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The Creation Narrative

The Creation Narrative. Beginnings of the Universe and Life according to modern science. David C. Bossard 19thpsalm.org. THE PLAN. Preliminaries First Creation : The First Fifteen Minutes The Elements Milky Way Galaxy, Solar System and Earth

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The Creation Narrative

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  1. The Creation Narrative Beginnings of the Universe and Life according to modern science David C. Bossard 19thpsalm.org

  2. THE PLAN • Preliminaries • First Creation: The First Fifteen Minutes • The Elements • Milky Way Galaxy, Solar System and Earth • Second Creation: First Life – Prokaryotes (Bacteria) • Preparation of the Earth for Advanced Life • Third Creation: Eukaryotes • Fourth Creation: Animals and Plants • [End of presentation – Website done to here] • Fifth Creation: Humans

  3. PRELIMINARIES WHY THIS TALK?  To Celebrate the Triumph of Science in its Great Achievement: Unfolding the Creation Narrative

  4. PRELIMINARIES WHY THIS TALK? -- To Celebrate the Triumph of Science in its Great Achievement: Unfolding the Creation Narrative  To Challenge the Triumphalism of Science The "God Hypothesis" "I have no need for that hypothesis" LaPlace, regarding the Stability of Planetary Orbits*

  5. PRELIMINARIES WHY THIS TALK? -- To Celebrate the Triumph of Science in its Great Achievement: Unfolding the Creation Narrative -- To Challenge the Triumphalism of Science  To Counterbalance this with the findings of Science Itself. “I must confess that I was at first startled and alarmed by rumours of changes and discoveries which, I was told, were to overturn at once the science of geology as hitherto received, and all the evidences which had been drawn from it in favour of revealed religion… God with us, in the world of science henceforth to be no more!” Lydia Miller, 1869* … She concluded the evidences are still there but "removed into a more distant and dimmer region.”

  6. PRELIMINARIES SHARP POINTS "A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.” Fred Hoyle, 1980

  7. BEGINNING OF THE CREATION NARRATIVE – The First Genesis THE FIRST GENESIS LET THERE BE LIGHT: THE BIG BANG Age of the Universe: 13.73 ± 0.12 Billion years -- NASA WMAP project (2010) -- EESA Planck Mission (2012) -- Sloan Digital Sky Survey David C. Bossard Chapter 3

  8. CREATION NARRATIVE COSMIC INFLATION AND THE COSMIC BRAKE "The more I examine the universe and the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the universe in some sense must have known we were coming.” Freeman Dyson, Disturbing the Universe* Barrow & Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle. Primordial density at a billionth of a second: 447,225,917,218,507,401,284,016± 0.2 gm/cc David C. Bossard Chapter 3

  9. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION OF THE PRIMORDIAL MATTER • Annihilation of antimatter • At 1 second: Creation of Protons and Neutrons (half-life 15 minutes) • at 100 seconds: Creation of Deuterium by binary collision: • Up to 15 minutes (as the universe cools further): Creation of Helium, Lithium and a bit of Beryllium Atomic numbers 1 to 4 David C. Bossard Chapter 3

  10. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION OF THE PRIMORDIAL MATTER cont’d Why didn’t heavier elements form at this time?  The Lithium Barrier - no stable elements with P+N = 5 or 8. • Can’t get past the barrier with binary collisions of lighter elements.

  11. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION OF THE ELEMENTS The First Nine Billion Years "It is mere rubbish thinking at present of the origin of life; one might as well think of the origin of matter." Charles Darwin, letter 1863.* • The B2FH paper (1956)†  Described the origin of all elements. -- It has proved accurate in the 60+ years since

  12. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION OF THE ELEMENTS (Cont’d) Monkeying with Physics • Hydrogen Burning and Long-lived Stars (e.g. the Sun) • Only H-burning lasts billions of years • - Necessary for Advanced life

  13. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION OF THE ELEMENTS (Cont’d) Monkeying with Physics • Helium Burning and the “impossible” triple collision • Fred Hoyle’s ingenious prediction • Carbon Burning and the Brake on Oxygen Formation David C. Bossard Chapter 4

