Terrence Howard on physics: what the evidence says · JRE #2152
SUBJECT: PHYSICS
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
It's 0.6 inches a year... in all of the planets in every solar system is drifting away from their primary at this same exact rate, like 1.5 cm. So this is a universal expansion that's happening with everything moving away.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Howard asserted that every planet in every solar system recedes from its star at a fixed "universal" rate of about 0.6 inches (1.5 cm) per year, describing this as evidence of a universal expansion. No such phenomenon is recognized in astrophysics: planetary orbital distances are governed by gravity and are not observed to shrink or grow at a shared, fixed annual rate across star systems, let alone the universe as a whole. There is one narrow, well-documented recession effect that superficially resembles the number Howard cites: the Moon moves away from Earth by roughly an inch per year (about 2.5-3.8 cm depending on the source), a tidal effect measured since the Apollo missions using laser reflectors -- but this describes the Moon's orbit around Earth, not planets receding from stars, and the commonly cited figure differs from the 0.6-inch number Howard gives. Earth's distance from the Sun is not known to be increasing at any fixed annual rate comparable to this, and no measurement supports a uniform expansion rate applying to "every solar system." The claim conflates or misremembers an actual, narrowly scoped orbital-mechanics measurement (lunar recession) with an invented, unsupported claim about universal planetary expansion, and is not supported by current evidence.