Stars, Cells, and God

Nuclear Power and Climate Change One undeniable question accompanies any discussion about climate change: How much power do we need and what existing technologies are capable of generating that power? Most technologies capable of producing sufficient power for the world’s energy needs also emit large amounts of greenhouse gases. Technologies emitting fewer greenhouse gases don’t produce abundant power—except for nuclear power. In this episode, atmospheric scientist Kevin Birdwell and astrophysicist Jeff Zweerink discuss how current and future nuclear power technologies dramatically impact our ability to generate adequate power for humanity in an environmentally friendly way. Links and Resources: Safe, Clean, Proliferation Resistant and Cost-Effective Thorium-Based Molten Salt Reactors for Sustainable Development Time Warp: Molten Salt Reactor Experiment—Alvin Weinberg’s Magnum Opus

Join Hugh Ross in this breaking News of the Day episode of Stars, Cells, and God. Hugh describes a search for dark photons, a candidate for comprising a large fraction of the universe’s dark matter. The search consisted of comparing a detailed map of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) with a catalog of more than 500 million galaxies. Dark matter makes up 24.5% of the universe. Probability of ordinary photons from the CMBR morphing into dark photons peaks when they pass through the plasma of electrons surrounding galaxy clusters. Loss of CMBR photons will be correlated with galaxy cluster positions and would make the CMBR map look more splotchy. The search team accounted for other effects known to distort the CMBR map. The search team found no evidence for dark photons. They placed an upper limit on dark photon contribution to dark matter more than 10 times lower than previous analyses. Future comparisons of the CMBR map with positions of denser, older galaxies will yield more stringent limits on dark photons. Axions remain as the leading candidate particles to comprise the majority of the universe’s dark matter. Links & Resources Dark Photon Limits from Patchy Dark Screening of the Cosmic Microwave Background News of the Day episode: Dark Matter Particles?

Interview with Physician Raj Kumar Songa In this episode of Stars, Cells, and God, Hugh Ross interviews Raj Kumar Songa, a physician specializing in internal medicine. Raj is a Reasons to Believe Scholar Community member and serves on the board of directors of RTB APAC (Asia-Pacific). He lives in Hyderabad, India, where in addition to his medical practice he heads up several enterprises, including a Christian bookstore. He also serves as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. In this interview Raj shares his testimony of how he became a follower of Jesus Christ, his role in launching RTB APAC, biblical principles of giving, and the responsibility of all Christians to use the wealth they create to further the kingdom of God.   

A Medical Analysis of the Hallucination Hypothesis Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Dr. Joe Bergeron 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. Jesus’s disciples experienced something that made them believe Jesus bodily resurrected from the dead after a grisly death by crucifixion. As a naturalistic explanation to explain away the biblical narrative, critical scholars have proposed that Jesus’s disciples were hallucinating when they saw the resurrected Jesus. This has been referred to as the hallucination hypothesis. Dr. Bergeron provides a medical analysis of hallucination hypotheses and explains why they are unsupportable and inconsistent with current medical understanding. Links and Resources:  The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Medical Doctor Examines the Death and Resurrection of Christ

Aquinas’s Fifth Way Join Jeff Zweerink and Kyle Keltz 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. Modern scientists often dismiss Aquinas’s Five Ways as being outdated, irrelevant, or even invalid. However, when properly understood, the Five Ways show a remarkable similarity to how we think and approach science and they provide profound insight into explaining the universe. In this episode, astrophysicist Jeff Zweerink and philosopher Kyle Keltz clear up some misconceptions about the Fifth Way and design arguments while also showing how scientific advances over the last four centuries provide strong support for the premises of the Fifth Way. Links and Resources: Dr. Kyle Keltz has written two papers on Thomas Aquinas’s Five Ways, focusing on the Second Way and Fifth Way. They will be available at reasons.org in early 2025.  

