For decades, the media and Hollywood have promoted the idea of life on Mars, yet scientific observations have shown that the red planet is utterly inhospitable.¹ The surface of Mars is sterile, yet many still hope to find evidence that life could have existed there.

Evolutionary belief holds as a central tenet that life emerged and developed “naturally,” even though mere natural laws of chemistry and physics are insufficient causes. If life occurred spontaneously on earth, then the emergence and development of life should be taking place elsewhere, perhaps in many places in the universe.

How fast can a disaster zone bounce back? Apparently, faster than previously thought. Yale University ecologists conducted a meta-analysis of 240 studies of devastated ecosystems. They found that ecosystems damaged by pollution can be restored in as few as 10 years. Why then was it believed they would take so much longer to recover?

New research is shedding surprising light on the uniqueness of our solar system. Over 250 planet-like objects (mostly gas giants) have been observed in distant space, and researchers are curious about how they formed and how they compare with earth and its neighboring planets.

The following article was originally published as an Impact article in the June 1985 Acts & Facts. Dr. Bergman provides the following update based on what is currently known about the earth and the universe, as of February 2008. To see the previous article, click here.