The document summarizes the Rare Earth Hypothesis, which argues that the emergence of complex life on Earth required an improbable combination of astrophysical and geophysical events. It outlines various finely tuned parameters needed for a planet to support life, including properties of the star, planet, atmosphere, water, and biochemistry. The probability of these factors aligning on a planet is estimated to be as low as 1 in 1024, suggesting that complex life is uniquely rare in the universe.

1. Science and Faith Lectures
Rare Earth Hypothesis
Rare Earth hypothesis argues that the emergence of complex life
on Earth required an improbable combination of astrophysical and
geophysical events and circumstances.
Dennis Wilson
HCBC Defending Christianity
December 19, 2017

2. Outline
1. Introduction and Background
2. Fine Tuned Parameters
– Solar Parameters
– Solar and Earth Parameters
– Chemistry
3. Summary and Conclusion

3. “Habitable environments must provide extended regions of liquid
water, …complex organic molecules, and energy sources to
sustain metabolism”. www.astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov/roadmap
What’s the Basic Criteria for Life?
• Planet’s criteria include:
– Composition
– Orbital properties
– Potential chemical interactions
• Stellar (Sun) criteria include:
– Mass
– Luminosity
– High metallicity
Isaiah 45:18 … he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded
it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited.
Poor Example Ideal Example

4. Other Criteria for Complex Life
• Life involves complex biochemistry
• Complex life involves extraordinarily
complex biochemistry which requires:
• Planet with an improbable:
– Thermodynamics
– Physics
– Chemistry
Bacteria

5. Is Complex Life Carbon Based?
• Carbon has four chemical bonds
– There are over 10 million known carbon-based molecules
– Carbon molecules form the basis for organic molecules
– Oxygen is involved in over 100,000 molecules
– C + O2 > CO2 (gas at STP)
– Carbon – Oxygen – Hydrogen drives biological activity
– Additional essential elements: nitrogen and sulfur + others

6. Carbon vs. Silicon based Molecules
• We assume that the atoms in the periodic table occur
through out the universe –
– carbon-based molecules represent over 30%
• Silicon has been suggested as a building block for life

7. Major Creation Events
• God prepares the Earth (through creation miracles) for life
– Earth started out uninhabitable and unfriendly to life. In order to
support human life, Earth underwent substantial changes
3.8 BYA: late heavy
bombardment
3.5 BYA: creation of
magnetosphere
4.4 BYA: formation of
the moon
1.8 BYA: plate
tectonics
2.8 BYA: Cyanobacteria
creates O2
545 MYA: Cambrian explosion

8. Copernican Principle
• The Copernican principle states that Earth is not in a
central, specially favored position in the universe.
– More recently, the principle has been generalized to the relativistic
concept that humans are not privileged observers of the universe.
Ref: Peacock, John A. (1998). Cosmological Physics. Cambridge University Press. p. 66.
Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD
God formed a man from the
dust of the ground and
breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life, and the man
became a living being.
Dust of the ground is star
stuff.

9. Perspective: Size and Scale of Universe
The distance to the edge of the visible universe is about 1024 m ~ 46 BLY
One argument for the Copernican principle is the scale of the universe

10. Our Galaxy - Milky Way
Galaxies contain stars & clouds of gas and dust (nebulae)
1. Elliptical: very little gas & dust (elements), mostly old
red stars – not suitable for life
2. Irregular: preponderance of explosive star formation
and quasars – not suitable for life
3. Spiral: flat, rotating disk containing stars, gas and
dust – suitable for life (e.g. Milky Way)
Elliptical
Nebulae
Spiral

