is to do a much larger soil test and take deeper samples from the ground." Fox News Digital's Kyle Schmidbauer contributed reporting.
Malay Mail
22-05-2025
- Malay Mail
Cartel turf war forces evacuation of some 700 exotic animals in Mexico's ‘Noah's Ark' rescue
CULIACÁN (Mexico), May 23 — Hundreds of animals including elephants, crocodiles, lions and tigers have been moved from a violence-torn Mexican cartel heartland to a new home in an operation described as a '21st-century Noah's Ark.' The transported species, which also included exotic birds, had been housed at the Ostok animal refuge near Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state, home to one of the country's most powerful drug gangs. The animal sanctuary's administrators told reporters yesterday that for months they had received threats, with a truck and equipment stolen. A tiger is pictured as it is relocated to a ranch on the coast from Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico May 20, 2025. — AFP pic 'We are leaving because we run the risk of something happening to me and my team,' said Ernesto Zazueta, the director of the refuge. In total, about 700 animals were moved by road to a ranch on the coast. 'This caravan of animals is a kind of 21st-century Noah's Ark. But this time, the animals aren't fleeing a flood, but rather insecurity, fear, and anxiety,' Zazueta said. Since September, Culiacán has been the epicentre of a bloody war between factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel that has left more than 1,200 people dead and 1,400 missing, according to official figures. The cartel is one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups designated terrorist organisations by the US. A truck is pictured on the road as it transports an elephant to be relocated to a ranch on the coast from Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico May 20, 2025. — AFP pic Ailing health Regular roadblocks and armed clashes in the region made it difficult for the sanctuary's workers to keep the captive wildlife fed, another reason to relocate them. 'The animals' health began to suffer,' Zazueta said, adding that at least a tonne of beef and chicken was needed every three days to feed the animals. Workers sedated the most dangerous of them, including lions and tigers, so they could be placed in cages for the 220-kilometre road trip. Two large containers and a huge crane were needed to load the elephants onto trailers. The final destination is a site called 'Bioparque El Encanto,' located in the seaside resort town of Mazatlán on Sinaloa's Pacific coast and owned by a local businessman, Zazueta said. Big cats and other exotic animals have long been found at Mexican ranches and other properties owned by drug traffickers, who adopt them as pets but then abandon them when fleeing authorities or rival criminal groups. A lion is pictured as it is relocated to a ranch on the coast from Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico May 20, 2025. — AFP pic Since September, federal authorities have discovered at least 14 big cats, some seized in raids and others found in abandoned houses believed to be used for criminal activities. They were given a new home at the Ostok refuge, whose director said the mass animal transfer sent a 'painful message' about the situation in the Sinaloa state capital. 'If animals can no longer live in Culiacán, who can?' Zazueta said. — AFP
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- The Guardian
Mexico: ‘Noah's Ark' of animals leaves cartel violence for new home on coast
Hundreds of animals including elephants, crocodiles, lions and tigers have been moved from a violence-torn Mexican cartel heartland to a new home in an operation described as a '21st-century Noah's Ark'. The transported species, which also included exotic birds, had been housed at the Ostok animal refuge near Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state, home to one of the country's most powerful drug gangs. The animal sanctuary's administrators told reporters that for months they had received threats, with a truck and equipment stolen. 'We are leaving because we run the risk of something happening to me and my team,' said Ernesto Zazueta, the director of the refuge. In total, about 700 animals were moved by road to a ranch on the coast. 'This caravan of animals is a kind of 21st-century Noah's Ark. But this time, the animals aren't fleeing a flood, but rather insecurity, fear, and anxiety,' Zazueta said. Since September, Culiacán has been the epicenter of a bloody war between factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel that has left more than 1,200 people dead and 1,400 missing, according to official figures. The cartel is one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups designated terrorist organizations by the United States. Regular roadblocks and armed clashes in the region made it difficult for the sanctuary's workers to keep the captive wildlife fed, another reason to relocate them. 'The animals' health began to suffer,' Zazueta said, adding that at least a ton of beef and chicken was needed every three days to feed the animals. Workers sedated the most dangerous of them, including lions and tigers, so they could be placed in cages for the 220km (nearly 140-mile) road trip. Two large containers and a huge crane were needed to load the elephants on to trailers. The final destination is a site called Bioparque El Encanto, located in the seaside resort town of Mazatlán on Sinaloa's Pacific coast and owned by a local businessman, Zazueta said. Big cats and other exotic animals have long been found at Mexican ranches and other properties owned by drug traffickers. Since September, federal authorities have discovered at least 14 big cats, some seized in raids and others found in abandoned houses believed to be used for criminal activities. They were given a new home at the Ostok refuge, whose director said the mass animal transfer sent a 'painful message' about the situation in the Sinaloa state capital. 'If animals can no longer live in Culiacan, who can?' Zazueta said
