Stars, Cells, and God

God and Logic

In this episode, biochemist Fazale Rana is joined by Brazilian lawyer and philosopher Tassos Lycurgo to discuss how the laws of logic point to the necessary existence of God. In this freewheeling conversation, they also discuss the relationship between mathematics and God and explore other philosophical arguments for God’s existence.

Soft Tissues in Fossils and Theia and Earth Mantle

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Hugh Ross 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.
Soft Tissues in Fossils
A research team from the University College Cork (UCC), Ireland, published two separate reports in which they present evidence for melanin pigments and keratin filaments in fossilized feathers. The researchers developed models for the chemical alterations of melanin and keratin during fossilization. Using these models, they identified degradation products in fossilized feathers that age-date 120 to 130 million years old.
Young-earth creationists cite the recovery of soft tissue materials in fossils as evidence that Earth is only 6,000 years old, and the fossil record is the result of a global deluge. They argue that it’s impossible for biological materials to survive for millions of years and, therefore, the fossils must be thousands of years old.
In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana describes the UCC researchers’ work and explains how certain biological materials can endure in fossils for tens of millions of years, negating the claims of young-earth creationists.
Evidence for the Planet Theia
The only plausible explanation for the origin of the Moon is that a collision between two rocky planets, Theia and the proto-Earth, occurred when the solar system was about 90 million years old. However, direct evidence for the existence of Theia has been elusive. Now, simulations performed by 12 astrophysicists (combined with seismic measurements) show that two large regions, thousands of kilometers across, deep in Earth’s mantle are denser than the surrounding mantle. Therefore, these regions must be the remains of Theia’s iron-rich mantle that sank and settled above Earth’s core, where it deposited an extraordinary high density and exceptional abundance of the heaviest elements.   
Links and Resources:
Taphonomic Experiments Reveal Authentic Molecular Signals for Fossil Melanins and Verify Preservation of Phaeomelanin in Fossils
Preservation of Cornelius B-Proteins in Mesozoic Feathers
Fazale Rana, Dinosaur Blood and the Age of the Earth
Moon-Forming Impactor as a Source of Earth’s Basal Mantle Anomalies

Free Will: An Illusion?

Join Fazale 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.
Free Will: An Illusion?
The prominent neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky has created a stir with the recent publication of his book Determined. Based on a wide range of findings from neuroscience and genetics, Sapolsky argues that free will is an illusion. All of our decisions are predetermined by influences beyond our control.
In this episode, biochemist Fazale Rana discusses the radical and far-ranging implications of Sapolsky’s dangerous idea, before presenting the scientific evidence, demonstrating that free will really exists. 
Rana concludes by offering a model for free will based on the Christian worldview. 
Links and Resources:
Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will

Cosmic Explosion Risk and Dust Drives Dinosaur Demise

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.
Cosmic Explosion Risk
Astronomers have discovered yet another risk to advanced life in the universe—extremely luminous, fast-cooling transients. The most likely explanation for this newly discovered cosmic exploder is a tidal encounter between a star and a stellar-mass black hole or a star and an intermediate-mass black hole. It will take further observations to determine the precise risk of these events to advanced life in the universe. Initially, however, it appears that Earth resides in a galaxy, galaxy group, and galaxy cluster where such events should either be nonexistent or extremely rare.
Dust Drives Dinosaur Demise
Overwhelming evidence points to dramatic extinction events in Earth’s history where most of the life died out. One of the most well-known extinction events occurred 66 million years ago (the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods) and marked the end of the non-avian dinosaurs on Earth. Although the evidence pointing to the extinction is strong, scientists still seek to understand what caused the mass death. New evidence points to a specific size of dust particle that caused photosynthesis to shut down for almost two years after the impact of a miles-wide asteroid hitting Earth. This new research provides insight into Earth’s history as well as the processes God used to prepare Earth for humanity.
Links and Resources:
AT 2022aedm and a New Class of Luminous, Fast-Cooling Transients in Elliptical Galaxies
The Dust That May Have Killed the Dinosaurs
Chicxulub Impact Winter Sustained by Fine Silicate Dust

