tgamble

"A $2,000 Reward :
...to the first person delineating experimentally confirmed biochemical mechanism(s) which demonstrates that it is within reasonable statistical probability for biological information and life in the cosmos to have originated from non-living chemicals (abiogenesis) by purely natural processes, without the agency of any intelligent designer. This mechanism must agree with empirical biochemical and thermodynamic reality. -----This abiogenesis-reward is contingent upon and will be given only to the person(s) who wins the "Origin of Life Prize" described (& linked to) above."

"OR, a $2,000 Reward ...to the first person(s) who can provide clear empirical evidence (published in a good peer-reviewed journal) that a new plant or animal species has ever originated as a direct result of the evolution of a new type(s) of structure (such as a cilium or flagellum) and function (ability) coded for in the accumulation of new genetic DNA information produced by natural random mutations (not engineered or manipulated by any intelligence). The accumulated mutations must have produced in the new species new genetic information (totally lacking in the ancestral species) contained in a net increase in the amount of functional genetic material (DNA) in the genome ----where that new DNA specifies and builds the new structure (comprised of at least three different new types of proteins ---new to that species) that produces the new function and ability. The new DNA, and resultant structure and function, must confer an advantage and be beneficial to the new descendant species, and cannot be deleterious to it or any of its life-functions;"

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/worldview_3/rewards.html" target="_blank">http://www.geocities.com/worldview_3/rewards.html</a>

Or go for the real money

"A $1,350,000 prize is being offered by:

"The Origin-of-Life Prize" web site for proposing a highly plausible mechanism for the spontaneous rise of genetic instructions in nature sufficient to give rise to life."

Kent Hovind, eat your heart out!

Duvenoy

Reachin' for it, ain't they?

It sort of reminds me of the old, "Wanna bet?" challenge heard in almost every school yard argument in the world.

doov

TerryTryon

Is there a disinterested third-party referee? Are the precise conditions and exclusions as well as the person (or persons) responsible for payment spelled out in a binding contract with every official entrant? Is the money in the bank?

Art

I thought I'd relate a comical (in a pathetic sort of way) story about this challenge. This person originally had included, as one of the items that would be rewarded:

"OR, $2,000 ...to the first person who can provide clear empirical evidence that even one complex structure (eg, a flagellum, or even a new type of functional protein only 100 amino acids long) has ever evolved (which is used in any actual living organism), starting from no such structure in the ancestors, as a result of the accumulation of mutations (acted on by natural selection), whereby the new complex structure is coded for by new information contained in a net increase in the amount of functional genetic material (DNA). "

As other posts on the II boards have recently indicated, T-urf13 fits the bill to a T. I applied to the owner of the web site (an R. Totten, if I recall correctly) for the reward - this was early 1999 or late 1998 (I began my "quest" during the 1998 holiday break). He responded by changing his web site (more than once - he took awhile to find a version that could not be satisfied with extant knowledge) and refusing to send me the money. I even gave him a very honorable "out" - a $50 donation to a non-profit school for deaf and hard-of-hearing children and a public acknowledgment that the challenge had been met (thereby letting him off the hook as far as future claims were concerned). No dice.

No need to take this seriously. Indeed, based on my interactions with the owner of the web site, a fair dose of pity is in order.

Art

Frisch

The funny thing about the prize is that if you managed to do any of those 3 things you would win the nobel prize for chemistry or physics and the $2,000 would be a drop in the bucket compared to the large sum given to fund your research.

[ November 18, 2002: Message edited by: Frisch ]</p>