11. Fine Tuned Galactic Parameters
• Certain places (GHZ) in a galaxy are more hospitable to life than
others. Reference: NASA Astrobiology Institute, May 18, 2001
• A planetary system must be close enough to the galactic center for:
– A sufficiently high level of heavy elements to form rocky, or terrestrial, planets.
• The planetary system must be far enough from the galactic center so:
– Dangerous radiation, which would damage any carbon-based life, is less intense.
– Gravitational perturbations of planets by nearby stars becomes less likely.
Galactic Habitable Zone (GHZ)
• The Milky Way’s GHZ lies
• far from the center where
radiation is less intense
• between the spiral arms
where gravity from
nearby stars is much less

12. Boundary between interstellar space and
solar wind is ~ 100 AU from the Sun
Our Planetary System - Solar System
Planets Asteroids (Vesta) Comets
8 planets, 1000’s (103) asteroids,
109 comets and meteoroids

13. Main Sequence Stars and Our Sun
• Type G stars are ideal for life
due to their long stable
nuclear fusion stage
• Our Sun is a Type G main
sequence star
An understanding of planetary habitability begins with stars

14. Outline
1. Introduction and Background
2. Fine tuned Parameters
– Solar Parameters
– Solar and Earth Parameters
– Chemistry
3. Summary and Conclusion

15. Fine Tuned Stellar Parameters
• SHZ is where an Earth-like planet can maintain liquid
water on its surface and support organic chemistry.
– Astrobiologists define the SHZ as a region that is neither too hot nor too
cold for liquid water and therefore life to exist.
• Earth orbits a (main sequence G star) at right location in
the SHZ for liquid water.
Stellar Habitable Zone (SHZ)
Intersection of (SHZ),
and (GHZ) forms the
“Goldilocks Zone”
where life can exist

16. Background: Star’s Luminosity vs. Mass
• The luminosity (L) of main-sequence stars follows a power law in
terms of the total mass (M):
– L/LSun ~ (M/Msun)3.5 for 2 < M/Msun < 20 Ref: Hyperphysics
• Very small variations in mass produce very large variations in
brightness
Fine Tuned Solar Parameters
A larger hotter light bulb is
“brighter” more luminosity

17. Fine Tuned Solar Parameters
• The Sun is ~ halfway through its main-
sequence evolution
– Sun’s luminosity increases ~ 10% every
billion years
– Conditions for life to exist began ~ 1By ago.
– In ~ 1By the Earth will be too hot for liquid
water to exist
– Currently - low solar flare activity
Star’s Luminosity vs. Mass
Ref: The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology “The Habitable Zone”

18. • The relationship between a main sequence star’s lifetime (TL) and
mass M has serious implications for life.
• A star with 2 solar masses lasts 1.7 By and one with 4 solar masses
lasts 300My Reference: Hyperphysics
Fine Tuned Solar Parameters
Star’s Life Time vs. Mass
Implication: If the sun’s original
mass was slightly greater: the
sun would burn too rapidly for
biodiversity to evolve
The life time (TL) is ~ 1/M3.5

19. Sun’s Metallicity
• Star’s metallicity = fraction of elements other than H2 & He
(Sun ~1.8%)
– Metallicity is an indicator of the likelihood that the star has a
planetary system.
– Only a very few star’s have been found with the proper metallicity
– Ref: The Astrophysical Journal 622 (2) 1102–1117 (2005)
Fine Tuned Solar Parameters
• RTB’s Statements:
– If too small: insufficient heavy
elements for life chemistry to exist
– If too large: High radiation pressure
resulting in strong “solar” winds
and short lifetimes

20. Probability Estimates for Solar Parameters
are Higher than RTB’s Hugh Ross
Fine Tuning Parameter Probability
Galaxy type (Spiral) 0.1
GHZ + SHZ 0.01
Proper luminosity of Sun 0.1
Proper age of Sun 0.01
Proper temperature of Sun 0.01
Proper metallicity of Sun 0.1
Estimated probability 1 : 109

21. Outline
1. Introduction and Background
2. Fine tuned Parameters
– Solar Parameters
– Solar and Earth Parameters
– Chemistry
3. Summary and Conclusion

