The Earth Archives

July 14, 2026July 13, 2026

What Is a Star-Filled Sky Worth?

What is a star-filled sky worth? When David wrote his psalms, he sat under a star-filled sky without the problem of light pollution from city lights, satellites, or reflective mirrors in the sky. What would it be like if there were tens of thousands of mirrors in low Earth orbit reflecting sunlight down onto various dark areas of the planet?

A California company called Reflect Orbital (we reported on it earlier) hopes to put at least 50,000 mirrors in orbit by 2035 to reflect sunlight onto various customers on Earth’s surface. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just given them permission to test the idea by launching their first space mirror into orbit.

Ben Nowak, the CEO of Reflect Orbital, suggests endless possibilities with sunlight not limited by geography or time of day. His company’s website says it could help search-and-rescue teams locate a missing person much more quickly. Another suggestion is that a city could have evenly lit streets without carbon emissions from electric-powered streetlights. Furthermore, construction projects could be completed in half the time because the crews could work safely through the night. And, of course, they also suggest mirrors reflecting sunlight onto solar arrays could extend their electricity-generating ability and reduce the use of fossil fuels.

The question is, what is a star-filled sky worth? Many people visit dark-sky locations to enjoy the stars and the Milky Way at night. The Colorado Plateau in the southwestern United States spans Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico and is home to many of the best dark-sky locations. Places like Grand Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Great Basin National Park, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Natural Bridges National Monument are locations where visitors see the night sky without major light pollution.

So far, the emphasis has been on the economic advantages that could be derived from placing mirrors in space to direct sunlight into various locations. But a team of researchers is attempting to put an economic price on the cost of the loss of dark skies and the impact on tourism. They’re concerned about the “decline in visitor satisfaction when environmental quality deteriorates.” Another factor that must be considered is the effect on wildlife in areas where those mirrors are beamed and the circadian rhythm of animals, plants, and people from the diffused light that is scattered out into a larger area. God has given us a beautiful night sky that the psalmist was able to enjoy thousands of years ago. It is already disappearing. Will that be completely lost to coming generations? What is a star-filled sky worth?

References: space.com HERE and HERE

July 10, 2026July 9, 2026

Why a Seven-Day Week?

An interesting question young people ask is why there are seven days in a week and why we have a weekend. The Bible gave humans a seven-day week, and that framework works very well. Genesis 2:2 tells us that on the seventh day God rested from the creation of the cosmos, and Exodus 20:11 repeats that assertion.

Skeptics have said this was copied from the Babylonians, since ancient Babylonian astronomers could see seven astronomical bodies – Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. But the Babylonians had a five-day week, and Babylonian contracts from Mari (Tell el-Hariri) show there was no day of rest or Sabbath, as work was carried on continuously. Other cultures had systems based on different numbers of days, such as the Egyptian ten-day week and the Roman eight-day week.

Attempts to replace the seven-day week with an astronomical system have failed. A day is the time for one rotation of the Earth on its axis, and a year is the time it takes for the Earth to make one revolution around the Sun. The problem is that it takes 365 and ¼ days to make one revolution, so we have to add an extra day in February every four years (for a leap year).

The seven-day week is a creation of God. It is seen in every part of human activity, including mental health and bodily functions. Every other system humans have tried has been unsuccessful. God created man in a way that allows us to live longer than any other mammal. The weekend reminds us of our unique existence, and the Sabbath in ancient times and the Lord’s Day in the Christian era reinforce our faith if we will allow them to.

References: USA Today and Wikipedia.

July 2, 2026June 28, 2026

Extraterrestrial Life Has Visited Earth

There continues to be a lot of talk and concern about intelligent alien life invading planet Earth. This shows up in news reports about the federal government releasing UFO (UAP) files and in recent movies. Is it possible that extraterrestrial life has visited Earth or is presently visiting Earth?

