August 18, 2009 — For decades, astronomers and geologists have worried about a paradox. Stellar evolution theory claims sunlight on the early earth would have been 20-30% dimmer than it is today, but geology shows the oceans were liquid in the earliest (Archean) rocks. For that matter, so does the book of Genesis, but that record is not usually allowed in scientific discussions. Anyway, how could the earth remained warm enough under a dim sun to keep the oceans from freezing? This has been called the “faint young sun paradox.” A new answer came from researchers at the Tokyo Institute...