Scientific studies suggest that earth, during its alleged formation, was hot enough that to this day it retains a molten core. So, if earth also went through extreme heat during its infancy, why didn't water on earth take the same course as water on Venus? By the time earth cooled, there should have been about as much water left on it as there is on Venus today -- practically none.

Furthermore, there is no evidence indicating that there was ever any large volume of water on Venus. There are no gullies, trenches, or craters left vacant by oceans, lakes, or rivers. If all the waters on earth were to disappear, they'd leave some unmistakable natural landmarks behind.

The answer given by some is that perhaps Venus' high temperatures never allowed water to even reach a liquid state.

Then why is there no water on Mars? Mars is cooler and farther away from the sun than Venus and even earth; it has no scorching atmosphere, but it is an extremely dry planet. That is, Mars does not have the kind of atmosphere which might have kept water from condensing or might have caused water to disappear as it allegedly did on Venus. Yet, Mars has only some ice at the poles and small traces of water vapor in the atmosphere. No oceans, rivers, glaciers, or even ponds. Where did all the water on Mars go? Or why wasn't any there to begin with?

So, you see, no matter what your vantage point, earth's surface being 70 percent covered with water is, from an evolutionary standpoint, an inexplicable phenomena. Did the planets really evolve of the same stuff in space? Did they evolve at all? It certainly does not seem that way. How do you explain three planets right next to each other, one is a dry oven, one is an arid desert, and the one in the middle is flooded with water? Evolution? Think again.

And while you're thinking, try explaining why earth has a magnetic field while Venus does not. And why Venus revolves differently from the other planets. And why most of the planets are flat at the poles while Venus is round. And why the surface of Venus is smooth in comparison to that of earth and Mars. Because the planets in our solar system were formed by the same evolutionary process? There is no better proof than the planets themselves that presently held theories of planetary evolution do not "hold water."

A BETTER THEORY

Maybe what we need is simply another imaginative theory concerning the disappearance of water on Venus: About 648 million ago, 7 billion little aliens with big bladders landed on Venus in a spaceship the size of Krakatoa. They drank up all the water, then flew to earth and went to the men's room. (The women stayed home to take care of the babies -- with bladders like that, babies need a lot of attention.)