Evidence for God in Physical Design Archives - Page 2 of 58

July 22, 2024September 5, 2024

Solar Storm Affected Mars

A massive solar storm affected Mars on May 20, 2024, shortly after it caused impressive auroras on Earth. This latest storm is part of the normal eleven-year cycle of solar maximums, but it is the first time such a storm has occurred while astronomers have the equipment to record its effect.

Xrays and gamma rays, which travel at the speed of light, reached Mars first and were followed minutes later by charged particles. According to NASA, the Curiosity rover at Gale Crater near the Martian equator took pictures showing white streaks resembling snow but were actually charged particles. The radiation from the solar particles was so intense that the star camera aboard the Mars Odyssey orbiter temporarily shut down.

Curiosity rover’s measurements of the radiation reaching Mars’ surface show that an astronaut standing next to the detector would get radiation equal to 30 chest X-rays. Earth has a strong magnetic field to shield it from energized solar particles, but Mars does not. At the same time, the thin Martian atmosphere could not give protection as the solar storm affected Mars.

Planets with a functional atmosphere and located in the Goldilocks Zone, where liquid water on the surface is possible, are rare. All stars go through cycles that pose threats to life on their orbital planets. Mars, a potential target for human visitation and a place where people speculated that life might exist, has received significant attention. This new data from a common solar event suggests that conditions for life to exist are even more challenging than previously thought.

The fact that a solar storm affected Mars is important. It tells us that Earth’s creation and the life on it are the product of intelligence and design, not opportunistic chance. They also tell us we must take care of the Earth because, in reality, there is no other place to go if we mess up this planet.

Reference: CNN Reports on Space Science for June 14, 2024.

July 8, 2024July 7, 2024

Just Right for Life to Exist

Since astronomers have discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets orbiting stars other than our Sun, many insist there must be life elsewhere in the cosmos. For those of us who believe in God, that isn’t really an issue. If there is life out there, God created it, but the Bible only speaks to our planet. However, the evidence is growing that our planet is more unique than most people realize. A “Goldilocks” planet is at the proper distance from its star so that the temperature is “just right” for liquid water to exist on the surface. Some exoplanets appear to be in the habitable zones of their stars, but many other factors must also be just right for life to exist there.

Most known exoplanets are like Jupiter, having no terrestrial surface. To support life, a planet must be the right size, have a stable orbit inside the habitable zone of a stable star, and have the right atmosphere. It must also have working plate tectonics and a large moon to maintain a stable axis tilt. To be just right for life to exist, a planet must also be in the habitable zone of its galaxy – not near the center, exposing it to lethal gamma-ray bursts.

Our Sun is a G spectral star, but only 9% of the stars in our galaxy are that type. M-class dwarf stars are the most common and long-lived stars, but they emit large amounts of radiation that would cook any life on their planets. Also, planets around such a star would become tidal-locked, with one side facing the star being excessively hot while the other remains cold.

Another star system requirement for life would be having outer planets large enough and in the correct position to sweep away asteroids and comets that would bombard an inner planet. To support life, a planet also needs a strong magnetic field to shield the surface from the star’s radiation and cosmic rays.

Our Earth is just right for life to exist. We are defining life as the biology books do: being able to move, breathe, respond to outside stimuli, and reproduce. Any conjecture about fire people or rock people is in science fiction – not scientific fact. The bottom line is that Earth is a special place created by God for a special purpose and is unique among all other objects in the cosmos.

Reference: “Is Earth the Only Goldilocks Panet?” in Discover magazine, July/August 2024, pages 54 -57.

June 28, 2024June 25, 2024

Entropy and Disorder in the Universe

The second law of thermodynamics can be stated in many ways. The usual physics statement is that heat cannot move from a lower-temperature reservoir to a higher-temperature reservoir. With any action involving matter, there is always a loss of energy to a state from which it can not be recovered. Actions involve a loss of energy, and we call that entropy.

Heat will move from a warmer area to an area with less heat until the two areas have equal temperatures. Molecules pass from a region of high concentration to a low concentration area until they are equal. A simple illustration is if you spray perfume from a bottle into the air, you will eventually smell it everywhere, but you can’t get it back into the bottle because it will have diffused into the atmosphere.

So, what is the big deal about the second law? Energy drives the cosmos. Stars, galaxies, planets, and objects in space all use energy and are thus subject to the second law of thermodynamics. The first law of thermodynamics says that energy cannot be created or destroyed. The second law tells us that energy is becoming disordered. That means the total amount of energy available for work in the cosmos is decreasing and will end up at zero. The cosmos will eventually experience complete entropy, which scientists call heat death.