The Independent
20-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Christian theme park owner with replica Noah's Ark preaching creationism 100 years after landmark trial
In the rolling hills of northern Kentucky, a colossal structure rises, a testament to one man's unwavering belief in the literal truth of the Bible: a full-scale replica of Noah's Ark. Ken Ham, the driving force behind the Ark Encounter theme park, frequently guides visitors through the enormous wooden vessel, emphasising its impressive dimensions – one and a half football fields long, "The biggest freestanding timber-frame structure in the world," he proudly proclaims. Inside, across three expansive decks, life-size animal models stand within wooden cages, alongside food storage urns and other exhibits. Ham explains that the meticulous design aims to demonstrate the feasibility of the biblical narrative, arguing that Noah could have constructed such a sophisticated ship and sustained thousands of animals during a months-long global flood that wiped out the rest of humanity. The Ark Encounter serves as a physical manifestation of Ham's broader mission: to promote the literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis. He contends that the Earth is a mere 6,000 years old and that humans were created by God on the sixth day, precisely as described in the biblical text. All this defies the overwhelming consensus of modern scientists — that the Earth developed over billions of years in 'deep time' and that humans and other living things evolved over millions of years from earlier species. But Ham wants to succeed where he believes William Jennings Bryan failed. Bryan, a populist politician and fundamentalist champion, helped the prosecution in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial, which took place 100 years ago this July in Dayton, Tennessee. Bryan's side won in court — gaining the conviction of public schoolteacher John Scopes for violating state law against teaching human evolution. But Bryan was widely seen as suffering a humiliating defeat in public opinion, with his sputtering attempts to explain the Bible's spectacular miracles and enigmas. The expert witness' infamous missteps For Ham, Bryan's problem was not that he defended the Bible. It's that he didn't defend it well enough, interpreting parts of it metaphorically rather than literally. 'It showed people around the world that Christians don't really believe the Bible — they can't answer questions to defend the Christian faith,' Ham says. 'We want you to know that we've got answers,' Ham adds, speaking in the accent of his native Australia. Ham is the founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis, which opened the Ark Encounter in 2016. The Christian theme park includes a zoo, zip lines and other attractions surrounding the ark. Nearly a decade earlier, Answers in Genesis opened a Creation Museum in nearby Petersburg, Kentucky, where exhibits similarly argue for a literal interpretation of the biblical creation narrative. Visitors are greeted with a diorama depicting children and dinosaurs interacting peacefully in the Garden of Eden. The group also produces books, podcasts, videos and homeschooling curricula. 'The main message of both attractions is basically this: The history in the Bible is true," Ham says. 'That's why the message of the Gospel based on that history is true.' Creationist belief still common If Ham is the most prominent torchbearer for creationism today, he's hardly alone. Polls generally show that somewhere between 1 in 6 and 1 in 3 Americans hold beliefs consistent with young-Earth creationism, depending on how the question is asked. A 2024 Gallup poll found that 37 per cent of US adults agreed ' God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.' That percentage is down a little, but not dramatically, from its mid-40s level between the 1980s and 2012. Rates are higher among religious and politically conservative respondents. 'Scopes lost, but the public sense was that the fundamentalists lost' and were dwindling away, says William Vance Trollinger Jr., a professor of history and religious studies at the University of Dayton in Ohio. But the reach of Answers in Genesis demonstrates that 'a significant subset of Americans hold to young-Earth creationism,' says Trollinger, co-author with his wife, English professor Susan Trollinger, of the 2016 book 'Righting America at the Creation Museum.' Leading science organisations say it's crucial to teach evolution and old-Earth geology. Evolution is 'one of the most securely established of scientific facts,' says the National Academy of Sciences. The Geological Society of America similarly states: 'Evolution and the directly related concept of deep time are essential parts of science curricula.' The issue has been repeatedly legislated and litigated since the Scopes trial. Tennessee repealed its anti-evolution law in 1967. The US Supreme Court