Stars, Cells, and God

Our Galaxy's Supermassive Black Hole and ERV Design

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, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.
The Milky Way Galaxy’s supermassive black hole is exceptionally small, about 35 times less massive than spiral galaxies of a similar size. The first-achieved image of its event horizon by the Event Horizon Telescope reveals an exceptionally quiet radiation level. What is the intensity and variability of our galaxy’s supermassive black hole’s radiation just outside its event horizon? What do this intensity and variability imply for advanced civilization on Earth? How much longer can we count on our galaxy’s supermassive black hole being quiet enough for civilization on Earth?   
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 suggest another interpretation of ERVs in the human genome. Biochemist Fuz Rana discusses the latest insight into ERV molecular biology and explores the question: “Can a creation model explain the occurrence of ERV sequences in the human genome?”
In this episode Hugh and Fuz discuss these important topics.
Links and Resources :
First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. III. Imaging of the Galactic Center Supermassive Black Hole
First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. V. Testing Astrophysical Models of the Galactic Center Black Hole
Black Holes as Evidence of God’s Care
Designed to the Core (Covina, CA: RTB Press, 2022), by Hugh Ross (book)
Movements of Ancient Endogenous Retroviruses Detected in SOX2-Expressing Cells
Endogenous Retroviruses Help Fight Tumors
Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) Protect Early-Stage Human Embryos

Deadly Superflares and Life Building Blocks from Space?

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, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.
An improved particle acceleration and transport model has produced the best determinations yet of superflare rates and intensities for the Sun, known solar-like stars, and stars less massive than the Sun throughout their nuclear burning histories. A recent study shows that the Sun’s present luminosity variability is five times less than that of stars most closely resembling the Sun. What does the Sun’s extreme luminosity stability say about advanced life on Earth? What do the superflare determinations say about the origin of life on Earth, the Sun’s features relative to known solar-like stars, and the habitability of planets orbiting stars smaller than the Sun?
Origin-of-life investigators have discovered hundreds of organic compounds in carbon-rich meteorites, including amino acids and nucleobases, key molecular building blocks for life. These findings suggest to some scientists that the inventory of prebiotic materials needed for life could have been delivered through impactors striking the early Earth. Fuz looks at the latest claims for extraterrestrial delivery of life’s building blocks and explores the question “How did life originate?”
In this episode Hugh and Fuz discuss these important topics.
Links and Resources:
Extreme Energetic Particle Events by Superflare-Associated CMEs from Solar-Like Stars
The Sun Is Less Active Than Other Solar-Like Stars
Designed to the Core (Covina, CA: RTB Press, 2022), by Hugh Ross (book
Identifying the Wide Diversity of Extraterrestrial Purine and Pyrimidine Nucleobases in Carbonaceous Meteorites
Meteorite Protein Discovery: Does It Validate Chemical Evolution?

Fine-Tuning of Cell Membrane Composition and Beyond the Standard Model

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, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.
Cell membranes are incredibly complex biochemical suprasystems composed of hundreds of different types of lipids. Is there any rhyme or reason to the compositional makeup of cell membranes or do they merely reflect the outworking of historically contingent evolution? In this episode, Fuz Rana discusses a recent study that reveals the rationale for the compositional complexity of cell membranes, highlighting that these systems display an organization and compositional fine-tuning that can be marshaled to make a case for intelligent design.
The standard model of particle physics stands as an incredibly robust model of the universe with great explanatory power. Yet scientists know it is incomplete. New measurements of the W boson mass might provide clues about how to extend the standard model. Will the new measurements hold up under further scrutiny? Will they provide ways to explain dark matter and other holes in the standard model?
In this episode Fuz and Jeff discuss these important topics.
Links and Resources:
Membrane Thickness, Lipid Phase and Sterol Type Are Determining Factors in the Permeability of Membranes to Small Solutes
Bringing Order to the Case for Intelligent Design, Part 1
Biotic Borders: Cell Membranes under Scrutiny
High-Precision Measurement of the W Boson Mass with the CDF II Detector 

Benefits of Wolf Predation and Do Chimps Use Humanlike Language?

