The Universe Archives

February 24, 2026February 22, 2026

Irresponsible Comments About Dark Matter

We are seeing some irresponsible comments about dark matter in both religious and secular articles. The fact is that dark matter is a designed feature of the cosmos and demonstrates the Creator’s wisdom.

The story of dark matter begins nearly 100 years ago when a Swiss astronomer named Fritz Zwicky observed that the Coma Cluster of galaxies contained galaxies moving so fast that they should have flown apart. About 40 years later, American astronomer Vera Rubin noticed that stars along the edges of spiral galaxies were moving so fast that centrifugal force should have sent them flying into intergalactic space. In recent years, astronomers have observed gravitational lensing—the bending of light by gravity—in regions of space without visible matter. These facts point to the presence of unseen or dark matter.

Despite these irresponsible comments about dark matter, it is not where hell is located. It is not a product of celestial evolution and will not destroy the Earth, at least not in the next 1000 years. It is simply a designed feature that allows us to live on this planet in the solar system within this galaxy.

What would the universe look like if dark matter did not exist? Galaxies would need to be much larger to prevent them from collapsing into their centers due to gravity. If you visit NASA’s daily website apod.nasa.gov, you will see that space is full of galaxies. That would not be possible without dark matter.

Psalms 19:1 finds David looking at the sky, unobstructed by modern lights, and stating, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day, they pour forth speech; night after night, they reveal knowledge.” That was true in the clear skies David could observe, and it remains true today as astronomers use modern telescopes to see God’s wisdom displayed in the heavens.

Reference: Wikipedia.org

February 16, 2026February 11, 2026

Milankovitch Cycles and Life on Earth

It should come as no surprise that the amount of sunlight reaching our planet influences our climate. Serbian mathematician and astronomer Milutin Milankovitch theorized that fluctuations in Earth’s climate are caused by changes in the amount of sunlight the planet receives, and that these changes follow specific cycles. Milankovitch calculated these cycles over the last 600,000 years and suggested they are responsible for ice ages and subsequent warmer interglacial periods. Geologists examining sediment layers in areas that were once ancient ocean beds confirmed the existence of Milankovitch cycles.

The amount of sunlight reaching Earth depends on three parameters that change over long time scales: the tilt of Earth’s axis, the eccentricity of its orbit, and the precession (wobble) of its axis. Because of the tilt of Earth’s axis, we experience seasons. Earth’s orbit is nearly circular but slightly elliptical, so its distance from the Sun varies. The precession of Earth’s axis is a slight wobble over time, similar to the wobbling of a spinning top.

Earth’s orbit is more circular than those of any other planet in our solar system. Because of this, the length of our seasons is approximately equal, but over long periods, these can change. The tilt of our planet’s axis is 23.4°, but it has varied in past ages from 22.1° to 24.5°. The precession of Earth’s axis also shifts over extended timescales. All three factors influence Earth’s climate because they alter the amount of sunlight reaching its surface.

The climate changes driven by these three factors are known as Milankovitch Cycles. The mathematician/astronomer calculated these cycles, and geologists have confirmed his calculations through examination of sediment layers from ancient ocean beds. The last Ice Age occurred about 20,000 years ago, when woolly mammoths roamed on ice sheets covering much of North America, Europe, and Asia. Over the past 10,000 years, the climate has remained remarkably stable, enabling the development of advanced civilizations.

As scientists study exoplanets beyond our solar system, they seek to determine their Milankovitch cycles because these cycles are another critical factor in assessing whether a planet can support advanced life. Mars has Milankovitch cycles that are far more extreme than Earth’s, which limits its potential to sustain life. Without the stabilizing influence of our relatively large Moon, Earth’s axis could oscillate up to 30°, leading to severe climate fluctuations. The more we learn about our unique planet, the more evident it becomes that God has finely tuned it to meet all our needs.

Reference: space.com

February 3, 2026January 31, 2026

Habitable Worlds Observatory

In a quest to detect life on a planet outside of our solar system, NASA has awarded three-year contracts to seven different companies to address the engineering challenges of a new precision space telescope. Since 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope has been capturing images of the universe in infrared light. Prior to that, the Hubble Space Telescope provided us with a deeper understanding of the secrets of space in the visible-light spectrum. The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is designed to pursue a different goal.

