Stars, Cells, and God

Neanderthal with Down Syndrome | News of the Day

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana in this breaking News of the Day episode of Stars, Cells, and God. Fuz discusses work by a team of anthropologists from Spain who maintain that analysis of a partial skull fossil indicates that Neanderthals provided compassionate care for a Neanderthal child with Down syndrome.
Neanderthal with Down Syndrome
Does this discovery mean that Neanderthals were just like us?
In light of this find, can humans be regarded as exceptional and unique?
If Neanderthals were like us, can the biblical claim that humans solely bear God’s image remain valid?

Dark Matter Particles? | News of the Day

Join Hugh Ross in this breaking News of the Day episode of Stars, Cells, and God. Hugh describes stars at our galaxy’s center showing their luminosities are augmented by the annihilation of dark matter particles in their cores. This could be the first direct discovery of dark matter particles.
 
Dark Matter Particles?
Dark matter makes up 24.5% of the universe.
Neutrinos are the only dark matter particles detected so far and comprise <1% of dark matter.
Three astronomers produced a mock stellar population that evolves both with and without energy from dark matter particle annihilation.
High-mass stars that gain much of their luminosities from dark matter particle annihilation can shine brightly for >10 billion years rather than <100 million years. They shine as brightly as young stars, spectroscopically measure to be old, and have lower temperatures.
Density of dark matter in our galaxy is extremely high within one light-year of its supermassive black hole (SMBH).
Stars within one light-year of our galaxy’s SMBH have the distinct properties of stars whose luminosities are augmented by dark matter particle annihilation.
Observations by 30-meter telescopes will find enough stars within a light-year of our galaxy’s SMBH to make possible an indisputable detection of dark matter particles.
Links and Resources:
Dark Branches of Immortal Stars at the Galactic Center
Black Holes as Evidence of God’s Care

Do Primordial Black Holes Resolve Dark Matter Mystery? | News of the Day

Join Hugh Ross in this breaking News of the Day episode of Stars, Cells, and God. Hugh describes a discovery that may resolve a long-standing mystery about dark matter.
Do Primordial Black Holes Resolve Dark Matter Mystery?
Dark matter is matter that doesn’t interact with light or interacts at an extremely weak level.
The quantity of dark matter that exists and its locations in the universe are not mysteries.
Dark matter’s composition is a mystery that has stymied astronomers and physicists for 50 years.
Leading candidates for dark matter’s composition are axions and sterile neutrinos, but neither of these particles has been detected.
Physicists Elba Alonso-Monsalve and David Kaiser propose that primordial black holes (PBHs) could make up all or a large fraction of dark matter if they formed prior to a tenth of a quadrillionth of a second after the cosmic creation event.
These PBHs would take two forms: (1) atom-sized bodies with masses equal to that of the Martian moons; (2) bodies one 10,000th the diameter of a proton with masses equal to one ton.
Observable tests for these PBHs include the degree to which they would (1) shift the balance between protons and neutrons, (2) cause ripples in the cosmic spacetime fabric, and (3) affect the amount of helium produced during the universe’s first 3 minutes.
Links and Resources:
Primordial Black Holes with QCD Color Charge
Quantum Gravity Constraints Affirm Cosmic Creator

Distant Galaxy and the Big Bang | News of the Day

Join Hugh Ross in this breaking News of the Day episode of Stars, Cells, and God. Hugh describes the discovery of the most distant known galaxy and what the characteristics of this galaxy imply for the cosmic dawn and the big bang creation model.
Distant Galaxy and the Big Bang
Join us as we explore:
The astounding measurement of galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 at a redshift of 14.32, revealing a glimpse into the universe just 280 million years after the cosmic creation event.
Insights into the size and brightness of this newly discovered galaxy, with its light spanning over 1,600 light-years, predominantly from young stars rather than a supermassive black hole.
The implications of JWST observations on the big bang model, sparking discussions among young-earth creationists and other astrophysicists about potential overhauls to our understanding of cosmic origins.
The standard big bang creation model and its components—including dark energy, exotic dark matter, and ordinary matter—and how JWST’s mission aims to detail the masses and populations of the universe’s first stars.
How JWST’s latest findings support the biblically predicted big bang cosmic model and strengthen the evidence for a universe finely tuned by a cosmic Creator.
This episode is packed with astronomical insights and cosmic revelations!

Biological Basis for Belief? and Woke at the University?

