1. The Creation Narrative according to Science The Creation Narrative concerns Origins: Origin of… - The Universe - The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself 12/16/20151

2. Origin of… - The Universe - The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Answers unknown Even in the Age of Science Cosmology = Speculation? … until the very recent past -- since about 1950 Cosmology = Science! Are the Universe and Matter Eternal? -- 19 th Century Chemistry: Elements are eternal and unchangeable? (Great Breakthrough: The Periodic Table of the Elements) --- ALL THIS CHANGED BEGINNING AROUND 1950 12/16/20152

3.  Cosmology is now a branch of science (the science of cosmic origins) The Universe had a beginning at a known time The Elements had a beginning The Stars had a beginning – How they burn is known The Earth had a beginning – The time is known Life on Earth had a beginning – The time is known 12/16/20153 Origin of… - The Universe - The Elements … THESE WERE ALL UNKNOWN PRIOR TO ABOUT 1950

4. 12/16/20154 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself The Big Bang Beginning "Let There Be Light" NASA WMAP Estimate (2013) 13.77±0.059 Ga* * http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_age.html

5. 12/16/20155 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Before the Big Bang? -- A Multiverse? Physics cannot reach earlier than the Planck Time BB + 5.39x10 -44 s … So, a Multiverse, if it exists, is beyond the reach of empirical science … The Big Bang itself is beyond reach, except that we can date it. Were the physical constants randomly generated at this time? … Intriguing thought, but Unprovable.  No knowable reason why the basic physical parameters have particular values -- except that we would not be here talking about them if they didn't!

6. 12/16/20156 FIRST EVENT: Cosmic Inflation BB + 10 -36 s to 10 -32 s (BB + a trillion-trillion-trillionth of a second) Note this is later than the Planck Time MUCH faster than the Speed of Light At the end of the expansion, the Universe was about 10 cm (4") in diameter Density of the Universe at the end must be precise: ±1 part in 10 23 at BB + a billionth s -- like one atom in a gram-mole of atoms (Avogadro number 6.02 x 10 23 ) -- over this and the universe collapses in less that 13 Ga -- under this and the universe expands too fast Ref: http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmo_03.htm

7. 12/16/20157 Origin of… -The Universe - The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Creation of the primordial elements The First Three Minutes First, quarks form... The buildingblocks of protons and neutrons. Then quarks fuse to form protons and neutrons … Protons = ionized Hydrogen, 1 st element made Then heavy Hydrogen, Helium, and Lithium.  Instability of He-5 and Be-8 blocks formation of heavier elements  Rapid cooling ends further fusion in about 15 minutes.

8. 12/16/20158 Origin of… -The Universe - The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Formation of neutral atoms, and stars ~BB + 500,000 y Neutral atoms start to form ~ BB + 300,000 - 400,000y... Background drops under ~3,500°K, about the binding energy holding electrons to nuclei. Consequences: The Universe becomes Transparent (The sky becomes dark) Stars begin to form and heat (Gravity dominates) Nuclear fusion begins in the stars. https://www.ualberta.ca/~pogosyan/ teaching/ASTRO_122

9. 12/16/20159 Origin of… -The Universe - The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Formation of the Elements in Stars Beryllium barrier is overcome (See Teleology talk) Over time all elements up to Iron group form Wikipedia Commons Next (depending on star): Supernova -- Intense flux rapidly forms all elements heavier than the iron group

10. 12/16/201510 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Formation of the Solar System (4.56 Billion years ago) Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter (Mostly rocky) Solar System Formation NASA Beyond Neptune's orbit is another belt of asteroids called the Kuiper belt (Mostly icy volatiles)

11. 12/16/201511 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Earth-Moon System [NASA]

12. 12/16/201512 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Forming a Habitable Planet  Must be in the Sun's habitable zone - Liquid water distance -(between Venus and Mars) - Continuously for 4 billion years (impossible to predict for chaotic orbits) Wikipedia  Problem: At these distances the Earth is bombarded by the Sun.

13. 12/16/201513 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Forming a Habitable Planet NASA  Problem: - High energy gamma rays - Solar wind (charged alpha & beta rays) - Mass ejected during violent Solar Storms Solar Plasma Ejections (Coronal Mass Ejections follow magnetic lines of force)

14. 12/16/201514 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Forming a Habitable Planet  Must be shielded from harmful Solar & Cosmic Emissions. FOUR SHIELDS: (1) The Magnetosphere Wikipedia

15. 12/16/201515 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself The Early Earth Wikipedia Hadean Bombardment (probably a bit exaggerated)

16. 12/16/201516 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself (2) The Gravitational Shield Wikipedia May 17, 1994 Fragments of Shoemaker-Levy on collision course with Jupiter (second approach; first approach in 1992 fragmented the comet) Massive outer planets deflect comets from collision with Earth. Wikipedia: "Cosmic Vacuum Cleaner" "…the rate of cometary impacts on Jupiter is thought to be between two thousand and eight thousand times higher than the rate on Earth. If Jupiter were not present, the probability of asteroid impacts with the Solar System's inner planets would be much greater."