The HWO will be NASA’s most powerful space telescope, aiming to find signs of life in the universe. It will analyze light passing through the atmospheres of distant planets orbiting stars hundreds or even thousands of light-years away. Doing this will require a coronagraph thousands of times more powerful than any built before. A coronagraph is an instrument that blocks out the light from the Sun or other stars to reveal the faint atmospheres of exoplanets. It must also be repairable in space if any stray micrometeoroids impact its surface. The optical system must be stable within the width of a single atom. The precision required for the Habitable Worlds Observatory telescope surpasses any current technology.

This telescope must be far more advanced than the Webb Space Telescope, and you may recall the challenges and costs associated with that project. The goal is to have the Habitable Worlds Observatory ready for launch by the late 2030s or early 2040s. Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator, stated that this is “exactly the kind of bold, forward-leaning science that only NASA can undertake.”

If the project succeeds in demonstrating that life could potentially exist on a planet outside our solar system, what then? If the planet is thousands of light-years away, we would be observing what it was like thousands of years ago. It will also take that long for us to beam a message to it, and if there are intelligent beings there, it will take an equal amount of time for them to respond. Traveling to such a planet would take humans many times longer, since it’s impossible to travel faster than a small fraction of light speed. Furthermore, even if we see signs that life could exist on a distant planet, we still won’t know for sure if life actually does.

One thing we can be certain of is that the project will take a lot of time and cost a lot of money. However, Isaacman says, “We intend to move with urgency.” In other words, there is an “urgent” desire to find out if there is life or any sentient beings beyond our planet. The truth is, there is a Being out there who has communicated with us, and He has even come to our planet to show us how to live and to redeem us from our sins. Perhaps the greatest urgency is for us to communicate with and come into a right relationship with Him.

References: space.com and youtube.com

November 21, 2025November 20, 2025

Evidence for the Existence of a Creator in the Big Bang

Cosmology offers compelling evidence for the existence of a creator God. Many people in both religious and skeptical communities see the Big Bang theory as a threat to the credibility of the Genesis account and the existence of God. However, this is unfortunate because the Big Bang theory actually aligns with the Genesis account and presents a cause of creation that skeptics cannot explain.

Technology has confirmed the Big Bang. The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) provides the oldest record of the universe’s temperature and density from the very beginning. The latest CMB data show that the universe began with a hot Big Bang. Data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe verify that time started at the Big Bang.

The words of Genesis 1:1 fully correspond to this data. The first word in the Bible is “reshith,” meaning an absolute starting point. The next word refers to God, followed by “bara,” a term used exclusively for acts only God can perform. Then, we see the word is “shamayim,” meaning “heaved-up things.” The rapid expansion of the universe aligns perfectly with this wording.

Further study of the biblical record reveals the ongoing battle between good and evil and God’s creation of humans through whom that battle occurs. (See Job 1 and 2.) Skeptics cannot explain why humans exist. The greatest failure of atheism is that it offers no reason for the existence of the cosmos or human life. When science and religion conflict, it often indicates either poor science, poor religion, or both. Historically, this has been the case with the Big Bang theory, but as science progresses and people deepen their understanding of what the Bible truly teaches, we see that both science and Scripture provide strong evidence for the existence of a Creator.

Reference: American Scientist, November/December 2025, pages 353 -359.

October 31, 2025October 28, 2025

Earth Needs Jupiter

Jupiter is by far the largest planet in the solar system. Its mass is 2.5 times greater than the combined mass of all other planets in the solar system. It divides the planets of the inner solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) from the outer planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). We have previously mentioned that the gravity created by Jupiter’s mass acts as a shield to protect our planet from comets coming from outside the solar system. Additionally, Jupiter influences Earth’s climate cycle. More than that, Earth needs Jupiter for its very existence.

As the solar system was formed, Jupiter’s massive gravity prevented gas and dust in the inner solar system from being pulled into the Sun. These materials coalesced into the inner planets, including Earth. As the planets formed, Jupiter’s gravity helped stabilize the orbits. A recent study co-led by Andre Izidoro of Rice University in Houston demonstrated that Jupiter shaped the structure of the solar system. Earth needs Jupiter today, just as it needed it at the beginning.

