Intelligent Design Investigation

Explore the Evidence

The Fine-Tuned Universe  •  12 evidence records
A Visit With Jesus

This investigation draws upon 12 related evidence records. They are grouped below according to the part of the investigation they help us examine. Select any record for a closer look at the observation, scientific background, significance, uncertainties, and its relevance to Intelligent Design.

A Universe That Can Form

Cosmic Condition

The Cosmological Constant

The cosmological constant is connected with the accelerated expansion of the universe. Its observed value is very small compared with values that might be expected from some theories of particle physics.
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Cosmic Condition

The Initial Expansion of the Universe

The early universe expanded in a way that eventually allowed matter to form stars and galaxies rather than rapidly collapsing or remaining too widely dispersed.
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Cosmic Condition

The Universe's Low Initial Entropy

The early universe was remarkably smooth. In a universe governed by gravity, that smooth beginning represents an unusually ordered state from which stars, galaxies, and usable energy could later develop.
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Forces That Must Work Together

Physical Parameter

The Strength of Gravity

Gravity is extraordinarily weak compared with the other fundamental forces, yet it controls the large-scale structure of the universe and the formation and behavior of stars.
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Physical Parameter

The Electromagnetic Force

Electromagnetism governs atoms, chemical bonds, light, and much of the chemistry upon which life depends.
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Physical Parameter

The Strong Nuclear Force

The strong interaction is responsible for binding quarks and plays a central role in holding atomic nuclei together.
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Particles and Stable Matter

Physical Parameter

The Neutron-Proton Mass Difference

The neutron is only slightly heavier than the proton, but that small difference has major consequences for the stability of hydrogen and the elements produced in the early universe.
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Physical Parameter

Stable Hydrogen and Atomic Matter

The laws and particle properties of our universe allow hydrogen and other stable atoms to exist, providing the foundation for stars, chemistry, water, and life.
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Stars and the Elements of Life

Physical Parameter

The Production of Carbon and the Hoyle State

Stars produce carbon efficiently because carbon-12 has an excited nuclear state, known as the Hoyle state, that greatly increases the rate of the reaction that forms carbon from helium.
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Physical Parameter

The Carbon-Oxygen Balance in Stars

Stellar nuclear reactions determine how much carbon survives and how much is converted into oxygen, two elements central to known life.
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A Universe With Galaxies and Matter

Cosmic Condition

Primordial Density Fluctuations

The early universe contained tiny variations in density that later grew under gravity into galaxies and the large-scale structure of the cosmos.
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Cosmic Condition

Why Is There More Matter Than Antimatter?

The observable universe contains far more matter than antimatter. Physics describes several possible ways this asymmetry could have developed, but the actual mechanism that produced it has not yet been established.
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  Evidence records distinguish observations from proposed explanations and areas that remain uncertain.