I have hundreds (if not thousands) of unfiled journal articles, many dating back to the 1980s, that I am in the process of integrating into my filing system.
[Graphic: Bird Navigational Techniques, Paul and Bernice Noll's Bird Choices]
I will post the the best ones I rediscover, like the following:
"The most ordinary-looking migratory birds turn out to have onboard navigational systems that rival those of modern airliners in sophistication ... For decades, scientists believed that even for the most complex journeys, birds relied on the biological equivalent of a pocket guidebook. But a rash of recent discoveries suggests that birds have navigational systems nearly as sophisticated as those of modern airliners. To get a fix on direction and position, they process multiple inputs from the stars, the Sun, visible landmarks, and even the Earth's magnetic field ..." (Pool, R., "Is it a plane? Is it a bird?," New Scientist, 9 November 1996, p.29, pp.29-32)
The problem for the `blind watchmaker,' i.e. the differential reproduction (aka. natural `selection') of random micromutations is that, as Darwin pointed out, "Natural selection tends only to make each being as perfect as, or slightly more perfect than, the other inhabitants of the same area":
"MY basic definition of classical Darwinism in ... included two corollaries stemming straight from Darwin himself. First, in the evolution of any structure of function, every intermediate stage must be of advantage to the species. [Darwin C., "The Origin of Species," [1859], Harvard University Press, First edition, 1966, reprint, pp.199-201] Second, natural selection tends only to make each organic being as perfect as, or slightly more perfect than, the other inhabitants of the same country with which it has to struggle for existence. [Ibid., p.201] These were described as logical corollaries because they are derived from thinking about the implications of the theory, rather than from observation of nature. They are really predictions. ... First Corollary-Not Enough Mindlessness Why must every intermediate step be advantageous to the species? Because Darwin conceived natural selection as a mindless process, as the impersonal operation of purely natural forces. If it is mindless, it cannot plan ahead; it cannot make sacrifices now to attain a distant goal, because it has no goals and no mind with which to conceive goals. Therefore every change must be justified by its own immediate advantages, not as leading to some desirable end. ... Second Corollary-Too Much Perfection. Darwin formulated this himself in the first edition of The Origin of Species: `Natural selection tends only to make each being as perfect as, or slightly more perfect than, the other inhabitants of the same area.' [Ibid., p.201]" (Macbeth, N., "Darwin Retried: An Appeal to Reason," Gambit: Boston MA, 1971, pp.97,99-100, 102. Emphasis original)
And as "scientists" (i.e. Darwinist biologists) expected, the best that their `blind watchmaker' would (or could) come up with in bird navigation would be "the biological equivalent of a pocket guidebook," but in fact "birds have navigational systems nearly as sophisticated as those of modern airliners"!
Stephen E. Jones, BSc (Biol).
`Evolution Quotes Book'
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