In the news recently, FOXNews ran a title “Hubble telescope spots complex organic molecules on surface of Pluto.” Here we go again — another deceptive title. How can a telescope that is orbiting the Earth see any organic molecules on what was once the furthest planet away from the sun? As you read the article, what you find is it appears Pluto is absorbing more ultraviolet light than expected. The article goes on to say this may be because of organic molecules on the service of Pluto.
This is what is known as the classic “Bait and Switch”. You see, the author is intending to convey the idea that “organic” can be associated with “living organisms”. This however is not necessarily the case. Here’s Wikipedia’s definition of “Organic Compound”.
The modern meaning of “organic compound” is any one of them that contains a significant amount of carbon – even though many of the “organic compounds” known today have no connection whatsoever with any substance found in living organisms.
There is no “official” definition of an organic compound. Some textbooks define an organic compound as one containing one or more C-H bonds; others include C-C bonds in the definition. Others state that if a molecule contains carbon—¢it is organic.
Fox News define Organic Molecules in their story as:
The carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it.
The Fox News article is therefore an example of “bait and switch”.
So really, they don’t know anything other than the fact that Pluto may be absorbing more ultraviolet light than expected. From there, it’s a bunch of guesswork. But they wrapped it with enough science to make it sound like it proves something to do with evolution. How they managed to squeeze the concept of evolution into an article like this is amazing. Because Pluto is a “ruddy color,” according to Allen Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, this somehow gives credibility to evolution? I will give the article one credit, though. The reminder about the new Horizons spacecraft that will arrive at Pluto on July 14, 2015, is very exciting. This craft was launched in January 2006 and will travel more than 4,000,000,000 miles on its journey to Pluto. It will pass Pluto at a distance smaller than the diameter of the earth. Very cool indeed!
Just had to point out that once again what we have here is the work of creative headlines that try to give credibility to evolution with no scientific backing.