Join Hugh Ross in this breaking News of the Day episode of Stars, Cells, and God. Hugh describes an analysis by an international team of 44 astronomers of a survey of trans-Neptunian objects. This analysis reveals strong evidence for the existence of a sixth belt of asteroids/comets in the solar system. Here are some takeaways: The Kuiper Belt asteroids/comets orbit at 35–55 times Earth’s orbital distance from the Sun. The asteroids/comets in the newly discovered belt orbit at 70–90 times Earth’s orbital distance from the Sun. There appears to be a gap from 55­–70 times Earth’s orbital distance from the Sun where very few asteroids/comets exist. If this discovery of a new asteroid/comet is confirmed, it will enable astronomers to develop a much more detailed Grand Tack model for the early migration of solar system planets. A more detailed Grand Tack model will reveal even more evidence for the exquisite fine-tuning of the solar system that makes advanced life possible on Earth. Links and Resources: Candidate Distant Trans-Neptunian Objects Detected by the New Horizons Subaru TNO Survey Hugh Ross, Designed to the Core

Intersex Conditions and Transgenderism Are there only two sexes? Many people argue that intersex conditions are evidence that sex exists on a spectrum. Is this a valid argument? In this episode, medical doctor Ryan Matthews joins biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana to take on these questions and more. Along the way, Dr. Matthews makes the point that disorders of sexual development cannot be marshalled to normalize transgenderism. Disclaimer: Reasons to Believe is expressing our Christian beliefs on the issues of gender identity in the intersection of science and faith, as it’s an important discussion and many people have valid questions. This research showcases the expertise of select members of the Reasons to Believe Scholar Community on matters of gender identity. RTB is not offering medical or other professional advice. People need to consult with their own physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc. We want to see everyone make informed, educated decisions.   Links and Resources: Transgenderism and the Bible A Scientific and Medical Evaluation of Transgenderism

A recent study suggests light may lose energy as it travels, potentially challenging the Big Bang model. The phenomenon, known as 'tired light,' could be a statistical artifact rather than a groundbreaking discovery. Observations show distant galaxies affirm cosmic expansion, while the clarity of quasar images argues against light fatigue. Additionally, findings from the Webb telescope confirm that early galaxies could easily fit within the standard model without contradiction. Intriguing implications arise from these discoveries in cosmic behavior.

The Cause of Gender Dysphoria What causes gender dysphoria? Does gender dysphoria have genetic causes? Is it due to environmental factors? Does it occur during fetal development? What is rapid onset gender dysphoria? Biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana is joined by physician Steve Willing as they address these questions and discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence. Disclaimer: Reasons to Believe is expressing our Christian beliefs on the issues of gender identity in the intersection of science and faith, as it’s an important discussion and many people have valid questions. This research showcases the expertise of select members of the Reasons to Believe Scholar Community on matters of gender identity. RTB is not offering medical or other professional advice. People need to consult with their own physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc. We want to see everyone make informed, educated decisions. Links and Resources:  Transgenderism and the Bible A Scientific and Medical Evaluation of Transgenderism  

Metal-Free Stars Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of 15 astronomers discovered a galaxy (RXJ2129-z8HeII) with a measured redshift that corresponds to a distance of 13.16 billion light-years. This measurement implies that astronomers are seeing it just 630 million years after the big bang creation event. The newly discovered galaxy’s features include two unique features: a bright ultraviolet continuum with an extremely steep spectral slope and a strong helium emission line. These newly found features, combined with a discovery made a few months earlier of an ionized gas cloud in the halo of another galaxy that contains only hydrogen and helium, affirms a fundamental prediction of the biblically predicted big bang creation model. That prediction claims that before any stars form the elemental composition of the universe will, by mass, be composed of 75.33% hydrogen, 24.67% helium, and a trace amount of lithium. 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 the universe and exquisitely designed it so that humans could live and thrive.  Links and Resources: A Strong He II ƛ640 Emitter with Extremely Blue UV Spectral Slope at z = 8.16: Presence of Pop III Stars? Possible Population III Signatures at z = 10.6 in the Halo of GN-z11