There is no evidence of intelligent alien life anywhere in our solar system. That means any extraterrestrial visitors would have to come from another star system elsewhere in our Milky Way. We don’t have any evidence, either through SETI or by any of our space telescopes, to indicate that intelligent life could be living on a planet or possibly a moon anywhere closer than many light-years from Earth. The closest star to our Sun is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.25 light-years away. So, any intelligent aliens would have to travel for many years, or possibly centuries, to get here. That assumes they could travel at 10% of the speed of light. Light speed is 186,000 miles (300,000,000 meters) per second. Einstein’s equations, which have been verified, indicate that it is not possible to travel anywhere near the speed of light. In fact, most studies suggest that 10% of the speed of light (19,000 miles per second) is the highest realistic speed for traveling through space.

The reason for the speed limitation involves the laws of physics, engineering constraints, and the amount of fuel required to propel a spacecraft. Because space has no air, traveling through it causes less resistance than traveling through our atmosphere. Once the spacecraft achieves its cruising speed, the propulsion system could be shut down. However, it would have to be used again many years later for deceleration at the end of the journey.

Even though there’s no air in space, there are hydrogen atoms and microscopic-sized grains of dust. Traveling at 19,000 miles per second, those dust particles would hit a spacecraft’s hull like speeding bullets, possibly piercing the hull unless it was sufficiently thick. Even striking hydrogen atoms would produce radiation that could erode the hull. Therefore, the hull would have to be thicker, increasing the mass and requiring more fuel. More fuel adds more weight, so you must add more fuel to compensate for the weight of that extra fuel. It’s a vicious cycle.

All of our rockets that propel payloads into space have used chemical reactions for propulsion. The mass of fuel needed for a spacecraft to reach a velocity of 19,000 miles per second would require more chemical fuel than the mass of the entire observable universe. Therefore, chemical propulsion is not feasible. Nuclear fusion is something that NASA has been working on, and it would be a more efficient way to generate propulsion, but getting a spaceship to cruise at 19,000 miles per second would require nuclear fuel equivalent to 150 times the spaceship’s mass. Therefore, that doesn’t seem like a good alternative. Another possibility would be antimatter propulsion, which exists only in theory. So far, scientists have created only 20 billionths of a gram of antimatter, and it lasts only a fraction of a second. Plus, the cost of producing it runs into hundreds of millions of dollars.

If extraterrestrial life has visited Earth, we would expect it to face many physical problems. Beyond that, there is the time required. If they were coming from a star system 50 light-years away and traveling at 10 percent of the speed of light, it would take them 500 years to get here. Unless these intelligent space aliens have extremely long lifespans, it would have to be a multi-generational trip. They would have to be much better than human earthlings at getting along with each other in confined spaces. They would also need a strong desire to visit our planet. If they were that interested in us, they could send electromagnetic radio waves, which travel at the speed of light.

The intelligence, technology, and physical resources required for extraterrestrials to travel to Earth are enormous. In addition, if they came from a civilization so advanced that they could solve all of these problems, why would they waste all those resources to visit the relatively primitive planet Earth?

Considering the facts, the probability that extraterrestrial life has visited Earth seems extremely slim. However, there is very strong evidence that extraterrestrial life has visited Earth. This planet has been visited by its Creator, and He looked like one of us. We have dealt with the evidence of that visitation many times before, and you can read the story of it in the first 14 verses of the Gospel of John in your Bible.

Reference: theconversation.com

May 18, 2026May 16, 2026

Africa’s Massive Size

How big is Africa? With Africa’s massive size, you could overlay the United States, China, India, Eastern Europe, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and Japan on top of Africa with no overlap among the countries.

Many misunderstandings stem from the way maps are drawn. Mercator maps, which we are familiar with, show the United States as a very large landmass, and we know it has many natural resources. How blessed Africa is in terms of natural resources remains unknown because of Africa’s huge size and human exploitation. Wars have been fought over much smaller areas of land.

The implications of Africa’s massive size are enormous, with the greatest being an abundance of natural resources along with an abundance of people who need to hear the Gospel. Nearly every element necessary for technology can be found in Africa. However, the exploitation of the people in Africa has prevented the extraction of most of these resources, and many are still unexplored. Human greed has prevented us from using the abundant resources God has provided, but the problem all begins with the exploitation of other humans.