17. 12/16/201517 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself The Setting for Life Itself Earthscape at 3.9 Ga

18. 12/16/201518 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Life Itself NASA Earliest Evidence: Biologic Carbon, 3.78 Ga Earliest Fossils, Cyanobacteria-like, 3.465 Ga NASA Earthscape showing Stromatolytes, ca. 3 Ga.

19. 12/16/201519 Origin of… -The Universe -- The Elements - Stars and galaxies - The Sun and Earth - Life itself Life Itself NASA Earliest Evidence: Biologic Carbon, 3.78 Ga Earliest Fossils, Cyanobacteria-like, 3.465 Ga NASA Earthscape ca. 3Ga Technical Challenges solved by this first life: Invented the Central Dogma (Ribosomes) Invented photosynthesis (ATP, RuBisCo) Invented Nitrogen fixing (Nitrogenase) Invented Akinetes (spore-like cells)  The specialized molecules in parentheses are the only known molecules that can perform their particular tasks.

20. 12/16/201520 Create Permanent Dry Land

21. 12/16/201521 Making a Living Planet with Life Itself 3.9 Ga to the Present These Tasks were performed by Life Itself: Precipitate Mineral Deposits from the Ocean (2 By back-and-forth building up Oxygen – banded iron) Distribute fixed Carbon and Nitrogen worldwide (mineral deposits and biomass) Develop an Oxygen Atmosphere (needed for multi-cellular life) -- Eukaryotes first appear at this time ~ 2 Ga. Develop a Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide balance Develop the Ozone Shield (protect life in air and on dry land)

22. 12/16/201522 (3) The Ozone Shield

23. 12/16/201523 (4) The Atmospheric Shield  Burn up small meteors before they reach ground Millions per day; many lethal.  Reduce the impact of most meteors that reach ground

24. The Fossil Record of Life on Earth 12/16/201524 "It is to fossils alone that must be attributed the birth of the theory of the earth; that, without them we could never have surmised that there were successive epochs in the formation of the globe." Baron Georges Cuvier (1822) -- William "Strata" Smith first correlated specific fossils to named geological strata (~1800) Geological Map of Great Britain Cambrian: First visible fossils [Ediacaran] Cambrian – "First visible fossils" Lower Silurian (Ordovician) Silurian Devonian Carboniferous Permian Triassic …

25. Creation Timeline of Science 12/16/201525 Ga 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 Big Bang Beginning Milky Way Galaxy Forms Form Elements in Stars and Supernovas Solar System Forms First Life on Earth Ga 5 4 3 2 1 0 Solar System Earth/Moon Prokaryotes (Bacteria/Archaea) Earliest Fossils/ Stromatolytes Eukaryotes (Nucleated Cell) Marine Plants/Animals Land Plants/Animals Corals/sponges/algae Ma 500 400 300 200 100 0 Trilete Spores (sexual repro) Invade Land (Rhynie Chert) Ferns/Pithy Wood Amphibians 370 Ma Mammals 225 Ma Primates (47 Ma) Coal Formations Gymnosperms 319 Ma Angiosperms 160 Ma (Flowering Plants) Grasses 66 Ma fruit trees Plants Animals Flying Insects 380 Ma Reptiles 340 Ma Birds 150 Ma Humans – AMH (200 Ka) Cave Art (30 Ka) K-T Extinction 66 Ma (Dinosaur extinction) First Amniote (280 Ma) (Reptile) Placental Mammal (160 Ma) Hominininae (14 Ma) Bony Fish 419 Ma Cartilaginous Fish 395 Ma Armored Fish 430 Ma (Jawless Fish 510 Ma) Form Ore Deposits

26. Eukaryotes – 2 Ga (±) 12/16/201526 The "Biological Big Bang" ~ 1.5-2.0 Ga -- Vastly more complex than prokaryotes - Nucleus characteristic, but many organelles - Cytoskeleton for structure and internal transport - and much more...