According to Izidoro, “Jupiter didn’t just become the biggest planet—it set the architecture for the whole inner solar system. Without it, we might not have Earth as we know it.” As gas and dust swirled around the newly formed Sun, Jupiter’s massive gravity created ripples that formed rings of material which clumped together by gravity to form the inner planets. Earth needs Jupiter because, without it, the material that formed the planet would have spiraled into the Sun.

Genesis 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth,” but it doesn’t specify the process God used or how long it took. If the Bible included every detail, it would be an enormous book. But the Bible is not a science book, and scientists are still exploring the processes God used in creation. It is fascinating to consider how complex the creation process must have been, yet the first verse of the Bible contains the essential facts. There was a beginning. God did it. The creation of a functioning universe, a solar system, and a planet for human habitation is summarized in five Hebrew words—“reshith elohim bara shamayim erets.”

References: space.com and science.org

October 20, 2025October 20, 2025

Precisely Nothing – Is It Something?

What is “precisely nothing?” Theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss used that phrase in the preface of his 2012 New York Times best-selling book titled A Universe from Nothing. Krass at that time was a professor at Arizona State University and head of the Origins Project there. He later lost that position due to “moral failure,” and is now an anti-theist blogger. An anti-theist is more than an atheist. He does not believe in God, but also actively opposes faith in a creator. Like other anti-theists, he believes that faith in God is not just wrong, but destructive to society.

On what did Krauss base his statement that there was “remarkable new support for the idea that our universe arose from precisely nothing?” Krauss suggests that quantum gravity fluctuations could allow for “the creation, albeit perhaps momentarily, of space itself where none existed before.” Furthermore, “small-density fluctuations in empty space due to the rules of quantum mechanics will later be responsible for all the structures we observe in the universe today. So we, and everything we see, result out of quantum fluctuations in what is essentially nothingness…” He further writes that the universe arose through “a process whereby the energy of empty space (nothing) gets converted into the energy of something.”

Is what Krauss calls “precisely nothing” actually nothing? You may have the same feeling that I have that someone is trying to fool you into believing nonsense. When he writes that “getting something from nothing is not a problem,” I have trouble believing him. Perhaps I am simple-minded, but I prefer a simple explanation of why there is something instead of nothing. It’s explained in a video called a “Proof of God in 3 Minutes.” I encourage you to watch it by clicking HERE.

June 2, 2025June 1, 2025

Why We Care About Entropy

As a high school physics teacher, I frequently found myself challenged to keep my students interested. Some subjects were easy, but others were challenging, and the kids became bored very quickly. An example of the latter was a unit on the laws of thermodynamics. The second law, also known as the entropy law, states that a closed system tends to become increasingly disordered over time. Entropy is a statistical measure of disorder. During that unit of study, I once had a student who said, “Who cares?” There are good reasons why we care about entropy.

My response is that entropy is a design feature of the cosmos that produces black holes, but it also allows us to breathe and have engines in our cars. As a public-school teacher, I could not bring my religious views into the classroom, but it also disproves one of the atheist arguments against the existence of God.

When we say that God has always existed and He created the cosmos, atheists ask, “Then who created God?” They suggest it is easier to believe that matter has always existed. Why we care about entropy is that it shows that matter and the cosmos have not always existed.

Every reaction in the physical world reduces the amount of energy available to do work. The total energy in the cosmos available to do work is constantly decreasing, eventually becoming zero, and entropy will be maximum. That means the cosmos could not be eternal, and it must have had a beginning. There must be a cause for that beginning, and that cause is God.

May 12, 2025

The Creation of Matter from Nothing

In high school, I enjoyed science and decided that I wanted to be a scientist of some kind. I entered Indiana University and enrolled in an astronomy course at the feet of one of the great astronomers of the day. In that course, we studied the problem of origins — the creation of matter from nothing. As we discussed this subject, we went into various theories that had been proposed.

When we got to the conclusion of the discussion, I asked the professor which of the theories was the most acceptable one that satisfactorily explains the creation of matter from nothing. He leaned over the desk, looked me straight in the eye, and said, “Young man, you need to learn to ask intelligent questions.”

I did not appreciate the professor’s response, so I said, “Well, what do you mean?” He said, “This is not a question that a scientist tries to answer. This is a question for the philosopher or theologian, but this is not something that falls into the realm of science.” In today’s discussions of black holes and parallel universes, things have not changed. The fundamental question of the creation of matter/energy from absolutely nothing is not an area that can be scientifically explored.