The Bible makes it clear that there was a beginning to the creation. (See Genesis 1:1.) Atheists tried to maintain that the cosmos has always existed and oscillates throughout time. There is no evidence to support that. We now know that the expansion of the cosmos is accelerating, so oscillation is impossible. The second law implies that there had to be a beginning to the cosmos when there was perfect order, and no entropy existed. Skeptics continue to try to find a weakness in the biblical account of creation, but all the evidence indicates that there was a beginning.

Even the profound discoveries of quantum mechanics, a branch of physics that deals with the behavior of particles at the smallest scales, have not disproven the second law. In fact, they have revealed that time itself had a beginning, a concept that aligns with biblical passages like Proverbs 8, which refer to God’s wisdom and power. The creation, as it is, speaks of the fact that “we can know there is a God through the things He has made (Romans 1:20).

Reference: “Disorder Reigns” by Tom Siegfried in the June 15, 2024, issue of Science News. The article gives the history of the second law of thermodynamics” citing the work of great past scientists like Lord Kelvin, Rudolf Clausius, and Sadi Carnot.

June 26, 2024June 24, 2024

Astrolabe Shows Human Cooperation

The astrolabe, an astronomical instrument of ancient times, is a testament to human ingenuity and cooperation. It is a two-dimensional map of the universe, typically crafted from plates. Astrolabes, with their star charts and analog calculation capabilities, were not just tools but gateways to understanding the cosmos. In mosques, they were used to calculate the time of sunset or sunrise, thus the time of prayer. People also used them to calculate distances, the position of stars, and the location of latitudes and longitudes. With its intricate design and multifaceted functionality, the astrolabe shows human cooperation.

Federica Gigante, a historian at the University of Cambridge, found the plates of an eleventh-century astrolabe in the vaults of the Museum of the Miniscalchi-Erizzo Foundation in Verona, Italy. The astrolabe she discovered was made of brass and had Arabic engravings. It had a second plate, which meant it had been taken to a different latitude than its Spanish place of origin.

What is interesting about this astrolabe is that it also has Hebrew letters engraved on the plates, indicating their use by Jewish owners, and it was in the archives of a Christian museum. This astrolabe shows human cooperation. It means there was an era in which Muslims, Jews, and Christians built upon one another’s intellectual achievements. All cultures had people with incredible minds who contributed to human knowledge of what the cosmos is about and how we can observe it.

In our day of religious wars between these same groups, it is incredible that humans don’t have the sense to realize the importance of understanding each other and working together to discover Truth. Jesus gave a great answer to this conflict in John 14 when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me… If you love me, keep my commandments… even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it has not seen Him and does not know Him, for He dwells in you and shall be in you.” Think of the progress the world could make if we could work together and follow the commandments of Jesus given so clearly in Matthew 5:21-25 and 38-48.

Reference: Verona astrolabe on wikipedia.org

June 20, 2024June 18, 2024

Media Hype About Exoplanets

The media continue to make scientifically inaccurate claims to an unsuspecting public. Media hype about exoplanets suggests that life on Earth is not unique, and many habitable planets exist throughout the cosmos. A USA Today article on May 31, 2024, refers to exoplanet Gliese 12 b as a “super-Earth.” It quotes Dr. Masayuki Kuzuhara, assistant professor at the Astrobiology Center in Tokyo, saying, “Although we don’t know whether it possesses an atmosphere, we’ve been thinking of it as an exo-Venus with similar size and energy received from its star as our planetary neighbor in the solar system.” So, what are the facts about Gliese 12 b?

Gliese 12 b is very close to the star Gliese – just 7% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun. That means the radiation from the parent star is sweeping across the planet, and because it orbits once every 12.8 days, any activity on the star will dramatically affect the planet. Gliese is a red dwarf star, not a star like our Sun. It is only 27% of the size of our Sun, with about 60% of the Sun’s surface temperature. Red dwarf stars do not emit wavelengths of light needed for life forms like us. Understand that life cannot exist when the only light reaching the planet is Xrays, UV, Infrared, and radio waves.

Considering all these factors, it is highly improbable that Gliese 12 b has an atmosphere, and the presence of water, oxygen, hydrogen, or ammonia has not been detected and is unlikely to be found. Despite the media hype about exoplanets, there is no scientific evidence to support the existence of life without these elements.

Critics will say, “Maybe the life forms out there are not like us and can survive under different kinds of radiation.” Life is defined as that which can move, breathe, respond to outside stimuli, and reproduce. If you want to speculate that life can be fire people or stone people, you can do so, but scientifically, such hypothetical forms do not qualify as “life.” There is no evidence anywhere that such forms exist.

When you know the facts of what life requires, you cannot logically believe that life forms different from ours can exist in the physical creation. Media hype about exoplanets suggests alternatives that have no scientific support. Science supports Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heaven (space) and the Earth.”

