Since our resident astronomy expert, John 16 feels that all questions are to be found at metaresearch.org, I thought we could have a separate thread to look at its claims in more detail. I was not expecting much, but even still it let me down. Far from having the long string of lies that I expected, it had ten points which, as far as I can see, aren't even related to the Big Bang.
Let's take a look. This is from http://metaresearch.org/cosmology/top10BBproblems.asp
What is this point saying? That if the universe was different, then it would be different? Well, duh. Where's the problem?
Anyhoo. If anyone wants to get a pulse on the kook nation, the rest of the site may be worth looking into. Men on mars, the whole 9 yards. Perhaps "meta research" is more appropriate than I thought - their research certainly operates on a different level.
Let's take a look. This is from http://metaresearch.org/cosmology/top10BBproblems.asp
Assertion. Why does he think this? What data fits better? What does he mean by "static"? The universe is obviously not static in the conventional sense as the redshift shows clearly.1. Static universe models fit the data better than expanding universe models.
This temperature was predicted and then observed. The observed temp closely matches predictions. How is this a problem? Compare that to "space heated by starlight" which doesn't make any sense. Space itself doesn't have a temperature. Starlight doesn't radiate at 2.7 Kelvin. The CBR doesn't follow distributions of galaxies or stars so there is no way to twist this assertion to be close to accurate.2. The microwave "background" makes more sense as the limiting temperature of space heated by starlight than as the remnant of a fireball.
Such as? What is "too many"? Is this an appeal to aesthetics or a comment about reality? Whatever it is, I don't see the flaw.3. Element abundance predictions using the big bang require too many adjustable parameters to make them work.
Inflation.4. The universe has too much large scale structure (interspersed "walls" and voids) to form in a time as short as 10-20 billion years.
No they mustn't.5. The average luminosity of quasars must decrease with time in just the right way so that their mean apparent brightness is the same at all redshifts, which is exceedingly unlikely.
No they don't.6. The ages of globular clusters appear older than the universe.
The universe isn't supposed to be uniform. And just what does "local streaming motion" mean, anyway?7. The local streaming motions of galaxies are too high for a finite universe that is supposed to be everywhere uniform.
Maybe. Again, how is this a problem with the big bang?8. Invisible dark matter of an unknown but non-baryonic nature must be the dominant ingredient of the entire universe.
What does this mean? All of the astronomers interviewed about the early galaxies comment on how different they are from today's galaxies. Exactly what is the problem? Are you claiming that quasars should have formed before the galaxies?9. The most distant galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field show insufficient evidence of evolution, with some of them apparently having higher redshifts (z = 6-7) than the faintest quasars.
Anthropic principle?10. If the open universe we see today is extrapolated back near the beginning, the ratio of the actual density of matter in the universe to the critical density must differ from unity by just a part in 1059. Any larger deviation would result in a universe already collapsed on itself or already dissipated.
What is this point saying? That if the universe was different, then it would be different? Well, duh. Where's the problem?
Anyhoo. If anyone wants to get a pulse on the kook nation, the rest of the site may be worth looking into. Men on mars, the whole 9 yards. Perhaps "meta research" is more appropriate than I thought - their research certainly operates on a different level.