ruled in 1968 that a similar Arkansas law was an unconstitutional promotion of religion, and in 1987 it overturned a Louisiana law requiring that creationism be taught alongside evolution. A 2005 federal court similarly forbade a Pennsylvania school district from presenting 'intelligent design,' a different approach to creationism that argues life is too complex to have evolved by chance. Science educators alarmed Some lawmakers have recently revived the issue. North Dakota's Senate this year defeated a bill that would have allowed public school teaching on intelligent design. A new West Virginia law vaguely allows teachers to answer student questions about 'scientific theories of how the universe and/or life came to exist.' The Scopes trial set a template for today's culture-war battles, with efforts to expand vouchers for attendees of private schools, including Christian ones teaching creationism, and to introduce Bible-infused lessons and Ten Commandments displays in public schools. Such efforts alarm science educators like Bill Nye, the television 'Science Guy,' whose 2014 debate with Ham was billed as 'Scopes II' and has generated millions of video views online. 'What you get out of religion, as I understand it, is this wonderful sense of community,' Nye says. 'Community is very much part of the human experience. But the Earth is not 4,000 years old. 'To teach that idea to children with any backing — be it religious or these remarkable ideas that humans are not related to, for example, chimpanzees or bonobos — is breathtaking. It's silly. And so we fight this fight.' Nye says evidence is overwhelming, ranging from fossil layers to the distribution of species. 'There are trees older than Mr. Ham thinks the world is,' he adds. Religious views on origins vary One weekday in March, visitors milled about the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum, which draw an estimated 1.5 million visits per year (including duplicate visits). 'We are churchgoing, Bible-believing Christians,' says Louise van Niekerk of Ontario, Canada, who traveled with her family to the Creation Museum. She's concerned that her four children are faced with a public-school curriculum permeated with evolution. The Creation Museum, van Niekerk says, 'is encouraging a robust alternate worldview from what they're being taught,' she says. Many religious groups accommodate evolution, though. Gallup's survey found that of Americans who believe in evolution, more say it happened with God's guidance (34 per cent) than without it (24 per cent). Catholic popes have shown openness to evolution while insisting the human soul is a divine creation. Many liberal Protestants and even some evangelicals have accepted at least parts of evolutionary theory. But among many evangelicals, creationist belief is strong. The Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest evangelical body, has promoted creationist beliefs in its publications. The Assemblies of God asserts that Adam and Eve were historical people. Some evangelical schools, such as Bryan's namesake college in Tennessee, affirm creationist beliefs in their doctrinal statements. There's a larger issue here, critics say Just as Ham says the creation story is important to defend a larger truth about the Christian Gospel, critics say more is at stake than just the human origin story. The Trollingers wrote that the Answers in Genesis enterprise is an 'arsenal in the culture war.' They say it aligns with Christian nationalism, promoting conservative views in theology, family and gender roles, and casting doubt on other areas of scientific consensus, such as human-made climate change. Nye, too, says the message fits into a more general and ominous anti-science movement. 'Nobody is talking about climate change right now,' he laments. Exhibits promote a 'vengeful and violent' God, says Susan Trollinger, noting the cross on the ark's large door, which analogises that just as the wicked perished in the flood, those without Christ face eternal hellfire. And there are more parallels to 1925. Bryan had declaimed, 'How can teachers tell students that they came from monkeys and not expect them to act like monkeys?' The Creation Museum, which depicts violence, drugs and other social ills as resulting from belief in evolution, is 'Bryan's social message on steroids,' wrote Edward Larson in a 2020 afterword to 'Summer for the Gods,' a Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the Scopes trial. More attractions are planned The protests that initially greeted the museum and ark projects, from secularist groups who considered them embarrassments to Kentucky, have ebbed. When the state initially denied a tourism tax rebate for the Ark Encounter because of its religious nature, a federal court overturned that ruling. Representing Ham's group was a Louisiana lawyer named Mike Johnson — now speaker of the US House of Representatives. Despite those blips, Ham's massive ministry charges forward. Expansion is next, with AIG attractions planned for Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri — both tourist hubs offering more opportunities to promote creationism to the masses. Todd Bigelow, visiting the Ark Encounter from Mesa, Arizona, says the exhibit vividly evoked the safety that Noah and his family must have felt. It helped him appreciate 'the opportunities God gives us to live the life we have, and hopefully make good choices and repent when we need to,' he says. 'I think,' Bigelow adds, 'God and science can go hand in hand.'
