Where Were You 20 Billion Years Ago?

New York Times, Friday, January 20, 2006--Elated Scientists Say Space-Dust Mission Exceeded Expectations
Warren E. Leary

The 100-pound sample container from the seven-year mission, which landed on the salt flats of Utah on Sunday, captured thousands of particles, perhaps even a million, that originated at the edge of the solar system or from distant stars, they said.

The cargo in the Stardust's sample container, which was opened Tuesday, "was an ancient cosmic treasure from the very edge of the solar system," Dr. Brownlee said. Scientists believe that these particles are the pristine remains of the material that formed the planets and other bodies some 4.6 billion years ago.

We are life, and everywhere life is manifested, yet we do not know what it is. What is the difference between a living body and a dead body? No one knows. Even the big scientist does not know what he is, where he has come from, what he should do, and where he will go when matter, in the shape of his body, becomes old, worn out and dies.

Still, he publishes his theories, theses and hypotheses about how life supposedly began 20 billion years ago from a primordial soup of amino acids. The scientist does not know what life is. He knows nothing about what happened 20 billion years ago, and his speculations have nothing to do with science. They are no more valuable than the child's idea that the moon is made of gren cheese or that the stork delivers babies. The scientist challenges the spiritualist: "Can you show me God? Have you seen God?" But we can put the same challenge to him: "Have you seen life produced from matter? Were you there 20 billion years ago?" What is the difference between the modern scientist's theory that life is created by combining chemicals and the alchemist's idea from the Middle Ages that he could produce gold by combining various metals? Today we laugh at the alchemist, but we accept the scientist's proposal that he will produce life by combining chemicals.