Biological Basis for Belief?
As human beings, our religious nature defines us. Treating it as a scientific question, many scientists wonder, how do we account for human spirituality and religiosity? Are there brain structures and processes that explain this behavior? Using lesion mapping, a research team from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital recently determined the brain regions and neural circuits that account for religiosity and spirituality.
This study (amongst others) raises troubling questions for Christians.
Is our spirituality and response to religion based on our brain’s biology?
Is there a materialistic, mechanistic explanation for religious acceptance?
Do people really experience God?
In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana addresses these questions and presents a model that accommodates these scientific findings, while retaining a biblical view of human nature.
Woke at the University
During the 2023–2024 academic year, Rice University offered a course called “Afrochemistry” that claimed to “apply chemical tools and analysis to understand Black life in the US.” From January 16 to May 16, 2024, AcademicJobsOnline.org advertised a job for the University of Victoria’s physics and astronomy department that was only open to an indigenous person. Both examples show how a worldview subversive to the scientific enterprise is spreading into the scientific community. This view of contemporary critical theory sees the world in terms of oppressors and oppressed. In contrast, the Judeo-Christian worldview sees all people as valuable and worthy of God’s and our love. Additionally, the Judeo-Christian worldview buttresses and supports the foundation needed for the scientific enterprise to flourish.
Links and Resources: 
A Neural Circuit for Spirituality and Religiosity Derived from Patients with Brain Lesions
University of Victoria, Department of Physics and Astronomy
New ‘Afrochemistry’ Course Widely Panned as Identity Politics Dumbing Down Hard Sciences

Interstellar Cloud Trigger for Civilization | News of the Day

Join astrophysicist Hugh Ross in this breaking News of the Day episode of Stars, Cells, and God. Hugh describes the discovery of the important role interstellar space clouds played in establishing the current ice age cyclethat made our advanced civilization possible.
Join us as we explore why we must be in an ice age cycle and:
How rare it is for the solar system to traverse cold, dense interstellar clouds,
How the entry of the solar system into a cold dense interstellar cloud about 2.5 million years ago sustained the cooling effect initiated by the Eltanin collider,
How modeling of 21-centimeter data from the HI4PI survey revealed the velocity of the solar system across the Local Ribbon of Cold Clouds (LRCC),
How the solar system’s traverse of the LRCC drastically affected the heliosphere and cooled Earth’s climate,
How geological evidence for iron-60 and plutonium-244 isotopes affirms Earth’s traverse across cold, dense interstellar clouds, and
How measurements reveal the solar system will exit the local interstellar cloud in the next few thousand years.
This episode is packed with astronomical and geological revelations that explain why our current global, high-technology civilization is uniquely possible.
Links and Resources:
A Possible Direct Exposure of the Earth to the Cold Dense Interstellar Medium 2–3 Myr Ago
Hugh Ross, Weathering Climate Change, 57–227.

Before the First Stars and The Universe: 28 GYr Old?

Before the First Stars
A team of astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) “to boldly go where no man has gone before”: to observe and measure the composition of gas clouds before any stars formed. The JWST’s primary mission is to explore the cosmic dawn—the first billion years of cosmic history. Astronomers took a high-resolution spectrum of a giant gas cloud in the halo of GN-z11, a bright galaxy 13.38 billion light-years away, corresponding to only 410 million years after the big bang creation event. The only elements found in the gas cloud’s spectrum were hydrogen and helium. This is the first time astronomers detected an object in the universe where no elements heavier than helium exist. This discovery affirms a major prediction of the biblically predicted big bang creation model: that before stars formed, the elemental composition of the universe, by mass, will be 75.33% hydrogen, 24.67% helium, and a trace amount of lithium. The level of ionization in the gas cloud revealed that the stars in GN-z11’s core must all be in the range of 50–1,000 times the Sun’s mass. This mass range explains why astronomers observe many bright galaxies and several supermassive black holes in the cosmic dawn. All these discoveries provide yet more evidence that the more we learn about the universe, the more evidence we accumulate that a God beyond space and time created and exquisitely designed the universe so that at the just-right time and location, humans could live and thrive. 
The Universe: 28 GYr Old?
Recent images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) found galaxies that, given their age, appeared far larger and more complex than expected. In more lay-level arenas, this discovery was used to cast doubt on the standard big bang cosmological model. However, this discovery generated quite a bit of excitement in the scientific community because it revealed a fun problem to investigate. Consequently, astronomers have invested much effort trying to understand how to explain these large, complex galaxies. An author of a recent paper attempts to understand these galaxies by modifying how light propagates through the universe and by having some fundamental constants change over time. A careful analysis of this latter approach shows how standard big bang cosmology (with dark energy and dark matter) can give a robust explanation of the universe—and provide evidence for the God of the Bible.
Links and Resources:
JADES NIRSpec Spectroscopy of GN-z11: Lyman-a Emission and Possible Enhanced Nitrogen Abundance in a z = 10.60 Luminous Galaxy
JWST-JADES. Possible Population III Signatures at z = 10.6 in the Halo of GN-z11
Testing CCC + TL Cosmology with Observed Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Features

