The doctor is IN! No, not Howard Dean or Lucy VAN PELT, but yours truly, R.K. Jamesson, M.D. I'm here again with an update from the Baptist Creation Science Fair, highlighting a truly INSPIRATIONAL winner in the high-school division. So put on your SOCKS and get ready to be enlightened! Mr. Spinter crammed DOZENS of hampsters in a small cage for a month in the name of BIBLE SCIENCE! Today's youth, tomorrow's hope.

2nd Place: "Maximal Packing Of Rodentia Kinds: A Feasibility Study"

Jason Spinter's (grade 12) project was to show the feasibility of Noah's Ark using a Rodentia research model (made of a mixture of hamsters and gerbils) as a representative of diluvian life forms. The Rodentia were placed in a cage with dimensions proportional to a section of the Ark. The number of Rodentia used (58) was calculated using available Creation Science research and was based on the median animal size and their volumetric distribution in the Ark. The cage was also fitted with wooden dowls inserted at regular intervals through the cage walls, forming platforms which provided support for the Rodentia. Although there was little room left in the cage, all Rodentia were able to move just enough to ward off muscle atrophy. Food pellets and water were delivered to sub-surface Rodentia via plastic drinking straws inserted into the Rodentia-mass, which also served to allow internal air flow. Once a day, the cage was sprayed with water to cleanse any built-up waste. Additionally, the cage was suspended on bungie cords to simulate the rocking motion of a ship. The study lasted 30 days and 30 nights, with all Rodentia surviving at least long enough afterwards to allow for reproduction. These findings strongly suggest that Noah's Ark could hold and support representatives of all antediluvian animal kinds for the duration of the Flood and subsequent repopulation of the Earth.

Honorable Mention #2: "Young Earth, Old Lies" - Melvin Knuth & Glenna Reher (grade 11)