JWST Galaxies Explained and AI Sees Differently Than Us

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.
JWST Galaxies Explained
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed that early galaxies have much brighter ultraviolet luminosities than many big bang creation models predicted. Do such data challenge the creation view? Further research suggests not. Using a computer simulation, astronomers have found that the standard big bang creation models can still accommodate the new data from JWST. Their conclusions remain consistent with the findings reported in the Stars, Cells, and God episode #79 on the “Source of Heavy Elements”, aired on November 29, 2023.
AI Sees Differently than Us
As AIs (artificial intelligence) mimic more and more human behavior, the question continues to arise of whether AI is truly intelligent or not. One way to assess the data is to understand whether the AI does things differently than a human. In the arena of image and audio recognition, AIs have advanced tremendously, but there are some noticeable discrepancies between AI and human categorization. Research into one type of discrepancy shows that humans and AIs really do see the world differently—and those differences highlight important defining features of humanity.
Links and Resources:
Bursty Star Formation Naturally Explains the Abundance of Bright Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn
Dilution of Chemical Enrichment in Galaxies 600 Myr after the Big Bang
Model Metamers Reveal Divergent Invariances between Biological and Artificial Neural Networks

Neanderthal Flower Burial Nixed and Source of Heavy Elements

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Hugh Ross 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.
Neanderthal Flower Burial Nixed
Were Neanderthals like us? The answer to this question has profound implications for our understanding of human origins, and for the RTB creation model.
Some anthropologists argue that Neanderthals engaged in ritualistic burials reflecting the capacities for symbolism and religion—features that define modern humans. One of the most important pieces of evidence for ritualistic burials among Neanderthals comes from the Shanidar Cave in northern Iraq. One of the layers harboring Neanderthal remains and artifacts includes a partial adult skeleton that was unearthed in what appears to be a grave. The skeleton had a clump of pollen grains from flowering plants on top of it. Some anthropologists believe that this find indicates Neanderthals buried their dead with flowers—possible evidence for ritualistic burial practices.
However, researchers from Liverpool John Moores University have reexamined the pollen recovered from Shanidar and reach a very different conclusion.
In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana discusses this latest insight into Neanderthal burials and its impact on the RTB human origins model.
Source of Heavy Metals
A team of 13 astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to measure the chemical abundances of galaxies that formed just 600 million years after the big bang creation event. They found that these galaxies are much poorer in heavy elements than what astronomers had previously thought. This underabundance makes Earth’s endowment of the heavy elements essential for advanced life and civilization all the more remarkable, and it provides yet more evidence for the super-intelligent, supernatural design of the solar system—and Earth in particular—that makes the existence of humans and human civilization possible. 
Links and Resources:
Shanidar et ses fleurs? Reflections on the Palynology of the Neanderthal “Flower Burial” Hypothesis
Who Was Adam? A Creation Model Approach to the Origin of Humanity
Did Neanderthals Bury Their Dead with Flowers?
https://reasons.org/explore/publications/articles/did-neanderthals-bury-their-dead-with-flowers
Dilution of Chemical Enrichment in Galaxies 600 Myr after the Big Bang

Sixth Great Mass Extinction and M-Dwarf Habitability?

