For hundreds of years, astronomy played a vital role in the foundation for a solid liberal arts education. While the trend has moved away from that standard, the modern classical education movement … more

The ability of a model’s predictions to match observations helps scientists evaluate that model’s validity. Even if most of the data match, a few key discrepancies between predictions and … more

Astronomers now know that the observable universe contains about 200 billion medium and large-sized galaxies and about a hundred times more dwarf galaxies.1 It all adds up to about 50 billion trillion … more

In part 1 of this series, I defined the faint young Sun paradox and described how, in the 1970s and 1980s, astronomers and physicists concluded that volcanic gas emissions pumped enough extra carbon … more

First articulated in the early 1970s, the faint Sun paradox (also known as the faint young Sun paradox) reveals that the Sun today is about 30 percent brighter than it was when life originated on … more

In science, resolving a paradox almost always results in a much deeper understanding of the record of nature and often produces additional evidence for supernatural design. New and developing … more

The solar system’s youth was a busy one—full of fine-tuned activity. In the previous five parts of this series I’ve described several of the major milestones of the solar … more

Everyone knows our teenage years can be turbulent—yet they also shape us and equip us for adulthood. Likewise, the solar system’s youth, wild as it was, prepared the way for advanced life, … more

Throughout this article series, I’ve highlighted major events that took place during our solar system’s youth and helped pave the way for the eventual appearance of humanity. In part 1, I … more

More and more research shows that it’s one thing for the solar system to support unicellular life; it’s quite another matter to reach the ability to host advanced life. Supporting human … more

In part 1 of this series on the solar system’s youth I described the solar system’s exquisitely fine-tuned birthing experience. Here, in part 2, I will describe amazing events that took … more