Reference: sci.news and iopscience.iop.org

June 19, 2024June 18, 2024

Earth Is a Very Special Place

As of May 9, 2024, astronomers have discovered 5,616 planets orbiting other stars. Of that number, 1794 are “gas giants” like Jupiter, 1,920 are Neptune-like planets, and 1,695 are “Super-Earths,” solid planets like Earth, but much larger. That means they will have denser atmospheres of gases that are inhospitable to life. That leaves 207 terrestrial planets, of which seven have unknown features. As the James Webb telescope gathers data, these numbers will change, but the message is already clear. Earth is a very special place, and most of the exoplanets we see are unsuitable for life of any kind. By life, we mean the usual biological definition – that which can move, breathe, respond to outside stimuli, and reproduce.

Hollywood, TV, and books have given us some creative fantasies about space travel, but there are specific limitations on where humans can go. The closest star to Earth is 4.3 light years away, meaning that if you could travel at the speed of light, which is impossible, it would take 4.3 years to reach that star. The closest major galaxy to our Milky Way is Andromeda, 2,480,000 light years from Earth. That means the light coming to us from Andromeda left there 2,480,000 years ago. Humans traveling to Andromeda at the speed of light would need that long to get there. The return to Earth would take just as long, and the Earth would have aged 4,960,000 years while they were gone, even though time would have slowed for the travelers.

All of this is to say that traveling to another galaxy and back is pure fantasy and not an option for any of us. It also says that alien visits to the Earth are another fantasy that may make good movies but are not supported by evidence or common sense. Some people suggest that we are not alone and that aliens are affecting human activities, but that is a fantasy we cannot seriously consider.

The ancient psalmist wrote, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalms 8:3-4). Another Psalm says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands” (Psalms 19:1). The ancients wrote about what they could see, but now we can see so much more. We are blessed with a whole different picture of the size, power, and wisdom of God’s creation as we realize that Earth is a very special place.

Reference: Science News June 1, 2024, page 21.

June 18, 2024June 17, 2024

The Grand Canyon and Change

The Bible tells us that God designed planet Earth with the capacity to change, and the geologic and fossil record agrees with that. The Grand Canyon is one of the most fascinating places on Earth. By going to the bottom of the canyon eight times and floating on the Colorado River four times, I have seen the history of change and its benefits to humans. I have also seen the harm that humans have inflicted on the Colorado River.

The Grand Canyon is not just one massive layer of rock. The canyon exhibits multiple layers of different kinds of rocks, and each layer has a different story to tell. At the bottom of the Grand Canyon, we see rocks forged in Earth’s creation. They are tilted and eroded with a layer of sedimentary rocks on top of the eroded surface. The sedimentary rocks contain the remains of creatures that lived in an ocean that once covered the region. One animal is the trilobite, similar to today’s horseshoe crabs. A layer of petrified mud called Bright Angel Shale rests on top of the sandstone, and Mauv Limestone covers the shale layer. Limestone is only deposited in deep oceans, so change was involved.

The sea became shallower for a while and then deeper again, indicating climate change. This deeper layer is called the Redwall Limestone, but the red is caused by iron minerals seeping from rocks above it. This limestone layer is 800 feet thick and is covered by the 700-foot-thick Supai formation, which contains corals, crinoids, and gastropods not seen in earlier layers.

With a warmer climate, the ocean became shallow enough that land plants could exist. More change happened, and the area became a desert, laying down the Coconino Sandstone. That layer contains frosted sand grains produced by high winds blowing the sand, which does not happen underwater. We can see lava flows on top of some of these layers, revealing the change produced by volcanic activity. Then, a shallow sea developed and got deeper, producing the Kaibab Limestone with many ocean creatures we don’t find in earlier layers.

Over time, a series of geological changes transformed the area we now know as the Colorado Plateau. These changes, including the uplift of the land and subsequent erosion, are what we see today in the Grand Canyon. They are a testament to the dynamic nature of our planet and the resources it has provided for human survival.

Some people suggest that Noah’s flood produced the Grand Canyon. They are ignorant of petrology – the study of rocks. The canyon is 278 miles long and gives a solid testimony to the patience and wisdom of God. Noah’s time was yet to come when all of these layers were deposited, and Noah’s flood is not recorded in the rocks or biology of ancient times. Saying that God created all of these layers and fossils to fool us makes God a liar, and James 1:13 says God never misleads us. Make sure the evidence supports your convictions – not unquestioning belief in denominational teachings or blind faith in chance as the causal agent for Earth and its amazing features and living things.

June 7, 2024June 6, 2024

God Used Two Methods

In the Spring 2024 issue of God and Nature, Dr. John Carpenter has an excellent article on God’s two methods for bringing things into existence. Dr. Carpenter, a Hebrew and Greek scholar, brings a great understanding of two Hebrew terms in Genesis. Genesis uses the terms “bara” and “asah” to show that God used two methods to bring everything into existence.