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and visiting scholar Kyle Keltz as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.
Many skeptics regard animal pain and suffering and the seemingly cruel, gratuitous death of animals in nature as fundamentally incompatible with God’s existence, or at least with God’s goodness. These complaints assume God doesn’t have good reasons to create a world with animal death, pain, and suffering. But is that true? In this episode, Fuz discusses one of those good reasons. Recent work indicates that wolf predation keeps moose populations at their zenith of health by removing individuals suffering from infectious agents and genetic diseases.
A 1991 study of wild chimpanzees found they’re able to use drumming to signal changes of direction and resting periods to their group members. This year an animal cognition researcher argues this evidence suggests chimpanzees can use language in humanlike ways by combining drumming in different sequences to create new meaning. However, other current research into great apes suggests their capacity for communication is largely innate and biologically inherited. So, can chimpanzees create meaning like humans can, or are they like the great apes who have inherited this capacity?
In this episode, Fuz and Kyle discuss these important topics.
Links and Resources:
The Role of Wolves in Regulating a Chronic Non-Communicable Disease, Osteoarthritis, in Prey Populations
Animal Death Prevents Ecological Meltdown
Life from Death
Overlooked Evidence for Semantic Compositionality and Signal Reduction in Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Great Ape Gestures: Intentional Communication with a Rich Set of Innate Signals
Symbolic Communication in Wild Chimpanzees?

Panspermia and Life's Origin and Self-Replicating RNAs

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, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.
An interdisciplinary, international team of 33 scientists states that “life was seeded here on Earth by life-bearing comets as soon as conditions on Earth allowed it.” However, their assertion requires that prebiotic chemistry has been operating ubiquitously throughout the universe for near-infinite time and that “the entire galaxy (and perhaps a local group of galaxies) constitutes a single connected biosphere.” Do astronomical observations support the team’s assertion and their hypothesis that life, viruses, genes, or life molecules could survive interstellar space travel?   
One of the defining features of life is the ability to self-replicate. How did chemical evolutionary processes generate self-replicating systems? To address this question, origin-of-life investigators seek to create self-replicating RNA molecules through a process called in vitro evolution. A team of Japanese scientists evolved a network of self-replicating RNA molecules from a clonal population of self-replicating RNAs. What does this work mean for evolutionary models for the origin of life—and what does it mean for RTB’s creation model?
In this episode Hugh and Fuz discuss these important topics.
Links and Resources:
Chapter Two – Cometary Panspermia and Origin of Life? 
Cause of Cambrian Explosion – Terrestrial or Cosmic?
Origins of LifeLife and the Transfer of Life Near the Galactic Center
Evolutionary Transition from a Single RNA Replicator to a Multiple Replicator Network
Have Origin-of-Life Researchers Found the RNA World “Money Train”?

Distant Star Affirms Big Bang and Whale and Hippo Skin by Design

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, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.
Scientists have used gravitational lensing to detect a single or binary star, named Earendel, in a galaxy 12.9 billion light-years away. This detection is 3.5 billion light-years more distant than the previously most distant star. According to the big bang creation model, predicted by the Bible, stars that form early in cosmic history will be different from stars that form later. So, is the measured luminosity and mass of Earendel consistent with this model?
Historical contingency holds that evolutionary histories should rarely lead to identical or nearly identical outcomes. Yet biologists have uncovered an inordinate number of examples of convergence. One recently discovered example is the independent origins of aquatic skin adaptations in whales and hippos. What does the widespread occurrence of convergence mean for the creation/evolution debate?
In this episode Hugh and Fuz discuss these important topics.
Links and Resources:
The Creator and the Cosmos, 4th ed.,
Big Bang—The Bible Taught It First! 
Does the Bible Teach Big Bang Cosmology? 
Pursuing the Firstborn Stars and a Better Cosmic Creation Model
Genomic and Anatomical Comparisons of Skin Support Independent Adaptation to Life in Water by Cetaceans and Hippos
Analysis of Genomes Converges on the Case for a Creator

Galaxy's Discs and Halos and Astronomy or Cell Phones?