  14. CREATION NARRATIVE A “Habitable” Solar System and Earth Galactic Habitable Zone Milky Way Solar System Habitable Zone David C. Bossard Chapter 5

  15. CREATION NARRATIVE A Hospitable Environment and the First Life • Life Itself built the hospitable environment!! • Step 1: Oxidize the Reducing (acidic) early environment • Time Needed: 2 Billion year Banded Iron ore iron oxide (Fe2O3) = dark; silica (SiO2) = light David C. Bossard Chapter 7

  16. CREATION NARRATIVE A Hospitable Environment and the First Life • Life Itself built the hospitable environment!! • Step 2: Build an Ozone Layer to Shield from Cosmic Rays • Essential for life on Land and in Air • Time Needed: 3.6± Billion years • (1.6 By after Atmospheric Oxygen Stabilized) David C. Bossard Chapter 7

  17. CREATION NARRATIVE A Hospitable Environment and the First Life • Life Itself built the hospitable environment!! • Step 3: Prepare Organic Wastes worldwide • - Most important: “Fixed” Nitrogen • - Time Needed: 3+ Billion years David C. Bossard Chapter 7

  18. CREATION NARRATIVE A Hospitable Environment and the First Life • Life Itself built the hospitable environment!! • Summary time budget for building a hospital environment: • Total time: ± 4 Billion years (BY) • ± 0.5 BY from earth formation to the first Bacteria • – Cooled earth, oceans. • ± 2.0 BY more to first Eukaryotes (Oxygen based) • – Oxygen atmosphere ready • ± 1.5 BY more to first ocean animals • – Waste food (nitrogen) in place • ± 0.2 BY more to first land plants and animals • – Ozone filter in place

  19. CREATION NARRATIVE A Hospitable Environment and the First Life • Life Itself built the hospitable environment!!  The Oxygen atmosphere is the result of life.  The available Nitrogen to support life is the result of life! “The existence of large amounts of oxygen in a planet's atmosphere would be a strong indicator of life.” NASA

  20. CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life THE SECOND GENESIS: CREATION OF LIFE ITSELF • Bacterial Life arose on earth at the earliest possible time. • As soon as the Earth had cooled and stabilized • - 3.9 to 4.0 BY ago. Evidence: C-13/C-12 ratio in old rocks. • Even the "simplest" life is vastly complex.

  21. CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 2 THE COMPLEXITY OF LIFE 1998 NAS Conference: Size Limits of Very Small Microorganisms*.  Response to NASA’s “Mars Fossils” Minimum size: DNA over 200,000 bp  Minimum volume: 1000x Mars “Fossils” David C. Bossard Chapter 6

  22. CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 3 THE COMPLEXITY OF LIFE • Must have machinery to process its genetic information • Called the CENTRAL DOGMA – every cell does it! • [See the handout reproduced on the next slides]

  23. CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life (Handout) THE CENTRAL DOGMA - 1 • DNA. The genetic information is recorded in long ladder-like molecules of DNA. Each rung of the ladder (a base pair) is a pair of 4 short molecules called nucleotides A,T,C and G. They always pair in the same way: A (adenine) pairs with T (thymine), and C (cytosine) pairs with G (guanine). The sides of the ladder are sugar molecules strung end-on-end. The size of the DNA is expressed in the number of base pairs. A Codon is a triplet of base pairs. Each codon corresponds to one of twenty Amino acids -- it’s the amino acids that are the building-blocks of proteins, which do the work of the cell.

  24. CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life (Handout) THE CENTRAL DOGMA - 1 Translation. To every codon there is a special molecule called tRNA that has that codon on one end and has its associated amino acid attached to the opposite end. A given codon (virtually) always associates with the same amino acid -- across all species. Generally a cell must have at least 30 different tRNA molecules to make its proteins; each tRNA must have the genes to build itself as part of the cell's DNA. Some genes code for RNA molecules -- such as tRNA -- rather than proteins. There are many RNA molecules used in regulation. A gene is a sequence of codons. Each gene corresponds to a particular protein that is used by the cell to do its work.

