Reasons to Believe Podcast

Stars, Cells, and God | Neanderthal Flower Burial Nixed and Source of Heavy Metals

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.

 

References:

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

 

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. 

 

References:

Dilution of Chemical Enrichment in Galaxies 600 Myr after the Big Bang

Clear Thinking | Atheist Identifies Christianity’s Strongest Argument, Part 2

How original sin best explains the human condition

Clear Thinking | Atheist Identifies Christianity’s Strongest Argument, Part 1

A prominent atheist philosopher says original sin is the faith's strongest argument

Stars, Cells, and God | 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.

 

References:

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

Clear Thinking | Abdu Murray on Christianity in the Marketplace

Abdu Murray discusses how to reach Muslims with the truth of the gospel

Stars, Cells, and God | 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.

 

References:

Carbon-Bearing Molecules in a Possible Hycean Atmosphere

 

Structure and Dynamics of Cold Water Super-Earths: The Case of Occluded CH₄ and Its Outgassing

 

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.

 

Reference:

The JWST Hubble Sequence: The Rest-Frame Optical Evolution of Galaxy Structure at 1.5 <z <6.5

Clear Thinking | Is AI Going to Take Over the World?

Jeff Zweerink discusses the need for Christians to guide the development of AI

Stars, Cells, and God | 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?

Visiting Scholar, Abdu Murray
Abdu Murray holds a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Michigan and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School. He is cofounder and president of Embrace the Truth, a ministry dedicated to offering the truth of the Christian gospel to Muslims.

More on Abdu Murray: https://reasons.org/team/abdu-murray
Website: https://embracethetruth.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AbduMurrayOfficial
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abdumurray
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abdumurray12/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abdumurray

Clear Thinking | End Times Introduction, Part 4

Strengths and weaknesses of the major eschatological views

Stars, Cells, and God | Biochemical Maxwell Demons and First Australians

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.

 

Biochemical Maxwell Demons

Maxwell’s demon is a thought experiment designed to illustrate the second law of thermodynamics. In this imaginary scenario, a demon operates a massless door separating two boxes filled with gas molecules. The demon opens and shuts the door to allow certain gas molecules to pass from one box to the other. Eventually one box contains high temperature molecules and the other, low temperature molecules—violating the second law of thermodynamics. Physicists have discovered why Maxwell’s demon doesn’t violate the second law by describing the demon’s activity with information theory.

Recently, a team of biophysicists from Switzerland demonstrated that a special class of transport proteins found in cell membranes behave as literal Maxwell’s demons, making these proteins sophisticated computational devices.

In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana discusses this work and demonstrates why this discovery evinces a Creator’s role in the origin and design of life.

 

References:

ABC Transporters Are Billion-Year-Old Maxwell Demons

Additional Resources:

The Cell’s Design

Biochemical Finite-State Machines Point to an Infinite Creator

 

First Australians

Some scientists have long held that thermoluminescence dating of circular engravings in the Jinmium rock shelter proved that modern humans had colonized Australia 75,000–58,000 years ago. Carbon-14 measurements of charcoal samples found in the same layer as the engravings showed that this date was too old by a factor of 20 times. Other carbon-14 measurements on modern human remains and artifacts found in 26 other archaeological sites in Australia and New Guinea establish that anatomically modern humans first colonized Sahul (an ice age continent consisting of Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania) 47,000–40,000 years ago and that evidence for an earlier arrival by modern humans is very weak. This newly established date for the first colonization of Sahul is consistent with the date of 44,000–40,000 years ago for the arrival of the first humans in Europe. These dates provide support for the biblical claim that there was a rapid, near simultaneous, widespread dispersal of humans from one region some time after Noah’s Flood.  

 

References:

Early Human Occupation of Northern Australia: Archaeology and Thermoluminescence Dating of Jinmium Rock-Shelter, Northern Territory

Optical and Radiocarbon Dating at Jinmium Rock Shelter in Northern Australia

The Process, Biotic Impact, and Global Implications of the Human Colonization of Sahul about 47,000 Years Ago

A Genomic History of Aboriginal Australia

The Earliest Evidence for Anatomically Modern Humans in Northwestern Europe

A 41,500 Year-Old Decorated Ivory Pendant from Stajnia Cave (Poland)

Clear Thinking | End Times Introduction, Part 3

Three points to consider in end times eschatology

Stars, Cells, and God | Hominin Burials? and Viscous Fine-Tuning

Join Fazale “Fuz” 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.

 

Hominin Burials?

Were modern humans the first to bury their dead deliberately and ritualistically? Or did hominins that preceded them in life’s history also deliberately inter their dead? These questions bear on the concept of human exceptionalism and, for Christians, the scientific case for the image of God in modern humans.

 

In this episode, biochemist and Christian apologist Fuz Rana discusses recent work by a research team of collaborators from the US, Spain, Italy, and South Africa that relies on the use of machine learning algorithms to analyze hominin burials.

 

What did they discover? How do their insights impact the case for human exceptionalism?

 

REFERENCES:

Hominin Skeletal Part Abundances and Claims of Deliberate Disposal of Corpses in the Middle Pleistocene

 

Additional Resources:

Rabbit Burrowing Churns Claims about Neanderthal Burials

Does Homo naledi Undermine the Case for Human Exceptionalism?

 

Viscous Fine-Tuning

For decades, physicists have recognized that the fundamental constants of our universe (speed of light, fine structure constant, proton-to-electron mass ratio, etc.) appear finely tuned to make the environment suitable for life to exist. Typically, that fine-tuning has arisen in the context of making atomic nuclei or stars or planets. A recent paper shows how the fine-tuning of the fundamental constants applies even to the life-essential processes at work inside the cell.

 

REFERENCES:

Constraints on Fundamental Physical Constants from Bio-Friendly Viscosity and Diffusion

Clear Thinking | End Times Introduction, Part 2

Clear Thinking | Applying Logic to Conspiracy Theories, Part 3

Applying intellectual virtues to conspiracy theories

Clear Thinking | Applying Logic to Conspiracy Theories, Part 2

Questions to ask when considering conspiracies