Reference: Skeptical Inquirer, volume 50 #3, pages 52-59

April 23, 2026April 22, 2026

Two Views of the Universe

Prominent atheists recently became upset by Victor Glover’s words aboard Artemis 2 during its history-making trip around the Moon. Some even expressed concern about the “separation of church and space.” We have written before about Victor Glover and his status as a Bible-believing Christian. When he spoke from space, he seemed to receive approval from the other astronauts, but not from atheists on the ground. We see the contrast between the two views of the universe.

Some of Glover’s words that apparently upset atheists include, “You’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe…You are special. In all of this emptiness, this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe, you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together…” Why should those words distress anyone?

Historically, many early scientists explored creation because they believed in an orderly universe created by an intelligent God. Many astronauts have said that being in space gave them a spiritual experience as they realized that Earth reveals design and purpose. I remember watching the Apollo 8 crew read from the book of Genesis on Christmas Day in 1968 as they traveled around the Moon. Our present NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, said that his time in space convinced him that “the heavens declare the glory of God.”

Many leading science popularizers have tried to tell us that science destroys Christian belief. Richard Dawkins, Bill Nye, Michael Shermer, Lawrence Krauss, and others have written popular books arguing that science makes belief in God unnecessary and implausible. The two views of the universe can’t both be correct. The truth is that scientific discoveries continue to support belief in God and challenge the atheist concept.

Years ago, Carl Sagan said that Earth is such a tiny dot in the universe that it shows we have no privileged position in the cosmos. Victor Glover said that we are not a lonely cosmic accident, but instead, we are loved. On April 30, 2026, the movie “The Story of Everything” will open in select theaters nationwide. It will compare the two views of the universe—the atheist view and the biblical view that God designed and created all things and that He loves us. I think the movie will show that God’s story is the best and that it is actually supported by science.

References: scienceandculture.com HERE and HERE. You can see Victor Glover’s statement from space HERE. Click H ERE for more information about “The Story of Everything.”

April 10, 2026April 10, 2026

Return From the Moon

The astronauts of Artemis 2 have made their successful return from the Moon. I am sure that we will soon learn new things about the Moon and space flight. The plan is to land people on the Moon as early as two years from now.

This week, we have been looking back at information we have posted about the Moon over the last several years. Our Moon is more than 50 times more massive relative to our planet than the moons of any other planets in our solar system. Because of that, its gravitational pull affects life on Earth. Its braking power has slowed Earth’s rotation rate to give us 24-hour days. Longer days would cause day-to-night temperature extremes, and shorter days would produce extreme climate fluctuations. The Moon also stabilizes the tilt of Earth’s axis, which is essential for a stable climate.

The size and albedo (reflectivity) of the Moon provide the optimum nighttime illumination for nocturnal animals. Its size allows it to periodically eclipse the Sun, giving scientists much to learn about the Sun’s corona. The bottom line is that, according to astrophysicist Hugh Ross, for a planet to host advanced life requires a planet-moon system “with virtually identical” to ours, and it “must orbit a star virtually identical to the Sun.”

We can be thankful that God has given us the exact Moon that we have. I am sure that when astronauts return from the Moon, they will be glad that we live on planet Earth. Click HERE to learn a lesson in perspective from the Moon, written by John N. Clayton.

April 9, 2026April 9, 2026

A Solar Eclipse from Space

The Moon is just the right size and at the right distance from Earth to give us perfect solar eclipses. Tomorrow is the day when Artemis 2, with its crew of four, is scheduled to return to Earth. While on their journey around the Moon, they witnessed a solar eclipse from space. It was not the same as seeing a solar eclipse from Earth because the Moon was much closer to them than it is to us on Earth. Because of that, the Moon’s shadow was larger, but the astronauts could still see the Sun’s corona.

Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon two to four times per year, casting a shadow on the lunar surface. Total lunar eclipses are less common than partial or penumbral eclipses, but they are more interesting to watch. According to legend, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS USED A TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE to get the supplies he needed from the people of Jamaica. Whether full or partial, lunar eclipses can serve to remind us of HOW ESSENTIAL OUR MOON IS.

It was a rare and interesting experience for the astronauts to travel around the Moon and observe a solar eclipse from space, but I’m sure they will be excited to return home. They will be bringing back new information about our natural satellite, and the more we learn, the more we see evidence of God’s design.