27. Eukaryotes Prior to the Cambrian Explosion 12/16/201527 Single-celled colonies formations: Algae, Fungi, Sponges, Corals Early soft-bodied Ediacaran fossils mostly of uncertain identification (Charniodiscus arboreus) Charniodiscus arboreus length about 20" Wikipedia

28. The Cambrian Explosion 12/16/201528 Cambrian Period: Cambrian Explosion of all animal phyla trilobites, primitive chordates Mid-Cambrian Trilobite Sexual Reproduction: Trilete Spores (Early Ordovician)

29. Creation Timeline Cambrian to Now 12/16/201529 Ma 500 400 300 200 100 0 Trilete Spores (sexual repro) Invade Land (Rhynie Chert) Ferns/Pithy Wood Amphibians 370 Ma Mammals 225 Ma Primates (47 Ma) Coal Formations Gymnosperms 319 Ma Angiosperms 160 Ma (Flowering Plants) Grasses 66 Ma fruit trees Plants Animals Flying Insects 380 Ma Reptiles 340 Ma Birds 150 Ma Humans – AMH (0.2 Ma) K-T Extinction 66 Ma (Dinosaur extinction) First Amniote (280 Ma) (Reptile) Placental Mammal (160 Ma) Hominininae (14 Ma) Bony Fish 419 Ma Cartilaginous Fish 395 Ma Armored Fish 430 Ma (Jawless Fish 510 Ma) Coelacanth: Oldest extant bony fish species Devonian Coelacanth (360 Ma) (earliest Coelacanth fossils ~ 410 Ma) Modern Coelacanth Placoderm (extinct) Age of Fishes Cambrian Ordovician Devonian Silurian Carboniferous Permian

30. Migration to Land and Air Ca. 400 Ma 12/16/201530 Ma 500 400 300 200 100 0 Trilete Spores (sexual repro) Invade Land (Rhynie Chert) Ferns/Pithy Wood Amphibians 370 Ma Mammals 225 Ma Primates (47 Ma) Coal Formations Gymnosperms 319 Ma Angiosperms 160 Ma (Flowering Plants) Grasses 66 Ma fruit trees Plants Animals Flying Insects 380 Ma Reptiles 340 Ma Birds 150 Ma Humans – AMH (0.2 Ma) K-T Extinction 66 Ma (Dinosaur extinction) First Amniote (280 Ma) (Reptile) Placental Mammal (160 Ma) Hominininae (14 Ma) Bony Fish 419 Ma Cartilaginous Fish 395 Ma Armored Fish 430 Ma (Jawless Fish 510 Ma) Migration to land/air Meganeura 380 Ma. Wingspan 2 ft. Inset shows actual fossil "What seems most fascinating is that insects diversified in a relatively brief 100 million years (give or take) into the modern forms that exist with minor change in modern times." [Wikipedia] - Beetles (~300 Ma), - Flies (~250 Ma), - Moths and wasps (~150 Ma). Migration to Air Cambrian Ordovician Devonian Silurian Permian Carboniferous

31. The Fossil Record of Life on Earth 12/16/201531 Plant Migration to Land (410 Ma) Rhynie Chert, the first land "forest" Late Devonian Scene 360 Ma … Followed by the massive coal formations of the Carboniferous Period 360-290 Ma

32. Migration to Land and Air Beginning ~400 Ma 12/16/2015 Ma 500 400 300 200 100 0 Trilete Spores (sexual repro) Invade Land (Rhynie Chert) Ferns/Pithy Wood Amphibians 370 Ma Mammals 225 Ma Primates (47 Ma) Coal Formations Gymnosperms 319 Ma Angiosperms 160 Ma (Flowering Plants) Grasses 66 Ma fruit trees Plants Animals Flying Insects 380 Ma Reptiles 340 Ma Birds 150 Ma Humans – AMH (0.2 Ma) K-T Extinction 66 Ma (Dinosaur extinction) First Amniote (280 Ma) (Reptile) Placental Mammal (160 Ma) Hominininae (14 Ma) Bony Fish 419 Ma Cartilaginous Fish 395 Ma Armored Fish 430 Ma (Jawless Fish 510 Ma) Migration to land/air Land Animal Migration Amphibians marked by tracks, body impressions and body parts Archaeopteryx (150 Ma) Cambrian Ordovician Devonian Silurian Permian 32 Carboniferous

33. The Fossil Record of Life on Earth 12/16/201533 Plant Migration to Land Late Devonian Scene 360 Ma Carboniferous Scene 300 Ma Order: fern-like, pithy trunks ca 400-300 Ma gymnosperms (pines) ca 350 Ma angiosperms flowering plants Ca 120 Ma Grasses/grains and fruit trees ca. 66 Ma.

34. 12/16/201534 Primates and Human Ancestors

35. 12/16/201535 Summary Science's Creation Narrative is known in outline form -- from the Big Bang to the present -- but many gaps remain - Some may never be filled  Much evidence supports the view that the whole narrative indicates planning... There are no blind forces worth speaking about in Nature. … Otherwise we are witnessing a "monstrous sequence of accidents." (quoting Fred Hoyle) -- the subject of the previous talk on teleology.