Soft tissue in fossils

When you hear the word fossil, you probably picture a super old rock in the shape of an extinct animal. In a sense, this is true, fossils are a animal-shaped form that is very old, however, there are many more aspects to fossils. Fossils hold many secrets that have been long in the making. Fossils can show us how animals acted in the past and could even give us the answer to the age old question: how old really is our earth? Fossils are an incredible thing that we as humans can learn many things from, if we could just open up our eyes to the revelation these little beings are showing us.

What Are Fossils?
Fossils are the remains of animals and plants that are both preserved and untouched by the outside world. The fossilization process begins after the object is buried and the organic remains are put through a long fossilization process called taphonomy. The fossils original substances are completely replaced with organic materials that harden into the original form. Fossils, as old as they may be, are in the shape of the original organism and is as hard as concrete.

Small creatures can also be fossilized by being encased in amber. Amber is hardened tree sap that the critter got stuck in and fossilizes over the course of years and years. Animals in very dry, hot places, like deserts die and dry out due to sun exposure. Animal body parts and organs become mummified and preserved for thousands of years. Fossils that are frozen are very rare, but the very best way of preservation. This exact way is hard to find because for a fossil to stay intact, it has to be frozen from death, to recovery. This means that an organism must be both frozen and undisturbed by any heat for many, many years.

Fossils are wonderful for information about the early earth.

How Can There Be Soft Tissue?
In the past ten years, there have been more and more reports coming out that show multiple fossilized dinosaur bones with soft tissue, blood vessels, bone matrix and elastic tissue. Scientifically, if the fossil was truly millions of years old, there should be no traces of soft tissue ore anything that delicate. Science has hypothesized and "explained" how there could be soft tissues in something millions of years old. The most stated theory of how something virtually impossible is possible is iron. Science has "proven" that iron in the fossils body had preserved the tissue before it could decay. There are still problems with this theory thought, scientists have believed that proteins that make up soft tissue would decay in less than one million years under the best condition possible.

Scientists have proven one thing, but they are still back to where they started a question. There have been no new answers for this mind-boggling question. Could this be the question that potentially proves we live on a young earth.

How Was Soft Tissue In Fossils Discovered?
The first evidence of soft tissue in fossils was discovered by Mary Schweitzer in 2005. Schweitzer is a paleontologist located in North Carolina who has been both studying and teaching paleontology for years. Schweitzer first discovered blood vessels, blood cells and collagen in a tyrannosaurus Rex fossil thought to be 68 million year old. Soft tissue is not scientifically able to survive under any condition for millions of years. For years, both scientists and ordinary civilians did not believe this, they called it off as a hoax, and a contaminated sample, anything but what the evidence was showing them. This discovery led many scientists to be the first to disprove the fact that they have missed for years. Schweitzer's theory that was accepted by most all scientists was simple, iron.

What Does This Mean?
For hundreds of years, science has said to have proven that fossils must be millions of years old. Now that science has found that fossils might not be as old as they originally thought, the young earth theory might be taken more seriously by non-believers. Although scientists are trying to prove that iron in the blood is the cause of preservation in the fossils, they still have no solid proof that the fossils are not young, other than the mindset that fossils have to be millions of years old. Science is trying desperately to disprove the fact of young fossils because if not, the past hundred years of fossil discovery could be proven false.



How Will Science Explain The Fact That They Might Have Been Wrong?
Hundreds of years of paleontology might have just been proven wrong in the period of months. How will science prove that this finding can be explained so the "facts" they have will not be proven wrong. Scientists have cone to the quick conclusion that iron in the blood of the animals will preserve the soft tissue well enough to be in tact for millions of years. Another widely accepted theory state that the destructive enzymes for breaking down cells were taken away by the sandstone that fossilized the animal. This theory was tested on an ostrich and the outcome proved similar results. Science will try to prove themselves right through any means necessary. They will go to great lengths to prove the findings ether faulty or find a way to prove it relates to the findings and theories they have collected over time.

What Does This Mean For Young Earth Creationists?
Finding soft tissue in fossils is an amazing discovery that could potentially lead us to answers about how old our earth really is. Creationists could use these scientific discoveries as solid evidence for a young earth when speaking of Biblical principals. We could learn the true majesty of our creator and the truth about when and how we got here, if science could only open there eyes and see the truth they are trying to disprove. When people finally open up and understand what these findings represent, we could be looking at more and more people opening up to the presence of a young earth, and the one true God. If only science could turn away from there particularly bias findings and look in a direction that shows the true findings that show God's marvelous work.

Video
A short, yet exciting segment on the show 60 minutes that shows newfound soft tissue in fossils in dinosaur fossils .... M9VbDFCndMI