Wanted: One Planet, With Water

Since evolutionists believe adding time, chance, and the right ingredients together results in life, in recent years we have seen an accelerated search for planets that have such “right” ingredients. Thus, this week’s report of the first sign of planetary water outside our solar system has some evolutionists nearly giddy-but others remain skeptical.

The planet in question, known as HD209458b, was examined by astronomer Travis Barman, who used observations from the Hubble Space Telescope to determine the presence of water vapor on the planet. Barman called the result a “confidence booster” because it confirmed their prediction that HD209458b and planets like it would hold water.

A ScienceNOW article on the discovery gives a different perspective, however. In an article titled “Alien Water Find Iffy,” the originator of the technique Barman used claims the water may just be a mirage:

The problem […] is that interpretation of spectral information from an extrasolar planet requires more precision and stability than may be possible with current instrumentation.

Oddly, the Hubble Space Telescope instrument used to gather the data is now broken, preventing further examination of the planet by the same method.

Would the presence of water on a faraway planet support the story that life arose out of primordial clay? Of course not. Even so, it’s quite telling that there’s so much evolutionary focus on the mere possibility of the presence of water, despite the fact that the steps that would transform water (and other substances) into life have never been found in nature!

Another news item this week further showcases the unfounded evolutionary excitement over the thought of extraterrestrial life. In Alien plants may come in all colours but blue, news@nature.com’s Heidi Ledford discusses a NASA biometeorologist’s new model that speculates that extraterrestrial plants may come in a rainbow of colors. Of course, Ledford injects a bit of realism into the otherwise fanciful review:

Given that we have yet to find bacteria, let alone little green men or purple palms, on any other planet, it might seem slightly ridiculous to spend time working out what colour plants elsewhere in the Universe must be. But scientists say that the thought experiment could be useful in helping us to look for lush landscapes in other solar systems.

Given that scientists have no support whatsoever for the concept of life arising on its own, we’d say these fantastic evolutionary quests are more than “slightly” ridiculous! Perhaps the entire search for alien life was best summarized by an article appearing on ScienceNOW last week. In “Look Out for Alien Lasers,” Phil Berardelli writes:

For several decades, astronomers have been aiming sensitive radio receivers toward the heavens hoping to eavesdrop on signals generated by beings on planets elsewhere in the galaxy. Nothing yet, of course, but now an international team of researchers is proposing to look for flashes from alien laser beams as well using gamma-ray telescopes. [emphasis added]

The as-of-yet fruitless search for extraterrestrial life is a microcosm of the search for evidence for evolution: lots of money, time, energy, and intelligence are poured into the search, but ultimately, the discoveries are something on the order of 99% naturalistic dogma and 1% good science.