  25. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life (Handout) THE CENTRAL DOGMA - 2 • Regulatory Molecules. Hanging around the cell's DNA are a number of molecules -- RNA polymerases, repressors and other regulatory molecules that determine if, when and how often a given gene will be copied to make proteins. These molecules are part of a complex regulatory system that is an essential for reading the DNA. Without this regulatory apparatus -- which may be as complex as the DNA itself -- the DNA is useless. Regulatory Molecules around DNA

  26. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life (Handout) THE CENTRAL DOGMA - 3 • Messenger RNA. When a given gene is to be copied, the rungs of the DNA ladder split and the left-half is copied into a messenger molecule called mRNA. After error checking and correcting, this mRNA moves away from the DNA and out of the nucleus to the main part of the cell to begin making proteins.

  27. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life (Handout) THE CENTRAL DOGMA - 4 • Ribosomes.Complex motor molecules called ribosomes surround the mRNA chain and begin to transcribe the codons and build an amino acid chain that will be the future protein. This is done by matching a tRNA molecule to a codon, and then detaching the amino acid and adding it to the building chain. Every living species from the simplest to the most complex requires these complex ribosome motors to carry out gene processing.

  28. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life (Handout) THE CENTRAL DOGMA - 5 It takes over 50 genes just to form the ribosomes. See the Wikipedia article on ribosome biogenesis. • Folding. Once the protein chain is complete, it then detaches from the ribosome and folds into the shape that it must have to carry out that protein's specific function. Generally this folding uses other helping molecules called chaperones, that guide it to make the correct shape.

  29. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 4 THE COMPLEXITY OF LIFE • EVERY Living Cell carries out the same “Central Dogma” • Around 200 genes are required just to build this complex • machinery.

  30. TAKE A BREAK

  31. CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 5 PARADOXES IN THE CREATION OF LIFE • The Combinatoric Paradox • The Eigen Paradox • The Levinthau Paradox • The Regulatory Paradox.

  32. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 5 PARADOXES IN THE CREATION OF LIFE  The Combinatoric Paradox -- Wistar Institute Conference (1966) “Mathematical Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Interpretation Of Evolution” (Wistar Institute Monogram No. 5, 1967). "It is our contention that if 'random' is given a serious and crucial interpretation from a probabilistic point of view, the randomness postulate is highly implausible …." Murray Eden, Inadequacies of Neo-Darwinian Evolution as a Scientific Theory Wistar Institute Symposium, 1966, p. 109

  33. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 5 PARADOXES IN THE CREATION OF LIFE  The Combinatoric Paradox -- Wistar Institute Conference (1966) “Mathematical Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Interpretation Of Evolution” (Wistar Institute Monogram No. 5, 1967).  Thus, if natural evolution did occur then the only plausible conclusion is that it occurred as a result of some (to date unknown) natural laws.

  34. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 5 PARADOXES IN THE CREATION OF LIFE  The Combinatoric Paradox Four Responses: 1. Perhaps Life came here from outer space? 2. Infinity of Universes Argument: Any event, no matter how improbable, will surely occur given enough universes. Reply: Abuse of concept of infinity – It can be used to justify the repeated recurrence of any event, however low the probability. Are there an infinite number of universes with a Dr. David C. Bossard giving lectures on the Creation Narrative? 3. Build big by starting small and combining them. Reply: The Fallacy of Betting Systems – "there is nocombination or betting system that will turn the odds into your favour." The odds of getting a very low probability result cannot be helped by any “system”.

  35. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 5 PARADOXES IN THE CREATION OF LIFE  The Combinatoric Paradox Four Responses: 4. There Must be Unknown Natural Laws. Reply: Then spend your time finding them, instead of writing books that make the lazy argument that Evolution is Fact not Theory. Note: Promising research is being done in this direction in the new science of Evolutionary Development (EvoDevo for short). However this research is directed to modifying existing gene expression, not to creating genes in the first place.

  36. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 6 PARADOXES IN THE CREATION OF LIFE  The Eigen Paradox* A gene with over 100 base pairs must be accompanied by error-correction code (also encoded in genes) that is more complex than the original gene. • The implication is that it is impractical to try to “bootstrap” the building of large functional genes by random, undirected processes.

