The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

where a is the average radius of an atom, and n is the number of atoms per unit volume. If the atoms in the volume are closely packed, then n is roughly Last, let us replace the emissivity ε , which is on the order of one, by a factor giving the efficiency of the opening into hyperspace, as determined by the four-dimensional solid angle subtended by the critical angle θ c (in radians) of eq. (2): Then putting eqs. (5) through (7) into eq. (3), and dropping several geometric factors of order one, gives us the approximate power lost from a body of three-dimensional volume V when the windows of the heavens are open: For atoms of average radius a = 10 −10 meter, the factor σ / a in this equation is approximately: The heat loss depends on the value of the critical angle of opening into hyperspace, θ c , for the wavelengths of importance. For this theory to work, we want the heat loss Noah would experience aboard the ark to be significantly less than the 2000 dietary calories (1 dietary calorie = 4186 Joules) minimum he would consume in a day, about 100 Watts worth (ignoring inefficiency in converting food to heat). Estimating his weight as about 70 kg (154 pounds) and approximating his density to be that of water, his volume V would be about 0.07 cubic meter. His 37°C (98.6°F) body temperature would be an absolute temperature of T = 310 kelvin. If we want his heat loss P to be only 10 watts, then these data in eq. (8) require θ c = 0.295 milliradian (61 arc-seconds). This would be at infrared wavelengths. Noah could make up for the 10-watt heat loss to hyperspace simply by consuming a few hundred more calories daily. Let us now reckon the heat loss from molten basalt at the Earth’s surface if we assume that θ c had the same value for visible light as the above value for infrared light. Taking the temperature of this red-hot lava as 1500 kelvin (about 1200°C), then eq. (8) gives its heat loss per unit volume ( P / V ) as 78 kilowatts per cubic meter. Figure 9 plots the rapid increase (due to the fourth power of T ) of the power loss with increasing temperature. For a density of 2900 kg/m 3 and a specific heat of 700 joules/kilogram-kelvin, (Stacey, 1969, p. 280) and with no other heat input or output, the lava would start cooling at about 170°C per hour down from its initial 1200°C. Of course, the cooling rate would decrease as the lava got cooler. Let us consider how such heat losses would compare to the heat gained fromaccelerated nuclear decay. To get about 500megayears’ worth of nuclear decay during the one actual year of the Genesis flood, the decay rate would have to be accelerated by a factor of 500 million. Multiplying present-day nuclear heating rates in typical rocks (Stacey, 1969) by that acceleration factor gives 1500 watts/m 3 for granite and 80 watts/m 3 for basalt. Fig. 9 shows that with the value of θ c assumed above, even granite would rise to a temperature of only about 600 Kelvin (about 300°C), far less than its melting point. That means this mechanism of cooling would be very effective at controlling the temperature of rocks heated by nuclear decay, while at the same time not cooling creatures at room temperature very much. It is very likely that God adjusted the heat leakage to hyperspace by making the critical angle of opening θ c depend on both wavelength and location , in order to get the temperatures He wanted from place to place in the Earth. For example, over (“over” in the w -direction) places like the Earth’s core and mantle, which may not have many radioactive nuclei, He may have left the windows entirely closed (with θ c = 0), in order to keep the temperatures of the core and Humphreys ◀ Accelerated cooling ▶ 2018 ICC 736 Figure 8. Removing reflective surface (or making it more transparent) over part of the fabric of space allows hot rock to radiate heat into hyperspace. Figure 9 . Heat loss into hyperspace increases as the fourth power of absolute temperature. Line shown is for a critical angle of opening θ c into hyperspace of 0.295 milliradian. Granite with accelerated decay generating 1500 W/m 3 in it would rise to a temperature of only about 600 Kelvin (about 300°C).