I had always felt that science could ultimately answer all the questions humans have. I believed there was no challenge that science could not eventually resolve. Yet this learned man, an expert in his field, said that this was an area that the scientist should not even try to answer. It was totally beyond the capacity of science to explain and explore.

That was more than 50 years ago. Today there are even more questions science can’t answer, and one of the remaining unanswered questions involves the creation of matter from nothing.

This was adapted from “Why I Left Atheism” by John N. Clayton. You can read the entire story HERE.

May 9, 2025May 8, 2025

Confidence in Astronomical Observations

Some people have asked how we can know that astronomers’ statements about the evolution and demise of stars are factual. This question is usually asked by those in religious denominations that demand a young Earth, which means a young cosmos. Even though the time factors are much longer than human existence, we can have confidence in astronomical observations.

Although humanity has not been around long enough to observe the complete life of a star, we have seen intermediate steps in star evolution. Astronomers plot the luminosity (brightness) of stars against their surface temperature (or color/spectral type) with graphs called the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram. It’s a powerful tool for classifying stars, studying their evolution, and understanding their properties. An example is the Crab Nebula.

In 1054, astronomers saw a star explode. The debris pattern of the explosion resembles a crab, so astronomers call it the Crab Nebula. Almost a millennium later, measurements show that the nebula is roughly 10 light years in diameter and is expanding at 1,500 kilometers per second. Observations of the Crab Nebula by the Hubble telescope in 2005 and the Webb telescope in 2023 show steps in the life of a star. Observations of other stars provide more information about a star’s lifetime, giving us confidence in astronomical observations.

Even though I didn’t see the launch, if I see a rocket climbing higher in the sky with every passing second, I know it was launched. I can even compute the launch time. When a car comes to a stop, leaving tire tracks, I know the car was going fast when someone applied the brakes. Every day, we understand evidence of a process without seeing it from start to finish. Astronomers come to understand the life history of stars in the same way.

As we have pointed out before, the Bible does not tell us the age of the cosmos or Earth. We can have confidence in astronomical observations. Young-earth theology is not only in opposition to the evidence but is also inconsistent with the biblical account.

References: apod.nasa.gov for May 8, 2025, and Wikipedia.

February 26, 2025February 26, 2025

The Mysterious Neutrino

A fascinating science story involves the mysterious neutrino. The famous Italian physicist Enrico Fermi gave it that name, which means “little neutral one.” When I was a graduate student at Indiana University, we were told that neutrinos are the binding energy holding neutrons together. A neutron consists of an electron and a proton held together, making a neutral particle. When a neutron decays, it releases an electron and a proton. Measuring the energy of these two particles leaves a tiny amount of energy unaccounted for. Neutrinos explain that missing energy.

Scientists later discovered that the mysterious neutrino is present anytime there is a change in a nucleus. Neutrinos are so tiny they can go through virtually anything, making them extremely difficult to detect or measure. Researchers obtained neutrino measurements by putting detectors made of glass spheres on the Mediterranean Sea floor and reported their findings in February of 2023. Now, we know that some neutrinos are 30 times more energetic than any previously known neutrinos. They are vastly more energetic than photons that make up visible light, X-rays, and ultraviolet rays.

The media has named the mysterious neutrinos “ghost particles” because of their properties. The truth is that neutrinos tell us that what holds matter together is not the physical material we can sense. Science does not fully understand matter and the particles of which it is made—electrons, protons, and neutrons. Those particles are made of energy in a form different from what we learned in chemistry class. What message about God can we see in the mysterious neutrinos?

The Bible tells us that God is not a man. Isaiah 55:8-9 finds God saying “…my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” In Acts 17:28, Paul described the nature of God by saying, “…in Him we live and move and have our being.” John 1:14 tells us that the God of Israel BECAME flesh and lived for a while among us.” In Exodus 33:18-23, Moses asks God to show himself, but God tells Moses no human can see Him and live (verse 20). These passages tell us that God is not a physical being, and what He does is not by the processes that humans can use.

The more we know about what holds matter together, the more we realize that God’s methods and design are not by physical processes we know, understand, or can duplicate. It reminds us of the words of David in Psalms 8:3-4: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him. You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”

References: CNN Science and Wikipedia