22. • Earth’s magnetic field (magnetosphere)
– Protects Earth’s atmosphere from erosion by solar and cosmic
particle radiation.
– Planets without a shielding magnetic field, e.g. Mars and Venus
evolve differently.
– Reference: www.science.nasa.gov/heliophysics
Fine Tuned Earth Core Parameter
• RTB’s statement
– If stronger: fewer cosmic rays
reach the troposphere which
would inhibit adequate cloud
formation.
– If weaker: geomagnetic
storms would be more severe
and ozone shield would be
inadequately protected
Earth’s Magnetosphere

23. Fine Tuned Solar System Parameters
• Jupiter’s strong gravitational field “protects” earth
from comet and asteroid impacts
– Comet impacts on Jupiter are ~ 2000 and 8000 times higher than
on Earth.
Size and Position of Jupiter (and Saturn)
Shoemaker-Levy 9
Impact
– If Jupiter were not present, the probability
of asteroid impacts with the Earth would be
much greater.
– Reference: “Collision Probability of Periodic
Comets with the Terrestrial Planets”
Astronomical Journal 11 (2): 848
– RTB: If Jupiter were closer to Earth
or more massive, then Earth’s orbit
would be unstable

24. Recent study (May 17, 2011) links cosmic rays to aerosols/cloud
formation via solar magnetic activity modulation www.science.au.dk
• Cosmic rays (atomic nuclei) eject electrons
from upper atmosphere, which promotes
cloud formation.
• If the solar wind is too weak: too many
cosmic rays reach Earth’s troposphere
causing too much cloud formation and lower
surface temperatures
• If too strong: too few cosmic ray protons
reach planet’s troposphere causing too little
cloud formation
Fine Tuned Earth/Solar Parameters
Sun’s Solar Wind

25. • Plate Tectonics: Earth is delicately balanced between
snowball and a greenhouse.
– One key to maintaining this balance is the fate of carbon dioxide
(CO2) in the atmosphere.
– The balance is maintained by plate tectonics.
Oceanic-Continental Convergence
First study of the effects of plate tectonics on life (1970, James Valentine & Eldridge Moores)
proposed that the diversity of life increased as continents fragmented and dispersed.
Earth’s Delicate Energy Balance
Solar Reflectivity (Albedo) is delicately balanced – snow and water
reflect most of the sun’s radiation

26. • Angular rotation (WE) affects wind speeds
Fine Tuned Earth Orbital Parameters
Earth’s Angular Velocity
Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 94, Aug. 20, 1989, p. 11129-11136
• Relation between WE and atmospheric winds
• Earth rotation creates a Coriolis effect which increases with WE
Wind speed, V increases
with increasing WE
V of 620 km/h has been
measured on Jupiter

27. Fine Tuning Parameter Probability
Solar wind’s effect on Earth 0.01
Axis tilt 0.1
Rotation period 0.1
Orbit eccentricity 0.1
Position and mass of Jupiter 0.01
Plate Tectonics 0.1
Magnetic field 0.01
Estimated Probability 1 : 1010
Probability Estimates for Orbital Parameters
Higher than RTB’s Hugh Ross

28. Outline
1. Introduction and Background
2. Fine tuned Parameters
– Solar Parameters
– Solar and Earth Parameters
– Chemistry
3. Summary and Conclusion

29. Fine Tuned Geochemistry
• Continental crust: layer of minerals and metals which forms
the continents and shallow seabed close to their shore
1. It is less dense than mantle, thus allowing for large land masses
2. Concentrated ores of metals, which allowed human civilization to
advanced beyond the stone-age.
3. The continental shelf allows complex sea life to exist
Earth’s Crust
RTB’s Statements on Earth’s Crust
If thicker: no tectonic activity
and a sterile planet
If thinner: volcanic and tectonic
activity would be too great