Join Hugh Ross and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.
archaeologists analyzed recently updated surveys of stars in our galaxy that assembled the largest, by far, database of subgiant stars—a total of 250,000. Galactic archaeologists used the 250,000 subgiant stars to determine an outstanding feature of the Milky Way Galaxy—specifically that, throughout the past 11 billion years, our galaxy hasn’t suffered any merger events of sufficient magnitude to alter its spiral structure in any life-threatening manner. How does this feature point to our galaxy’s unique ability to sustain its life-essential spiral structure and to host advanced life?
Providing cheap Internet access around the world requires tens of thousands of satellites, but those satellites will degrade our capacity to make the observations necessary to better understand this universe. How should we think about situations like this where taking care of people seems to stand in opposition to advancing science? How does the Judeo-Christian worldview provide a robust framework that expects good solutions exist that both take care of humanity as well as help us learn more about the universe in which we live?
In this episode Hugh and Jeff discuss these important topics.
Will the episode descriptions always be long and/or technical?
Links and Resources:
A Time-Resolved Picture of Our Milky Way’s Early Formation
A Stellar Clock Reveals the History of the Milky Way
RTB book: Designed to the Core, chapter 7, Hugh Ross (release date 7/22)
Ballooning Satellite Populations in Low Earth Orbit Portend Changes for Science and Society
 

Human Pregnancy Design and Recent Huge Arctic Sea Ice Loss

Join Hugh Ross and Fazale Rana as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.
Two satellites reveal that the winter Arctic sea ice volume delined by 12.5% from 2018 to 2021. If the current rate of winter Arctic sea ice loss continues, it will be only a matter of years before large parts of the Arctic Ocean become ice-free in winter. How could ice-free winters potentially bring on the next ice age? And what can we do to prevent further melting of the winter Arctic ice cap?
The human birthing process is fraught with difficulties caused by our upright posture and bipedalism. Many skeptics point to these difficulties as evidence that human beings must have evolved. Why would a Creator design human beings—the crown of his creation—with a flawed birthing process? Couldn’t he have done a better job? In this episode Fazale Rana discusses two new discoveries underscoring the rationale of the human birthing process. Far from being flawed, the process of human birthing is highly optimal, characterized by a set of well-designed trade-offs.
In this episode Hugh Ross and Fazale Rana discuss these important topics.
Links and resources:
Arctic Snow Depth, Ice Thickness, and Volume From ICESat-2 and CryoSat-2: 2018-2021
What Will Happen If Arctic Sea Ice Loss Continues?
The Evolution of Pelvic Canal Shape and Rotational Birth in Humans
Human Shoulder Development Is Adapted to Obstetrical Constraints
Life’s Twists and Turns Are Designed to Start in the Birth Canal

Is Fine-Tuning Real or Explainable? and What Do Fruitless Higgs Searches Tell Us?

Join Jeff Zweerink and Mike Strauss as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.
Mike Strauss’ presentation on fruitless Higgs searches suggests that the goal of basic science research is often to discover something yet unknown about the universe. Yet, many experiments either find nothing unusual or measure something to be in agreement with the expectation. Are these null results useful, and what can scientists learn from them? Here we investigate two papers from the ATLAS collaboration at CERN that have made measurements of the Higgs boson and looked for new Higgs bosons—neither finding anything unexpected—and discuss what insights we gain from such experiments.
Links and Resources: 
A Third Way to Explain Fine Tuning
Search for Heavy Resonances Decaying into WW in the eνμν Final State in pp Collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector
Measurements of Gluon–Gluon Fusion and Vector-Boson Fusion Higgs Boson Production Cross-Sections in the H→ W W ∗→ eνμν Decay Channel in pp Collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

Bioinspired Design for Advanced Technology and Epigenetic Regulation by Vitamin C

Join Huh Ross and Jim Painter as they discuss new discoveries takng place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality to God's existence. 
Links and Resources:
Bioinspired Hierarchical Porous Membrane for Efficient Uranium Extraction from Seawater
Epigenetic Regulation of Genomic Stability by Vitamin C