Posted on 02/15/2013 12:08:09 PM PST by fishtank
Youthful Solar System Bodies Puzzle Evolutionary Scientists by Jake Hebert, Ph.D. *
A feature story in a recent issue of the journal Nature described four solar system bodies that are puzzling to evolutionary scientists.1 Specifically, the article discussed the rings of Saturn, two of Saturn's moons (Enceladus and Titan), and Jupiter's moon Io. These four bodies all exhibit properties that cannot persist for billions of years.
The brightness of Saturn's rings is puzzling because after billions of years, they should have been darkened by dust from comets and asteroids. Yet these rings are still brilliantly beautiful.
Likewise, watery geysers erupting from the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus suggest that the moon is giving off a great deal of heat, yet this heat should "die down" relatively quickly. A mechanism proposed by Australian planetary scientist Craig O'Neill can theoretically provide enough release of heat to sustain the geysers for only about ten million years—far fewer than billions of years.
Secular researchers are also puzzled by the methane in Titan's atmosphere. Because sunlight degrades methane, Titan's atmospheric methane should have been depleted after only a few tens of millions of years. Yet methane is still present in Titan's atmosphere.
Likewise, the extreme volcanic activity on Jupiter's moon Io seems incapable of being sustained for extremely long periods of time.
Secular planetary scientists have proposed multiple hypotheses to explain these "anomalies." Many of these explanations assume that we just happen to be simultaneously viewing multiple short-lived astronomical phenomena. However, even secular scientists acknowledge that such a coincidence seems unlikely. For instance, O'Neill acknowledged that his explanation for the continuing geologic activity on Enceladus seems like "special pleading," since it requires researchers to view Enceladus at a special time in its history. Other proposed explanations for the persistence of these phenomena are also problematic.
Economy of explanation, or parsimony, is an important principle in science. A single hypothesis that can simultaneously explain multiple phenomena is more likely to be correct than multiple hypotheses needed to explain those same phenomena. Of course, there is such a hypothesis that could easily explain all four of these astronomical "anomalies." If the solar system were only thousands, rather than billions, of years old as implied by a straightforward reading of the Bible, then the continued brilliance of Saturn's rings, the continued presence of methane in Titan's atmosphere, and the continuing geological activity of Io and Enceladus would not be surprising—those would actually be expected.
In fact, creation scientists and astronomers have been pointing out such youthful features of our solar system for many years.2 Yet not only have secular scientists refused to even consider the possibility of a young, created solar system, they have discriminated against creation scientists.3
Secular planetary scientists would deny that there is any good reason to believe the universe is young. And yet their puzzlement over these four solar system bodies is a direct result of their insistence that the universe has been in existence for billions of years. Could their unwillingness to consider this possibility be due to other reasons?
If the universe really is just thousands of years old, then evolution is completely discredited. A slow evolutionary process needs billions of years in order even to appear plausible. If evolutionary processes are disqualified, then special creation is the only remaining logical alternative. But special creation requires a Creator. And many—even scientists who are supposedly logical, objective, and impartial—are simply unwilling to acknowledge their Creator's authority over their lives.
References
McKee, M. 2013. Caught in the Act. Nature. 493 (7434): 592-596.
For a good summary of such features, see Psarris, S. 2009. DVD. What You Aren't Being Told About Astronomy, Volume 1: Our Created Solar System. Creation Astronomy Media.
For instance, many suspect that scientist David Coppedge's employment at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was terminated due to his belief in and support of biblical creation. See: At Pro-Darwin Blogs, Knee-Jerk Responses to the David Coppedge Intelligent Design Case Validate Discrimination Claims. Evolution News & Views. Posted on evolutionnews.org November 7, 2012, accessed February 11, 2013. Image credit: NASA/JPL - Caltech/Space Science Institute
* Dr. Hebert is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Article posted on February 13, 2013.
Theological brouhaha.
Kozak flummoxed by what really is science.
Myanus doesn’t spin at all!
The evidence plainly makes the Earth only a few thousand years old.
There is zero speculation in that fact; it is pure observation without application of an extraneous agenda.
>> “Not all scientists practice good science - global warming is just one such example” <<
.
Old Earth fantasies are the others.
Of course he did. Thats not in question. The question is, "how"?
And thats where the science guys come in.
Its OK when not everything adds up or that we get it wrong from time to time, in fact its guaranteed that we'll get it wrong on the way to getting it progressively more right. Anomalies are how we get to the next level of understanding. You develop a theory that seems to work. If it works well enough, the engineers use it to build things. Then over time you begin to find the places where it doesn't work, and in figuring out why it doesn't work you find another theory that works better and your formulas get sharpened and your engineers come out with a wave of newer and cooler toys and tools on the market.
And so it goes until you begin to pick holes in your new level of understanding. Insight, followed by science, followed by engineers, followed by anomalies, followed by insight, science, engineers and so on round and round.
Figuring out why the universe seems to be geologically alive is a good project for the science guys. Figuring out that you should love God and love your neighbor, learning how to walk with God and let him flow through you into the circumstances in which you find yourself is another realm of competence.
>> Io is frictionally heated by the gravitational changes of its elliptical orbit close to massive Jupiter; that energy never “runs out.” <<
nonsense. It would become a hollow, dead shell, without any source of friction in less than 10,000 years.
>> “The moon is covered in dust and last I checked it reflects light just fine” <<
.
Actually, the moon landings established that the moon has almost no dust at all. They had been expecting over 100 meters of dust.
>> “ I would imagine it could probably be calculated how much rotational energy Io steals from Jupiter with each orbit.” <<
.
Exactly as much as jupiter ‘steals’ back.
>> “Uh no absurdity surprises me on these Creation Science threads” <<
.
Me either!
And all of it comes from the self-appointed ‘science’ groupies that feebly attempt to ‘debunk’ reality.
Typical comeback by Evo.
To all; this is another example of the feeble Evo comeback. Notice the use of an ad hominem without backing up what the Evo states. Typical for Evos, name calling instead of rational logic.
Is she the puzzle or the missing piece?
You might wish to check your meds.
Thanks for the ping!
Indeed. Thanks for the ping!
Well and truly said, dear brother in Christ, thank you!
In short, ANY answer does.
But isn't that (supposedly) the point of research in the first place, to find answers? Then obviously, when the answers are found, research is no longer needed.
It's a great point. Again, scientists have been caught red handed, doing the very thing they condemn in others.
Indeed, once they say "Nature did it" they quit looking as if there's nothing more possible.
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