30. • Carbon dioxide level in atmosphere
– if greater: runaway greenhouse effect
– if less: plants unable to maintain efficient
photosynthesis
• Water vapor level in atmosphere
– if greater: runaway greenhouse effect
– if less: rainfall too meager for advanced life
• Ozone level in atmosphere: Good up high
(stratosphere) bad nearby (troposphere)
– if greater: surface temperatures would be
too low
– if less: surface temperatures too high; too
much UV radiation at the surface
Fine Tuned Atmosphere
Non-quantifiable but relevant conditions for life

31. • Atmospheric pressure
– if too small: liquid water evaporates too
easily and condenses too infrequently;
weather and climate variation too extreme
– if too large: liquid water will not evaporate
easily enough which disrupts the water
cycle necessary for land life
• Atmospheric (spectral) transparency
– if smaller: insufficient intensity and range of
wavelengths of solar radiation reaches
planetary surface
• Oxygen quantity in atmosphere
– if greater: hydrocarbons burn too easily,
fires would cause wide-spread devastation
– if less: advanced animals would have too
little to breath
Fine Tuned Atmosphere
Non-quantifiable but relevant conditions for life

32. Fine Tuned Solar/Atmosphere
• Infrared energy emitted at the top of the atmosphere (239 W/m2) is
almost exactly equal solar energy absorbed by earth (341–102 W/m2).
– The small difference, ~ 1 watt/m2, leads to global warming or cooling.
Trenberth, et all, 2009: Earth's Global Energy Budget. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 90, 311-323.

33. Fine Tuned Water Chemistry
• Expands upon freezing
– Insulating blanket retards
further freezing of lakes and
oceans
• High surface tension (only
mercury is higher)
– Capillary action necessary for
plant life to exist

34. Fine Tuned Water Chemistry
• Universal Solvent: Water dissolves a large variety of
chemical substances
– Invaluable in industrial processes
• Osmosis: Water passes through cell membranes
– Plants and humans rely upon this property for their existence
• High heat capacity: moderates earth’s climate
– Absorbs large amount of energy

35. Chemistry: Resource Rich Planet
• Trees (forests) provided easily accessible housing and
fuel (energy) in Biblical times
• Fossil Fuels – later peat, coal, oil, natural gas

36. Fine Tuning Parameter Probability
Geochemistry (Iron) 0.1
Thickness of crust 0.01
Ratio of atmospheric gases 0.001
Atmospheric transparency 0.01
Atmospheric pressure 0.1
Water’s properties 0.001
Quantity of minerals 0.001
Estimated probability 1 : 1015
Cumulative probability 1 : 1024
Probability Estimates for Earth Parameters
Higher than RTB’s Hugh Ross

37. Outline
1. Introduction and Background
2. Fine tuned Parameters
– Galactic and Solar Parameters
– Solar and Earth Parameters
– Chemistry
3. Summary and Conclusion

38. Summary
• The Bible encourages us to look for
God’s fingerprint
– Romans 1:20 “Since the creation of the world
God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and
divine nature – have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that
men are without excuse.”
– Isaiah 48:13 My own hand laid the
foundations of the earth, and my right hand
spread out the heavens
The Bible Said it First

39. Summary
• Liquid water, complex organic molecules and energy to
maintain metabolism are necessary but not sufficient.
• There are at least 2 dozen other scientifically accepted
conditions
• The chances for a planet similar to earth is very unlikely
An Earth-Sized Exoplanet in Our Cosmic Neighborhood
Astronomers have found a temperate world orbiting a star just 11 light-years away.
The Atlantic Nov 15, 2017
“Even the discovery of the most exciting kind of exoplanet—an Earth-sized world orbiting
inside a star’s habitable zone—has become routine: Kepler has confirmed the existence of
more than 30 of them.”

40. Summary
Habitability: Earth is fine
tuned for advanced life
Mankind is different in
kind: Then God said,
"Let us make man in our
image, in our likeness,…
Observability: Earth’s
position in the Milky Way
allows us to observe,
discover and declare