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Hugh Ross 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.
Sixth Mass Extinction
Where have all the animals gone?
Collaborators from Mexico and the US provide added evidence that we are entering a sixth mass extinction—triggered by human damage to the environment. The impact of the loss of species and the collapse of ecosystems could be much more devastating to humanity than climate change.
How should Christians respond to the sixth mass extinction? 
In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana discusses the latest insights into large-scale species loss, explores the biblical basis for Christian environmentalism, and makes the case that the Christian story provides explanatory power for the extent of the damage that humans are causing to ecosystems around the world.
M-Dwarf Habitability?
NASA asserts that the most promising candidates for habitability are planets orbiting M-dwarf stars. M-dwarfs are less than half the Sun’s mass, less than 1/15 the Sun’s luminosity, and comprise 70% of all stars. The only remaining hope for finding a habitable exoplanet is to discover one identical to Earth. So far, the most Earth-like known planet beyond Earth is Venus.
Links and Resources:
Mutilation of the Tree of Life Via Mass Extinction of Animal Genera
A Christian Perspective on the Sixth Mass Extinction
Did Humans Cause the Global Extinctions of Mammals?
Terminator Habitability: The Case for Limited Water Availability on M-Dwarf Planets
Planetary Population Synthesis and the Emergence of Four Classes of Planetary System Architectures
High-Contrast Imaging around a 2 Myr-Old Cl Tau with a Close-In Gas Giant
Carbon Dioxide Outgassing Constrains the Habitability of Rocky Planets After Their Host M Dwarf’s Pre-Main Sequence Phase

The Musings on AI

Join astrophysicist Jeff Zweerink and special guest Christian apologist and lawyer Abdu Murray (president and founder of Embrace the Truth Ministry) 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.
Musings on AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has already penetrated many areas of our daily life. While AI can bring some benefits, we often don’t understand the long-term effects of AI use. In this episode, Jeff Zweerink and Abdu Murray explore some of the consequences that might ensue as we utilize AI in the legal profession. Of particular interest is the way AI will impact our relationships, not just in legal matters, but in everyday life as well.
Links and Resources:
Can the AI Driving ChatGPT Help to Detect Early Signs of Alzheimer's Disease?
Did Life Exist on Mars? Other Planets? With AI’s Help, We May Know Soon

Life on K2-18b? and Galaxy Formation Models

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.
Life on K2-18b?
Two months ago the Internet blew up with articles and blogs announcing that astronomers had discovered molecules in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b that only living organisms can produce. Those biosignature molecules were dimethyl sulfide and chloromethane. While there is no doubt that methane was detected in K2-18b’s atmosphere and carbon dioxide likely detected, the detections of dimethyl sulfide and chloromethane were marginal at best. Furthermore, astronomers have detected chloromethane in a comet and an interstellar cloud where it is well established that life and life chemistry is impossible, and they found abiotic pathways for the production of dimethyl sulfide. The Internet articles overlooked the physical characteristics of K2-18b and its host star that categorically rule out any possibility of physical life on the planet.
Galaxy Formation Models
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has provided numerous images and results that challenge our current models of galaxy formation. Some astronomers have even used this discrepancy to argue against big bang cosmology. A recent paper provides strong evidence for the formation of spiral-type galaxies forming within the first billion years of the universe (where most models predict much longer formation times). We discuss the importance of this data and the implications for how galaxy formation models will change—particularly becoming more complex. Additionally, we expect that this complexity will reveal even more evidence for design in the universe than is now known.
Links and Resources:
Carbon-Bearing Molecules in a Possible Hycean Atmosphere
Structure and Dynamics of Cold Water Super-Earths: The Case of Occluded CH4 and Its Outgassing
The JWST Hubble Sequence: The Rest-Frame Optical Evolution of Galaxy Structure at 1.5 <z <6.5
 

Christianity, Islam, and Science

Join biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana and special guest, Christian apologist Abdu Murray, president and founder of Embrace the Truth Ministry, as they address how Christianity and Islam—two of the world’s three great monotheistic religions—engage with science.
Christianity, Islam, and Science
In this special episode, Fuz Rana and Abdu Murray address these questions, and more.
Which religion has a worldview that provides the justification for science?
Which religion can legitimately lay claim to the scientific evidence for God’s existence?
Which religious text displays scientific accuracy?
How can science be used to build a bridge between Christianity and Islam?