Stars, Cells, and God

Join biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana and astrophysicist Hugh Ross as they discuss discoveries with theological and philosophical implications that point to the reality of God’s existence.

According to the evolutionary paradigm, there have been eleven times in Earth’s history when animals transitioned from water to land. Recent work by researchers in the UK and Spain indicates that these transitions involved similar genomic changes, providing another remarkable example of convergence. In this episode, Fuz describes this work and its implications for the RTB creation model.

Astronomers have identified many different “habitable zones” in space—places where conditions might allow life to exist. Now, they’ve found a new one: a chemical habitable zone. For life to exist, both nitrogen and phosphorus must be present in just-right amounts and forms. The availability of these elements depends on how much oxygen is involved during a rocky planet’s core formation. Earth falls within this zone. If a rocky planet is formed with less oxygen, it will lack the needed phosphorus for life. If it forms with too much oxygen, it will lack the needed nitrogen. Either way, life as we know it wouldn’t survive.

LINKS AND RESOURCES:

Convergent Genome Evolution Shaped the Emergence of Terrestrial Animals

The Chemical Habitability of Earth and Rocky Planets Prescribed by Core Formation

Are Humans Alone in the Cosmos?

We’re taking a short hiatus in July and will return with more scientific discoveries and theological conversations on August 5.

Join biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana and OB/GYN Christina Cirucci as they discuss discoveries with theological and philosophical implications that point to the reality of God’s existence.

In 2025, the US Department of Health and Human Services published a comprehensive, peer-reviewed, 400-page review titled “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices.” They used rigorous evidence-based medicine methodology and reached the following conclusions:

Quality of evidence: The overall quality of evidence concerning the effects of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries on psychological outcomes, quality of life, or long-term health in minors is very low.

Therapeutic benefits: Evidence does not support the effectiveness of these interventions in children and adolescents.

Treatment harms: There are known and plausible harms to these treatments—infertility, sexual dysfunction, loss of bone density, adverse cognitive effects, CV disease and metabolic disorders, psych disorders, surgical complications, and regret.

Risk-benefit analysis: The evidence demonstrates an unfavorable risk-benefit profile for medical and surgical interventions in children and adolescents with gender dysphoria.

These findings are consistent with a biblical ethic that sees biological sex as God's created design and seeks compassionate psychological treatment of gender dysphoria.

LINKS AND RESOURCES:

Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices

A Scientific and Medical Evaluation of Transgenderism

Transgenderism and the Bible

Join biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Balajied Nongrum, lead consultant for research and apologetics for Reasons to Believe Asia-Pacific (RTB APAC), as they discuss discoveries with theological and philosophical implications that point to the reality of God’s existence.

A popular narrative in today’s culture claims that Christian apologetics and science do not go hand in hand. Critics often argue that apologists are more interested in making arguments than in engaging seriously with science, using it merely as a means to advance their agenda. As a result, any inference pointing to God—and especially to Jesus—is often dismissed as overreach rather than a reasonable conclusion. But is that really the case?

Join biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana and astrophysicist Hugh Ross as they discuss discoveries with theological and philosophical implications that point to the reality of God’s existence.

A new study from a US–China research team argues that the volumes of Neanderthal brain regions fall within the range seen in modern human populations. If so, does that mean Neanderthals were just as cognitively capable as modern humans—and would that challenge RTB’s human origins model? In this episode, Fuz Rana explains what the researchers measured, what their conclusions do and do not show, and why RTB’s model remains scientifically robust.

New evidence suggests that Theia, the planet believed to have collided with Earth to form the Moon, may still exist deep inside our planet, near the boundary between Earth’s mantle and core. According to a new model, Theia’s metallic core may have sunk through Earth’s mantle and merged with Earth’s core, while denser mantle fragments settled deep inside Earth. These buried fragments may explain unusual structures detected there, as well as a thin, chemically distinct layer at the top of Earth’s core. The model also helps explain why Earth and the Moon have such similar compositions and how Earth maintained the long-lasting magnetic field essential for life. 

LINKS AND RESOURCES: 

Neanderthal Brain and Cognition Reconsidered

 

Reconstructing the Neanderthal Brain Using Computational Anatomy

 

Secular Changes in Cranial Morphology and Pattern of Sexual Dimorphism in Modern Japanese: A Geometric Morphometric Analysis Using Post-Mortem Computed Tomography Data

 

Survival of Asteroid-Sized Debris from the Moon-Forming Impactor in Earth’s Deep Mantle with Implications for Its Solar System Provenance

 

Immediate Formation of Core-Mantle Boundary Heterogeneities Following a Giant Impact

 

Designed to the Core

Join biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana and electrical engineer and computer scientist Zachary Leung as they discuss discoveries with theological and philosophical implications that point to the reality of God’s existence.

Most artificial intelligence (AI) systems today are based on neural networks that have existed for decades in other academic disciplines before being imported into AI. Neural networks are traditionally conceived of as mathematical optimization, pattern recognition, and associative memory. We don’t need to think of today’s AI as genuinely “intelligent.” Much of the confusion surrounding AI today can be resolved if we think of it instead as artificial imitation—imitation of human behavior.