April 7, 2026April 7, 2026

How Many Moons in Our Solar System?

As I write this, four Artemis 2 astronauts are on their way back to Earth after making a trip around the Moon. Until they make their planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California, on Friday, April 10, 2026, I want to look back at what we’ve written about our amazing natural satellite. Our Moon is very unique—unlike any other moon—in both size and number. There are how many moons in our solar system? You can see from THIS ARTICLE that the number of confirmed moons keeps changing.

Will the number of confirmed moons change again in the future? Probably, but we know that Earth has only one Moon, and it is just the right SIZE and MASS.

So, there are how many moons in our solar system? If you count all the moons orbiting the planets, the total is approximately 430. That number is subject to change, but there is only one that is just right, and I am sure God designed it that way.

March 25, 2026March 25, 2026

The Benefits of Sunlight

It’s springtime, and one of the great things about this season is that it gives us more daylight hours. The benefits of sunlight and its warmth help plants grow, making everything feel new. In Genesis 1:14, we read that God cleared the air to make the lights in the sky visible, so they could separate day from night and serve as signs for seasons, days, and years. Animals rely on the Sun, Moon, and stars to know when to breed and when and how to migrate. Plants need sunlight for photosynthesis, which produces oxygen that humans and animals need.

The benefits of sunlight include both our physical and mental health. Sunlight regulates our circadian rhythm, the biological clock that controls sleep, appetite, and hormone production. Daylight boosts serotonin levels, signaling it’s time to wake up. Spending time outside in the sunlight helps our bodies produce vitamin D, which may help protect against dementia, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic illnesses.

After a long, dark winter, going outside to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air makes us feel refreshed. Even sitting near a window with sunlight streaming in improves our mood. Light therapy is sometimes used to treat depression, especially seasonal depression during the winter months. While we consider the benefits of sunlight, we need to remember that excessive direct exposure to ultraviolet light can lead to skin cancer, cataracts, and macular degeneration.

Genesis 1:15 states that the “lights in the expanse of the sky” were meant to “give light on the earth.” John 1:4-5 tells us Jesus came to bring true light to the world. We could not live without the benefits of sunlight, and I wouldn’t want to live in a world without Jesus, who came to bring us light and life. John also reminds us that Jesus created the light and everything else that exists. (See John 1:1-14.)

March 16, 2026March 15, 2026

Water Is Unlike Any Other Substance

My astronomy students were always amazed to learn the basic physics fact that water exists in 22 different forms throughout the solar system, and that water is unlike any other substance on planet Earth. A simple example of this is to consider why a lake freezes, with ice on top and liquid water underneath. When most substances cool, they become denser, but at 4 degrees Celsius, water starts to violate that rule and becomes less dense.

Every elementary student knows that water can exist as vapor, liquid, or solid (ice). On Earth, water boils at 100 degrees C when the air pressure is 100 kilopascals. (A Pascal is 1 newton per square meter, and there are roughly 4.45 Newtons in a pound). At the same air pressure, water freezes at 0 degrees C. If you drop the air pressure to 100 Pascals, ice turns into water vapor, skipping the liquid phase altogether. One more point of interest to astronomers is that if the pressure is extreme–over 100 gigapascals–water will exist as ice regardless of the temperature.

As space probes visit other planets and their moons, they measure temperatures. Not only do the temperatures tell us about these bodies, but the shapes of ice crystals on them can tell us about the conditions there. Natural water ice crystals on Earth are hexagonal, but since water is unlike any other substance, scientists in the lab have forced ice crystals to take six different shapes. Depending on the temperature and pressure, they can be cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, rhombohedral, and monoclinic.

It has been said that the more we know about the creation, the closer we get to the creator. Because water is unlike any other substance, its structure allows a lake to freeze on the surface while life continues under the ice. The presence of water on other planets and their moons throughout the solar system enables the clockwork precision that allows Earth to endure for centuries with great stability. We learn about all of this through the facts of science discovered by human minds. Genesis 1:1 not only tells us that there was a beginning to time, space, and matter/energy, but we now know that the “heavens” includes God’s miracle glue that holds it all together–water.

Reference: March 2026 issue of Scientific American (pages 12-13)