Stars, Cells, and God

Rebounding from an Ice Age

Join Hugh Ross and Kevin Birdwell as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
Rebounding from an Ice Age
Earth has undergone approximately 25 ice age cycles over the last several million years, with 85 to 90% of that time spent in conditions much colder than the present warm period. Yet, every cold glacial period thus far has ended with a warm “interglacial” period similar to the present global climate. But why does this happen? What allows an Earth with a much higher percentage of ice and snow cover to recover from cold temperatures associated with the deep glacial periods of our recent past?
Links and Resources:
The Last Glacial Termination
The Relative Contribution of Orbital Forcing and Greenhouse Gases to the North American Deglaciation
GRIP Deuterium Excess Reveals Rapid and Orbital-Scale Changes in Greenland Moisture Origin
 The Timing of Major Climate Terminations
In and Out of Glacial Extremes by way of Dust-Climate Feedbacks
Glacial-Interglacial Changes in Ocean Surface Conditions in the Southern Hemisphere
Climate of the Past, Present, and Future: A Scientific Debate, 2nd ed.

Green Logging and Our Rare Galaxy

Join Hugh Ross and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
Green Logging
Eleven environmentalists have developed new techniques for determining forest ecosystem health based on the energetics of plants, trees, birds, mammals, and insects living within tropical forests in Malaysian Borneo. They compared measurements from five old-growth, unlogged forests with those from four selectively logged forests and one palm oil plantation. These environmentalists found that wise selective logging of forests maximizes possible lumbering income while simultaneously optimizing the forest ecosystem and maximizing global warming mitigation.
Our Rare Galaxy
Our Milky Way galaxy is not unusual when it comes to size, but astronomers continue to find ways that it’s unlike the vast majority of other galaxies in the universe. The latest example relates to how large the Milky Way is when accounting for the unusually small velocity dispersion of galaxies in our local neighborhood. Simulations reveal that we have to look outside a box nearly 600 million light-years on a side to expect another galaxy matching the Milky Way’s size and velocity dispersion.
Links and Resources:
Logged Tropical Forests Have Amplified and Diverse Ecosystem Energetics
The Unusual Milky Way–Local Sheet System: Implications for Spin Strength and Alignment
 

5th Force & Creation and AI & Work & Value

Join Hugh Ross and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
Fifth Force and Creation
Some scientists have speculated that a possible fifth force of physics might provide a loophole permitting them to escape the theistic implications of cosmological and origin-of-life research findings. In that scenario stars would possess larger diameters and masses than a universe with only four physical forces. However, observations of stars and ongoing analysis of helioseismic measures put stringent limits on a speculative fifth force. These limits significantly strengthen the case for biblical creation models.
AI and Work and Value
Ongoing work in artificial intelligence (AI) repeatedly generates AI systems capable of doing things once thought only possible by humans. Starting with chess in the 1990s, AIs now outperform humans in many arenas—the latest examples include the games Stratego and Diplomacy, and even writing computer code. As AIs continue to encroach on humanity’s domain, we would be wise to consider the proper way to think about human value and the importance of work—two ideas that the Bible clearly addresses.
Links and Resources: 
Mastering the Game of Stratego with Model-Free Multiagent Reinforcement Learning
Competition-Level Code Generation with AlphaCode
Human-Level Play in the Game of Diplomacy by Combining Language Models with Strategic Reasoning
Searching for Dark Energy with the Sun

Bioinspired Flying Robots and Leprosy & God's Providence

Join Hugh Ross and Fazale “Fuz” Rana as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
Bioinspired Flying Robots
Drones the size of tiny flies could be sent en masse to inspect and diagnose hazardous sites, or fly through piles of rubble to find and determine the condition of trapped victims, or released from spacecraft to assist in exploration. By meticulously copying the designs in fruit flies and gnats, scientists used miniaturized, high-power density piezoelectric devices to develop the equivalent of flight muscles. They then copied the biological gyroscope in bees to make a gyroscope that weighs only 15 milligrams. These achievements show that copying God’s designs in his creatures enables us to build machines to help us fulfill our God-given mandate to manage Earth’s resources for our benefit and the benefit of all life.
Leprosy & God’s Providence
Researchers have discovered that the mechanisms that M. leprae—the bacterium that causes leprosy—uses to spread within the human host are the same mechanisms that biomedical researchers may one day leverage to regenerate livers and, possibly, other organs. This discovery highlights God’s providential care for humanity.
Links and Resources: 
A Gyroscope-Free Visual-Inertial Flight Control and Wind Sensing System for 10-mg Robots
In vivo Partial Reprogramming by Bacteria Promotes Adult Liver Organ Growth without Fibrosis and Tumorigenesis
Viruses and God’s Providence
Viruses and God’s Providence Revisited
 