Xenotransplant Success and "Big Ring" of Galaxies found

Xenotransplant Success
Worldwide, millions of people need organ transplants and many die while waiting. It is impossible to scale up human organ donation rates to meet the demand. However, recent success in xenotransplantation may solve the shortfall. Surgical transplants of pig hearts, livers, and kidneys all show promise of (at least temporary) function and no signs of organ rejection. Xenotransplantation provides yet more evidence that God designed the higher animals to enhance human health and well-being.    
“Big Ring” of Galaxies Found
Astronomers recently announced the discovery of a “Big Ring” of galaxy clusters. According to calculations based on scientists’ best understanding of the universe, the size of this ring exceeds the largest size structure that could possibly form, and it joins a class of about 10 structures that are “too big.” While some people might take this find as evidence that our current understanding of the universe (size, age, composition, etc.) is wrong, the discovery highlights how well we comprehend the universe and provides insight that will direct us into a deeper understanding. It also affirms the biblical prediction that we live in an orderly, reliable, and understandable creation.
Links and Resources:
First Pig Kidney Transplant in a Person: What It Means for the Future
First Pig Liver Transplanted into a Person Lasts for 10 Days
First Pig-to-Human Heart Transplant: What Can Scientists Learn?
Monkey Survives for Two Years after Gene-Edited Pig-Kidney Transplant
An Impossibly Huge Ring of Galaxies Might Lead Us to New Physics. Here’s How
Giant Ring? Giant Arc? These “Structures” May Not Even Be Real

ERVs and Embryo Development and Just the Right Amount of Water

ERVs and Embryo Development
For many people, the shared ERV (endogenous retrovirus) 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 for why they appear in the human genome. In this episode, 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?”
Just the Right Amount of Water
Most people know that life depends on Earth’s oceans, but the continents play an equally critical role in Earth’s capacity to support life. However, a planet’s ability to have land relies on having just the right amount of water. Too little and there are no oceans at all but too much and the continents never rise above the ocean’s surface. One factor that influences the amount of surface water is the planet’s capacity to store water in its interior. Recent studies indicate that the ancient earth could store much less water than today. Therefore, doubling the amount of water on Earth would have prevented the formation of continents that rise above the oceans and stymied Earth’s capacity to support life.
Links and Resources:
Endogenous Retroviruses Shape Pluripotency Specification in Mouse Embryos
Insights about Suppressyn Support Creation Model View of ERVs
Constraining the Volume of Earth’s Early Oceans with a Temperature-Dependent Mantle Water Storage Capacity Model

NOTD-001

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana in this breaking News of the Day episode of Stars, Cells, and God. Fuz offers a critical assessment of a recent article addressing the origin-of-life topic.
 
Do Cracks in Rocks Explain Life’s Origin?
A team of German researchers recently published results of a prebiotic simulation study in which they claim that thermal gradients could drive the generation of biopolymers (chains of molecules) on early Earth. These thermal gradients would have created convection currents in water-infused cracks in rocks and the convection currents would have, in turn, purified and concentrated prebiotic materials, facilitating the production of biopolymers. The researchers claim that this work provides key insight into a chemical evolutionary origin of life and solves the problem of unwarranted researcher involvement. In fact, these claims inspired a piece by Carolyn Y. Johnson in The Washington Post.
In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana describes this work and its significance to the origin-of-life problem. He also offers a critical assessment of the study, demonstrating how this work, along with previous studies in prebiotic chemistry, evince a Creator’s necessary role in the origin of life.
Links and Resources:
How Did Life on Earth Begin? Cracks May Have Been the Key
Heat Flows Enrich Prebiotic Building Blocks and Enhance Their Reactivity
Prebiotic Chemistry and the Hand of God