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Other Views:
Walter Brown

Dr. Walter T. Brown is the director of the Center for Scientific Creation. He has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His main book is In the Beginning: The Scientific Case for Creation (1987).

Decay of C: Speed of light Slowing?

Walter Brown believes the speed of light may be slowing down. The Institute for Creation Research has debunked this (Aardsma, 1988; See this article Has the Speed of Light Decayed?) Dr. Aardsma states: "When I analyzed the entire data set of 163 points using the standard, weighted, linear least squares method, the decay of c was determined to be:

decay of c = 0.0000140 ± 0.0000596 km/s/year.

This result says pretty plainly that there is no discernible decay trend in the data set presented by Norman and Setterfield."

Decay of the Earth's Magnetic Field?

Dr. Walter Brown believes that the earth's magnetic field is rapidly decaying so that the earth must be younger than 10,000 years old. He insists that there are no magnetic reversals, that the earth' magnetic field is rapidly decaying down hill.

Most scientists say there have been many (50-100) magnetic reversals (about every 30 million years). The earth's magnetic field decreases then flips and builds up strength, like a dynamo.

Dr. Russ Humphreys a creationist doubted there were any magnetic reversals until he took a course in paleomagnetism. Of the 200,000 samples of rocks that have been tested. About 100,000 point to magnetic north and about 100,000 point to magnetic south. This is overwhelming evidence that there were magnetic reversals. Hear what he has to say at Answers in Genesis. (Note, this is a five part lecture series.)

Sun's Magnetic Field

The sun reverses its magnetic field every 11 years which corresponds to the cycle of sun spots.

Sun's Magnetic Field Has A Good Memory
By compiling all the solar wind data gathered in the space age, NASA scientists have concluded that even though the solar magnetic field is constantly changing, it always returns to its original shape and position.

Powerful 'Conveyer Belts' Drive Sun's 11-year Cycle, New Evidence Suggests
NASA and university astronomers have found evidence that the 11-year sunspot cycle is driven in part by a giant conveyor belt-like, circulating current within the Sun.

100,000-Year Climate Pattern Linked To Sun's Magnetic Cycles
Thanks to new calculations by a Dartmouth geochemist, scientists are now looking at the earth's climate history in a new light. Mukul Sharma, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth, examined existing sets of geophysical data and noticed something remarkable: the sun's magnetic activity is varying in 100,000-year cycles, a much longer time span than previously thought, and this solar activity, in turn, may likely cause the 100,000-year climate cycles on earth.

Moon's Missing Magnetic Field

The Strange Case Of The Missing Moon's Magnetism
A 30-year-old riddle over the Moon's lost magnetism may finally be answered, scientists report on Thursday in Nature, the British science weekly.

Explaining the Moon's Ancient Magnetism
These days, a compass on the moon doesn't do much because there is no magnetic field to entice its hands to move. But it may not have always been so. Analysis of rocks recovered during the Apollo missions has uncovered telltale signs of ancient lunar magnetism. A new computer model may help explain the magnetism mystery.

Magnetic Reversals

"Beginning in the 1950s, scientists, using magnetic instruments (magnetometers) adapted from airborne devices developed during World War II to detect submarines, began recognizing odd magnetic variations across the ocean floor. This finding, though unexpected, was not entirely surprising because it was known that basalt -- the iron-rich, volcanic rock making up the ocean floor-- contains a strongly magnetic mineral (magnetite) and can locally distort compass readings. This distortion was recognized by Icelandic mariners as early as the late 18th century. More important, because the presence of magnetite gives the basalt measurable magnetic properties, these newly discovered magnetic variations provided another means to study the deep ocean floor." See Magnetic Reversals.

The Earth's Magnetic Field is Young (#242 Impact)

by Russell Humphreys, Ph.D.

"Archaeomagnetism" is the study of the magnetization of bricks, pottery, campfire stones, and other man-related objects studied by archaeologists. Iron oxides in those objects retain a record of the strength and direction of the earth's magnetic field at the time they last cooled to normal temperatures. Archaeomagnetic data taken worldwide show that the intensity of the earth's magnetic field was about 40% greater in 1000 A.D. than it is today, and that it has declined steadily since then.[7]

"Paleomagnetism" is the study of magnetization locked into rocks at the time of their formation. Paleomagnetic data show that while the geologic strata were being laid down, the earth's magnetic field reversed its direction hundreds of times. Reversals are a very severe departure from steady decay of intensity.

Both archaeomagnetic and paleomagnetic data contradict the early creationist assumption of constant decay of intensity. In 1988 I published a review paper documenting the great diversity and reliability of the data.[8]

[8] Humphreys, D. R. "Has the earth's magnetic field ever flipped?" Creation Research Society Quarterly 25 (December 1988) 89-94.

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