The Design of ERVs and AI, Optimism & Long Life

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
The Design of ERVs
For many people, the shared ERV sequences in the human and great ape genomes evince common ancestry and an evolutionary origin for humanity. Yet, new discoveries about the physiological role of ERVs—such as their contribution to the innate immune system—makes possible another interpretation of ERVs in the human genome. In this episode biochemist Fuz Rana discusses the latest insight into ERV molecular biology, exemplified by the ERV-encoded protein supressyn, and explores the question: “Can a creation model explain the occurrence of ERV sequences in the human genome?”
AI, Optimism, and Long Life
In an era where AI developments show great potential and great peril, ongoing research indicates that optimism plays an important role in increased longevity and health. These results affirm a repeated refrain from Scripture that we are to rejoice, be content, and have hope in all situations. We will discuss the studies leading to this conclusion as well as make the important biblical connections.
Links and Resources: 
Evolution and Antiviral Activity of a Human Protein of Retroviral Origin
Endogenous Retroviruses Help Fight Tumors
Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) Protect Early-Stage Human Embryos
Dual Use of Artificial-Intelligence-Powered Drug Discovery
Optimism, Lifestyle, and Longevity in a Racially Diverse Cohort of Women

Is Nuclear Fusion Feasible?

Is Nuclear Fusion Feasible?
Join physicists Drs. Jeff Zweerink and Eric Hedin on Stars, Cells, and God for an informative conversation on the use of nuclear fusion to address our energy needs.
A recent nuclear fusion breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility brought this topic to mainstream news. While this breakthrough is a tremendous accomplishment, the news coverage has prompted many questions about the feasibility of someday using nuclear fusion as our primary power source. Hedin and Zweerink discuss the scientific background of the achievement and address the remaining hurdles to using nuclear fusion as a replacement for fossil fuels.
Links and Resources:
National Ignition Facility Surpasses Long-Awaited Fusion Milestone

God's Artistry

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and David Block in a lively conversation about God’s artistry as witnessed in his creation in this special episode of Stars, Cells, and God.
Astronomer Dr. David Block and biochemist Dr. Fuz Rana make the case that God is an artist through a far-ranging conversation about the beautiful images coming from the James Webb Space Telescope and the remarkable design of biochemical systems—both of which highlight the beauty of creation. They also discuss the idea that our remarkable creativity as human beings only makes sense if we are made in the image of God to be co-creators.
Links and Resources: 
The Argument from Beauty: Can Evolution Explain Our Aesthetic Sense?

Hubble's Theft & Other Scientific Inaccuracies

Join Jeff Zweerink and David Block as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
Hubble’s Theft & Other Scientific Inaccuracies
The data showing the expansion of the universe is usually referred to as Hubble’s law. However, historical studies show that astronomer Edwin Hubble used others’ research without proper attribution in writing his paper on the subject in 1929. In 2018, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially voted to rename it the Hubble-Lemaître law since astronomer Georges Lemaître published a paper on the same subject in 1927, two years before Hubble. We will discuss the implications and apologetic value of this development as well as other common science/faith related misconceptions.
Links and Resources: 
Belgian Priest Recognized in Hubble-Law Name Change
IAU Members Vote to Recommend Renaming the Hubble Law as the Hubble-Lemaître Law

Viruses Fuel the Carbon Cycle and Digital Health

Join Hugh Ross and James Patterson, MD, as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
Viruses Fuel the Carbon Cycle
A recent study shows that DNA and RNA viruses in the oceans play a crucial role in the ocean carbon flux cycle. Additionally, they play significant roles in the sulfur, nitrogen, and deep ocean cycles. Viruses deposit huge amounts of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen on an ongoing basis onto the ocean floors. Once there, subducting plates move these elements into Earth’s mantle. Without this process, advanced life wouldn’t be possible. These huge deposits require that ocean viruses be extremely abundant and diverse and that they be specifically designed in a variety of ways so that advanced life can thrive.
Digital Health
In a world that is now more connected than ever in a digital sense, it seems that humans are becoming more and more disconnected. We’ve all seen it—a room full of people, all staring at their smartphones. Why is that? Why are more people depressed and suicidal now than ever before? What can we do to promote healthy living in a digitally connected society? 
Links and Resources: 
Diversity and Ecological Footprint of Global Ocean RNA Viruses
The Dark Side of Civilization

Design of the Genetic Code and Impacts and Tsunamis

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
Design of the Genetic Code (Fuz Rana)
The genetic code—the rules used to translate the information found in DNA into the information functionally expressed by proteins—displays optimization with respect to error minimization. New work by researchers from Japan indicates that the genetic code optimization exceeds 1 in 1020 randomly generated genetic codes, suggesting that the genetic code found in nature displays a greater degree of optimization than originally thought. This new insight supports the case that biochemical systems are the product of intentional design.
Impacts and Tsunamis (Jeff Zweerink)
A massive asteroid strike in the Yucatan Peninsula is known to have caused one of the mass extinctions on Earth. A recent study investigated the tsunami that would result from such a collision and found waves of incredible heights would have washed across the Northern Atlantic and Southern Pacific oceans. A search of geological records affirms the devastation wrought by these tsunamis. We’ll discuss the details of the techniques behind this research and highlight the apologetic implications of these catastrophic events.
Links and Resources:
Rare-Event Sampling Analysis Uncovers the Fitness Landscape of the Genetic Code
Fazale Rana, Fit for a Purpose
Fazale Rana, The Cell’s Design 
Fazale Rana, “The Genetic Code: Optimized for Resource Conservation”
The Chicxulub Impact Produced a Powerful Global Tsunami
Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Triggered Global Tsunami