Expert: Ed - 3/31/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello Ed,so you know I am an YEC and do not believe of course the big bang nonsense or the billions of years myth.I do try to force the evolutionist into giving evidence not to retreat into generalities.My two questions are thus.  If the universe is billions of years old,why do comets still exist especially the short comets?Please do not refer to the imaginary Oort cloud which I am fully aware of the evolution response to combat the comet problem they have.Also what is the EVIDENCE the universe increased its order and complex state in contradiction to the 2nd law of thermodynamics?Thank you Ed.I hope you are not an big bang theorist and evolutionist because I notice when I pose my questions many get angry for I press the evolutionist for evidence which I know they hate for me expose their mythical theories.P.S I have many questions to ask if you do not mind.And again thank you Ed I hope we can discuss this without any ill feelings

ANSWER: Kevin, hello!  sorry I'm late answering you.  I was busy this weekend, waiting for salamanders to come out in the rain, to breed!  There is a park near where I live, where hundreds and hundreds of them come out on the first warm, rainy nights of the spring, every year.  It's really neat to observe:
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/04/07/why_did_the_salamander_cr

OK, now let me try to answer your question.  I don't know if I have enough time this morning, so please get back to me if I do a bad job.

Most short period comets come from the Kuiper Belt, not the Oort Cloud.  The Kuiper Belt is not a myth.  (I won't say anything about the Oort Cloud).  In fact, it (the Kuiper Belt) is really dangerous.  We don't know exactly how many huge objects are hiding there.  Sometimes they come swooping into the inner solar system, destroying anything in their way.  NASA needs all the funding it can get, to study this area.  Someday, their studies will help us to protect ourselves from these objects.  The more we know about them, the better we will understand the threats that they pose.  So please don't tell people that they are a myth!  They are waaaayyyyyy too dangerous for us to pretend that they don't exist.  If a huge Mack truck was zooming straight toward you, would you just stand there and try to persuade yourself that it was a myth?  I sure hope not, for your sake.  

So, we need to understand these things as well as we can.

Please look at these links, for current, authentic research about the Kuiper Belt.  The first page was made by an astronomer who studies this region.  The second page is a NASA website.
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/faculty/jewitt/kb.html
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=KBOs

Your second question is also very interesting.  Please read this, from Scientific American:

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The Second Law of Thermodynamics says that systems must become more disordered over time. Living cells therefore could not have evolved from inanimate chemicals, and multicellular life could not have evolved from protozoa.

This argument derives from a misunderstanding of the Second Law. If it were valid, mineral crystals and snowflakes would also be impossible, because they, too, are complex structures that form spontaneously from disordered parts.

The Second Law actually states that the total entropy of a closed system (one that no energy or matter leaves or enters) cannot decrease. Entropy is a physical concept often casually described as disorder, but it differs significantly from the conversational use of the word.

More important, however, the Second Law permits parts of a system to decrease in entropy as long as other parts experience an offsetting increase. Thus, our planet as a whole can grow more complex because the sun pours heat and light onto it, and the greater entropy associated with the sun's nuclear fusion more than rebalances the scales. Simple organisms can fuel their rise toward complexity by consuming other forms of life and nonliving materials.

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OK, I hope this gets your started Kevin.  I am sorry I have to go, I am totally, totally, incredibly busted at work because I let everything slide this weekend while I went out to look for salamanders.  But if you get back to me I will answer as soon as I can.

Keep Looking Up,
-Ed




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello Ed,thank you for your answer even though I must disagree especially of the second law.First there is no closed system in the universe,as far as the sun that is not true,an increase in information is needed,the sun can apply no information to earth and is incapable of causing any increase in organization.Evolution cannot provide an mechanism for their theory where creation by God predicts all the laws of nature where evolution contradicts them.  Please Ed take your time in responding and thank you for answering me,I have many more questions too ask

Answer
Hello,
I am not sure exactly what your question is, but it sounds like you are probably misunderstanding the second law.  Please look at these articles, and if you still have a question you can ask me.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-nature-breaks-the-second-law

http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae261.cfm

Keep Looking Up,
--Ed