Comments on: Creation Museum – Microscarium http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/2009/09/13/creation-museum-microscarium/ Promoting rational thought above dogma. Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:27:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dan http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/2009/09/13/creation-museum-microscarium/comment-page-1/#comment-797 Dan Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:23:38 +0000 http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/?p=1406#comment-797 I could be mistaken, but I'm fairly certain that he emphasized that the placenta was one giant cell. It was a bit more than a passing mention, but not a lot more, but I specifically remember him asking the audience if they knew what was the largest cell in the human body (not what HAS the largest cells)... and then he said it was the placenta... then said you wouldn't hear this anywhere else. His article on AiG tends to support his "one cell" idea. Quotes... "After implantation, the placental giant cell "invades" the walls of several uterine arteries and veins, causing the mother's blood to flow through channels within the cell..." ...and... "The entire surface of all the tree-like cotyledons is covered by syncytial trophoblast, forming a seamless covering, which comprises a single cell with millions of nuclei (see Figure 5). This means that the entire surface of the placenta is covered by one giant cell, which has a surface area of over 100 square feet (9.3 square meters)." So he's either referring to the placenta being one giant cell or a placental "covering" which is a giant cell... with millions of nuclei. It depends which part of his article you read and how you interpret it. Here's the link to his article on AiG: http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n1/placenta I could be mistaken, but I’m fairly certain that he emphasized that the placenta was one giant cell. It was a bit more than a passing mention, but not a lot more, but I specifically remember him asking the audience if they knew what was the largest cell in the human body (not what HAS the largest cells)… and then he said it was the placenta… then said you wouldn’t hear this anywhere else.

His article on AiG tends to support his “one cell” idea. Quotes…

“After implantation, the placental giant cell “invades” the walls of several uterine arteries and veins, causing the mother’s blood to flow through channels within the cell…”

…and…

“The entire surface of all the tree-like cotyledons is covered by syncytial trophoblast, forming a seamless covering, which comprises a single cell with millions of nuclei (see Figure 5). This means that the entire surface of the placenta is covered by one giant cell, which has a surface area of over 100 square feet (9.3 square meters).”

So he’s either referring to the placenta being one giant cell or a placental “covering” which is a giant cell… with millions of nuclei. It depends which part of his article you read and how you interpret it.

Here’s the link to his article on AiG: http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n1/placenta

]]> By: hd http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/2009/09/13/creation-museum-microscarium/comment-page-1/#comment-796 hd Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:56:43 +0000 http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/?p=1406#comment-796 Since Dr. Menton has a citation on pubmed for an article on placenta anatomy (as well as an essay on AIG about the placenta, which shows more than one cell), I think it is possible that either you misheard or Menton didn't speak clearly. From what I read, there is a layer of the placenta which is a syncytium - a fusion of many individual cells. Could Menton have said the placenta *has* a giant cell, rather than that it *is* a giant cell? Since Dr. Menton has a citation on pubmed for an article on placenta anatomy (as well as an essay on AIG about the placenta, which shows more than one cell), I think it is possible that either you misheard or Menton didn’t speak clearly. From what I read, there is a layer of the placenta which is a syncytium – a fusion of many individual cells. Could Menton have said the placenta *has* a giant cell, rather than that it *is* a giant cell?

]]> By: Dan http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/2009/09/13/creation-museum-microscarium/comment-page-1/#comment-467 Dan Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:13:53 +0000 http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/?p=1406#comment-467 LOL! Thanks. ...or maybe I'm just crazier. ;-) LOL! Thanks. …or maybe I’m just crazier. ;-)

]]> By: joe agnost http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/2009/09/13/creation-museum-microscarium/comment-page-1/#comment-466 joe agnost Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:28:06 +0000 http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/?p=1406#comment-466 That's basically what I figured... that you didn't want to reveal yourself (as a "spy"). Kudos to you then - you're a bigger man than I! ;) That’s basically what I figured… that you didn’t want to reveal yourself (as a “spy”).

Kudos to you then – you’re a bigger man than I! ;)

]]> By: Dan http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/2009/09/13/creation-museum-microscarium/comment-page-1/#comment-465 Dan Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:04:55 +0000 http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/?p=1406#comment-465 In this particular case, we were trying to stay "incognito" so to speak so we could get a picture of the museum that wasn't influenced by any kind of special treatment... and it was day one of our two-day passes. If it had been during day two, I would have been much more inclined to speak up. As it was, it was pretty hard to maintain my composure. I bit my tongue and remained silent. Having been there now, if I ever go back, I would definitely be poking fun, questioning, and correcting... pretty much the whole time. In this particular case, we were trying to stay “incognito” so to speak so we could get a picture of the museum that wasn’t influenced by any kind of special treatment… and it was day one of our two-day passes.

If it had been during day two, I would have been much more inclined to speak up. As it was, it was pretty hard to maintain my composure. I bit my tongue and remained silent.

Having been there now, if I ever go back, I would definitely be poking fun, questioning, and correcting… pretty much the whole time.

]]> By: joe agnost http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/2009/09/13/creation-museum-microscarium/comment-page-1/#comment-464 joe agnost Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:25:44 +0000 http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/?p=1406#comment-464 I'm always struck by how much self control you (and others like you) are during these talks. How do you manage to sit there quietly and not correct the speaker all the time?? I'm assuming you didn't ask any questions, nor point out what a dishonest tit this man was... why not? (I'm just curious - I'm not saying you ~should~ have). I’m always struck by how much self control you (and others like you) are during these talks. How do you manage to sit there quietly and not correct the speaker all the time??

I’m assuming you didn’t ask any questions, nor point out what a dishonest tit this man was… why not? (I’m just curious – I’m not saying you ~should~ have).

]]> By: MG http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/2009/09/13/creation-museum-microscarium/comment-page-1/#comment-446 MG Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:27:30 +0000 http://www.rationalitynow.com/blog/?p=1406#comment-446 It's too bad so many people will be pulled in by his impressive credentials. He seems to have missed quite a few lessons I remember well (like what an organ is), even with "only" a B.S. biology. My comparative vertebrate anatomy book (Kent and Carr, 2001) defines a placenta as 'the highly vascular region of an extraembryonic membrane . . . and the associated highly vascular lining of the maternal uterus'. Just knowing the uterus is multicellular answers the question. It’s too bad so many people will be pulled in by his impressive credentials. He seems to have missed quite a few lessons I remember well (like what an organ is), even with “only” a B.S. biology. My comparative vertebrate anatomy book (Kent and Carr, 2001) defines a placenta as ‘the highly vascular region of an extraembryonic membrane . . . and the associated highly vascular lining of the maternal uterus’. Just knowing the uterus is multicellular answers the question.

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