Letters: Roading construction to transform Koutu

Great to see the Koutu Rd reconstruction project under way. I look forward to the new traffic calming measures that will make Koutu a safer place for all New Zealanders.

However, it was a pity to find on Saturday morning that someone had damaged and thrown the roadworks warning signs into the middle of the lanes. These warn traffic of the still loose metal and to reduce speed so no accidents occur. Pity.

But anyway, stay safe everyone as Koutu Rd undergoes its transformation.

JOHN HENRY
Rotorua

Many people have told me that starlight from distant galaxies shows the universe is billions of years old.

Since I think the Bible is a factual account of history, this has definite implications for my thinking.

Upon reflection, I recall Charlton Heston's [film] Planet of the Apes, where a team of astronauts left Earth on a five-year mission and then crashed on a planet where the lyrical apes ruled over the dumb humans: It turns out that the planet was Earth, but way in the future.

The point being that Charlton had spent a couple of years on his spaceship, during which time thousands of years had passed on Earth. He couldn't understand, as we can't, why so much time passed in space, but not here.

The average person will tell us that, when you travel at the speed of light, or near it, you don't age at all. If we on Earth are not travelling fast, then those galaxies that speed away from us at nearly light speed (z=0.9) will appear to be much older than we.

Therein lies a plausible, scientific explanation for the apparent great age of distant galaxies in a rapidly expanding universe.

GJ PHILIP
Rotorua