The scientists who cried "Darwin"

Is it just me, or are these sorts of retractions growing more common, as committed evolutionists leap at any fossil fragment that seems to promise further 'proof' of their worldview?

Remember Ida, the fossil discovery announced last May with its own book and television documentary? A publicity blitz called it “the link” that would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans.

Experts protested that Ida was not even a close relative. And now a new analysis supports their reaction. In fact, Ida is as far removed from the monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate could be, says Erik Seiffert of Stony Brook University in New York.

Of course, whereas the Times (and other leading media) ran Ida's discovery on the front page, this little gem appeared on page A19.

Remember -- it's the initial impression that counts. All this does is provide the press a fig leaf of credibility for when they're challenged later.