  37. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 7 PARADOXES IN THE CREATION OF LIFE  The Levinthal Paradox A large protein can fold in countless ways, most of which by necessity have never been tried in the entire life of the universe. There is no obvious biological way to pre-determine a particular folding without the help of “chaperone” proteins. So how do proteins (or the life systems) “know” how to fold?

  38. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 8 INVENTIONS OF THE FIRST LIVING SPECIES* • The Central Dogma (already noted) • Carbon Fixing •  RuBisCO • Photosynthesis • Chlorophyll-II: Energy Storage (ATPase) • Chlorophyll-I: Carbon Fixing & Calvin Sugar Cycle • Nitrogen Fixing • Nitrogenase • Heterocysts David C. Bossard Chapter 7 Chapter 6

  39. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 8 INVENTIONS OF THE FIRST LIVING SPECIES • Carbon Fixing •  RuBisCO Smaller unit: 123 amino acids Larger unit: 475 amino acids

  40. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 8 INVENTIONS OF THE FIRST LIVING SPECIES • Photosynthesis • Chlorophyll-II (Photosystem II): (P680) Energy Storage (ATPase) • "The strongest biological oxidizer known."* • Chlorophyll-I (Photosystem I): (P700) Carbon Fixing & Calvin Sugar Cycle • "The strongest biological reducer known."* "These are such complex biological processes, that the complexity and early appearance on earth seems to indicate planning and design." PNAS - Nat'l Acad. Sci. (2006)*

  41. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 8 INVENTIONS OF THE FIRST LIVING SPECIES The ATP Synthase motor molecule ATP ATP Synthase

  42. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – The Creation of Life 8 INVENTIONS OF THE FIRST LIVING SPECIES • Nitrogen Fixing • Nitrogenase • "unique in the history of life." • Heterocysts Cyanobacteria

  43. CREATION NARRATIVE: THE THIRD GENESIS The Third Genesis: Creation of Eukaryotes "The origin of eukaryotes is a huge enigma and a major challenge for evolutionary biology." Eugene V. Koonin, NIH (2010) Paramecium David C. Bossard Chapter 8

  44. CREATION NARRATIVE: THE THIRD GENESIS Cont. The Third Genesis: Creation of Eukaryotes • Superficial differences from bacteria (prokaryotes): • • A nucleus – think of an egg yolk • • Larger size – 50x larger on average • • Greater variety of shapes – Bacteria are balloon-shaped • … these are just markers for fundamental differences.

  45. CREATION NARRATIVE: THE THIRD GENESIS Cont. The Third Genesis: Creation of Eukaryotes • Differences in more depth: •  The Nucleus protects DNA by physical isolation and by error correction while copying genes (more than bacteria) •  DNA in Chromosomes, not circular as in bacteria •  Invention of Mitosis (asexual) and Meiosis (sexual) • cell duplication. Complex; All eukaryotes have both. David C. Bossard Chapter 8

  46. CREATION NARRATIVE – EUKARYOTE INNOVATIONS The Third Genesis: Creation of Eukaryotes ORGANELLES • The Nucleus is one of several organelles in a eukaryote: •  Mitochondria – The power plant (make ATP) •  Endoplastic Reticulum – The factory •  Golgi Apparatus - The post office •  (+ others that depend on the cell's function)

  47. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – EUKARYOTE INNOVATIONS The Third Genesis: Creation of Eukaryotes • Innovations: • Internal structure – the cytoskeleton Eukaryote cytoskeleton (From Wikipedia) Blue = nucleus; green  = microtubules; red = microfiliaments

  48. CREATION NARRATIVE CREATION NARRATIVE – EUKARYOTE INNOVATIONS The Third Genesis: Creation of Eukaryotes • Innovations: • Internal structure – the cytoskeleton

  49. CREATION NARRATIVE – EUKARYOTE INNOVATIONS The Third Genesis: Creation of Eukaryotes • Internal structure – Motor transport system (Kinesin)

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