For my fundamentalist Christian readers — don’t get too excited just yet.  There has been a seemingly yearly tradition of claiming to find the mythical Noah’s Ark — and none of them ever pan out. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searches_for_Noah%27s_Ark )

Why don’t they ever pan out, you ask?  Well, considering that the ark would have been full to the brim just with the bajillions of insect species on Earth, and that the water on Earth would have been so high to cover Mount Ararat (where did all that water go?  just disappeared?), and that the logistics of finding far-away habitat-specific animals (easy examples: penguins in Antarctica, and polar bears at the north pole) and then transporting them to the Middle East, and after the flood, transporting them back all to their original habitats (assuming the animals would probably die in the completely different Middle Eastern habitat unfamiliar to them)… not to mention the space required for carrying all kinds of foods for every species of animal on Earth (which would include species specific foods — like Eucalyptus for Koalas).  And how about the big land mammals?  Elephants eat approximately 125 to 175 pounds of food per day.  … oh, and of course, for the more hardcore Christians, keeping T-Rex and Albertosaurus from eating each other… — The sheer size of plant-eating dinosaurs is another logistics problem — how would a small family catch even one?  How could they stow away so much food for these gigantic creatures?  Even the small insects, such as butterflies, would be rather difficult to catch.  Not to mention you would have to catch approximately all 20,000 species of butterflies, many of which are habitat-specific.  Transporting hornet nests, bees nests, and such could be tricky too.  Where would the garden of flowers be for the honeybees?  On top of this, nobody seems to remember that Noah would have to had made sure all the parasites found within every species on Earth was also preserved inside the bodies of the animals.

Oh, and this was all done by ONE family!  Amazing.  Just take a moment and realize how impossibly difficult it would be for the scientists, biologists, and engineers on Earth TODAY to preserve every life form on Earth, keep them safe from a flood for almost an entire year (according to some Christians — some claim that it was 40 days, but the actual amount of time in the ark is a subject which is disagreed upon — remember, the Bible says the rain lasted 40 days and 40 nights).  Even the Bible itself cannot figure out how long the flood was.  Even with modern day technology and innovation, it would surely be nearly impossible for a gigantic team of people to somehow save all species on Earth from a 40+ day flood.

For more on how Noah’s Ark is completely impossible go to Talk Origins and read up on the article there: Problems with a Global Flood.  I would like to point out here that it’s possible the story of Noah’s flood comes from a true story about a farmer escaping a localized flood where he had to put all of his possessions, farm animals, family, etc. in a boat.  Further, since flooding is such a common catastrophe and happens multiple times in different regions in the world (humans tend to live near water) it is no surprise that this basic story is repeated all throughout the world among various cultures.  See the huge list of various flood myths.  Does this mean there really was one huge flood?  Or does this mean several cultures around the world, several people have experienced floods and all created stories about them.  Well, I’ll let you choose which is more likely…

So yet again, we have another foolish person who believes in myths as fact trying to prove the existence of the Ark:

‘Overwhelming Evidence’ of Noah’s Ark Discovery Featured on Website

A website is suggesting that the remains of the biblical Noah’s Ark have been found near the summit of Mt. Ararat in Turkey, and the research team’s project leader has published a number of scientific articles claiming the legitimacy of the discovery.

If you read the story from Christian Post, wow, it sure sounds believable doesn’t it!  But — wait a moment — this website just might be a little biased.  These claims have been going on for a while now — this MSNBC article is from 2004.  There were also concerns about the team chosen for the task:

The choice of expedition leader—a Turkish academic named Ahmet Ali Arslan, who claims to have climbed Mount Ararat 50 times in 40 years—also raised a red flag with those familiar with previous expeditions.

(Neither McGivern nor Arslan responded to requests by National Geographic News for interviews for this story.)

Arslan was involved in a 1993 documentary, aired on CBS television, which claimed to have found the ark. Some of the evidence presented in that documentary turned out to be a hoax, raising concerns about Arslan’s testimony.

I have to agree with the National Geographic article:

Some archaeologists charge that Noah’s-ark expeditions like McGivern’s are nothing but wild-goose chases. Even if the ark existed, these scholars argue, it is unlikely that the wood from the boat would still be preserved today, thousands of years later. Moving ice is likely to have swept away any wooden structure, experts say.

“These expeditions are a waste of time, energy, and money—all of which could be put to much better use by supporting existing scholarly excavations around the world,” said Eric Cline, a historian and archaeologist at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

There doesn’t seem to be any plan on actually looking at the supposedly ‘overwhelming’ evidence.  Even this Christian site is skeptical:

The team used military satellite imagery and ground penetrating radar technology to locate the ruins. They believe the large object is wooden.

“The evidence is overwhelming,” McGivern added. “This is the large piece from Noah’s ark.”

His evidence is based solely on imaging technology.

The large piece of wood will likely remain buried under ice.

“There’s a huge problem with getting down to it, because of the fact that you can’t melt the ice,” McGivern explained. “You are up there at 16,600 feet. How are you going to get down to it?”

For centuries, explores have searched Mount Ararat for the ark.

Just last year, a Chinese team claimed to have found the historical boat — releasing a video showing men inside what appeared to be ancient wooden structures.

The video and find was widely believed to be a hoax.

McGivern’s claim may never have the hard evidence to back it up, but the discovery could provide a great opportunity to share the gospel.

Yeah.  They may never have the hard evidence (convenient!) so let’s just go back to reading the Bible!