The first method that Genesis refers to, “bara,” is creating the physical world and time into existence from nothing. Proverbs 8:22-23 describes this as wisdom and says, “The Lord brought me forth as the first of His works before His deeds of old. I was formed long ages ago at the very beginning when the world came to be.” The Hebrew word “bara” is never used to refer to something humans can do. We find it in Genesis 1:1. It is not used again until Genesis 1:27 to describe humans as being in the image of God, referring to our spiritual makeup. Genesis 2:3 describes the two methods God used: “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created (bara) and made (asah).”

That brings us to the second method God used to bring things into existence. “Asah” refers to things that both God and humans can do. That is to take what has already been created and change it to something new. Everything from Genesis 1:2 to Genesis 1:26 involves God making, not creating. The only other Hebrew word that refers to this process is “yatsar” used in Genesis 2:7. That term describes what a potter would do and is used here to refer to God forming the man’s human body, not his spiritual makeup in God’s image).

God used two methods to “create” and “make.” Humans have duplicated what God has done in making things, including work in genetics and genome projects. What sets humans apart from everything else is not our physical makeup. The difference between human DNA and other primates’ DNA is not huge, but human spiritual makeup is a huge difference.

Unfortunately, many denominations refuse to take the Bible literally and twist it to fit their creeds. Science and the Bible agree 100% in what they say, but bad science and bad theology do exist. No one has all the answers, but the evidence is there for all to see and study. Listen to God and not to human theologies, which were an issue in Paul’s day and are an even greater issue today.

In our booklet “God’s Revelation in His Rocks and His Word,” we echo the same point that the Genesis account, with its use of “bara” and “asah,” demonstrates that God used two methods to bring everything into existence. This understanding, when coupled with a literal interpretation of the Bible, reveals a remarkable harmony between science and the Bible, providing reassurance of their compatibility.

Reference: John B. Carpenter in God and Nature, a publication of the American Scientific Affiliation, spring 2024

June 4, 2024June 3, 2024

Spiders on Mars

An article by Eric Lagatta published in USA TODAY (April 2024) told about spiders on Mars. To Lagatta’s credit, the word “spiders” was in quotes, indicating that it might be misleading because they don’t indicate life but have a chemical explanation.

Like Earth, Mars has seasons, but they last about twice as long. In the long, dark Martian winter, temperatures are cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide, which settles and covers its dark surface. As the temperature warms, the lower layers return to the gaseous state and break through the surface layers, bringing dark dust up from the Martian surface. The gas and dust become geysers in the thin Martian atmosphere. Next, the dust settles to the surface, forming radial blotches resembling giant spider legs. The area where the pictures were taken is a 53-mile-wide asteroid crater in the south polar region of Mars, called “Inca City” because it resembles the Inca ruins in South America.

The Inca City and spiders on Mars do not indicate life. Earth, in its unique capacity to support life in our solar system, is a marvel. God has blessed us with a planet that provides everything humans need to survive. If there is life on Mars, it would have to be microscopic and deep underground. There are no “ruins” of previous civilizations on the planet and no evidence of life existing there today.

We need to learn to get along with each other because aliens from Mars or anywhere else in the solar system are not coming to help us. Also, living on Mars will be extraordinarily difficult for humans. We may go to Mars to learn more about it, but God created the Earth for us to live on and entrusted us with its care. There would be no point in abandoning it and taking our destructive lifestyles elsewhere.

Reference: usatoday.com

June 2, 2024June 2, 2024

Planet Parade Syzygy

Just before sunrise Monday morning, June 3, 2024, six planets and an asteroid will form a “planet parade.” That means they will appear in a straight line as viewed from Earth. The planets involved are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, an asteroid, Mars, Neptune, and Saturn, going from the horizon up. Understand that is how we see them from Earth because Mercury and Jupiter are nowhere near each other.

With the naked eye, you should be able to see Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter, with Jupiter being the brightest. With binoculars, you might be able to see Uranus. With a telescope and knowing where to look, you will see all seven; if the sky is clear, you are away from light pollution and have a clear view of the eastern horizon. However, a crescent moon will make viewing a little more difficult. By Thursday, the Moon will be out of the way to better view the planets, but Mercury and Jupiter will have switched places. The change of position will be caused by the outer planets (Jupiter) appearing to move more slowly than the inner planets (Mercury).

The planets’ ability to appear close together in the sky shows how flat our solar system is. In other words, the planets orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane rather than in random directions. That fact allows the outer planets, especially Jupiter, to serve as comet sweepers, protecting Earth from dangerous objects coming in from beyond the solar system.

A syzygy is a true alignment of planets, which happens very rarely. This planet parade is an interesting apparent alignment, and “syzygy” is a good word to remember the next time you play Scrabble. This beautiful view of our solar system reminds us of God’s wise artistic and engineering design.

Reference: cnn.com