Episodes
Monday Jan 08, 2024
Clear Thinking | 3 Science-Related Arguments for God’s Existence, Part 2
Monday Jan 08, 2024
Monday Jan 08, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Stars, Cells, and God | JWST Galaxies Explained and AI Sees Differently than Us
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
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.
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
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.
RESOURCES:
Model Metamers Reveal Divergent Invariances between Biological and Artificial Neural Networks
Monday Jan 01, 2024
Clear Thinking | 3 Science-Related Arguments for God’s Existence, Part 1
Monday Jan 01, 2024
Monday Jan 01, 2024
Monday Dec 25, 2023
Clear Thinking | A Jewish-Christian Incarnational ”Christmas” Hymn, Part 2
Monday Dec 25, 2023
Monday Dec 25, 2023
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
Stars, Cells, and God | Too Many Early Galaxies and AI Easily Fooled
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
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.
Too Many Early Galaxies
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed about ten times as many galaxies within the cosmos’s first 420 million years as what some big bang creation models predict. Astronomers are searching for an explanation for this overabundance of early galaxies. Possible scenarios include a high number of supernova events during the universe’s first 420 million years. Different big bang models predict different average star masses and different star formation rates during the universe’s first half billion years. It will take at least another year of JWST observations to determine which of these big bang creation models correctly describes very early and later epochs of cosmic history.
Resources:
Pointlike Sources among z > 11 Galaxy Candidates: Contaminants Due to Supernovae at High Redshifts?
AI Easily Fooled
Powerful large language models (like ChatGPT) have demonstrated remarkable abilities to provide solutions to problems that require complex reasoning. Yet researchers want to discern the level of understanding by the AIs (artificial intelligence), just as a teacher wants to know how well a student comprehends a correct answer they provided. A recent study shows that despite generating good answers, AIs have very little understanding of the issues involved. Specifically, when confronted with challenges that involved absurdly wrong facts (like 8 x 7 = 14), the AIs will disavow the previous answer and apologize for being mistaken. This research demonstrates that, while AIs accomplish impressive tasks, they do not demonstrate some essential features of “intelligence.”
Resources:
Can ChatGPT Defend Its Belief in Truth? Evaluating LLM Reasoning via Debate
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Clear Thinking | A Jewish-Christian Incarnational ”Christmas” Hymn, Part 1
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Stars, Cells, and God | Neanderthal Flower Burial Nixed and Source of Heavy Metals
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
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
Monday Nov 27, 2023
Monday Nov 27, 2023
How original sin best explains the human condition
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
A prominent atheist philosopher says original sin is the faith's strongest argument
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Stars, Cells, and God | Musings on AI
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
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
Monday Nov 13, 2023
Clear Thinking | Abdu Murray on Christianity in the Marketplace
Monday Nov 13, 2023
Monday Nov 13, 2023
Abdu Murray discusses how to reach Muslims with the truth of the gospel
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Stars, Cells, and God | Life on K2-18b? and Galaxy Formation Models
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
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
Monday Nov 06, 2023
Clear Thinking | Is AI Going to Take Over the World?
Monday Nov 06, 2023
Monday Nov 06, 2023
Jeff Zweerink discusses the need for Christians to guide the development of AI