"A physicist has suggested doubling the accepted age of the universe in
order to resolve ‘strong’ tensions between the Big Bang and observations
from the James Webb Space Telescope. A ScienceDaily news article summarized the motivation for this proposal:
Many scientists have been puzzled by the existence of stars like 
the
Methuselah that appear to be older than the estimated age of our
universe and by the discovery of early galaxies in an advanced state of
evolution made possible by the James Webb Space Telescope. These
galaxies, existing a mere 300 million years or so after the Big Bang,
appear to have a level of maturity and mass typically associated with
billions of years of cosmic evolution.
---In short, a Big Bang interpretation of the data does not leave
sufficient ‘time’ for these early galaxies to have evolved since the
supposed Big Bang event.
To solve these problems,
physicist Rajendra
Gupta (University of Ottawa)
suggests radical revisions to the Big Bang
model.
These include incorporating an older explanation for galaxy
redshifts into an expanding universe model, as well as changing values
over time for the fundamental physical constants.
He believes this will
push the time of the Big Bang back another 13 billion years, making the
universe almost 27 billion years old. Obviously, doubling
the universe’s purported age would resolve these tensions, but Gupta
seems to be the only one proposing this, and other Big Bang scientists
probably won’t embrace it.
*But this shows that data from the James Webb
Space Telescope are causing real and serious problems for the Big Bang.
If his proposal were accepted, however, it would not be the first time
the universe’s age has been “tweaked.” ....
As alluded to in the ScienceDaily article, the
calculated age for one 
particular star, HD 140283, is
especially problematic, as it may imply that the star is older than the
universe itself. Moreover, this “Methuselah star” isn’t just any old
star. HD 140283 has been described as “the best star in the sky to do
precision age calculations by virtue of its closeness and brightness.”
Past age estimates for this “Methuselah star” have been as high as 16
billion years. In 2013, the age was revised downward to between 13.7 and
15.3 billion years old.
In 2021, it was revised downward
again to between 11.5 to 12.5 billion years, apparently resolving the
conflict, but still very close to the lower bound of Riess’s estimate.
As suggested by the ScienceDaily writer, not everyone is convinced the
problem has been resolved. Aston University physicist Robert Matthews
noted the conflict could “only be resolved by pushing the error bars to
their extreme limits.”
Another 2019 estimate for the universe’s age is as low as 11.4 billion years, in which case the conflict still exists.
And even if one completely ignores the problems with this ‘Methuselah’
star, the long-standing problem of very distant “mature” galaxies, exacerbated by data from the Webb Telescope, remains unresolved.
Bible-believing Christians should not be surprised that age estimates
based on incorrect evolutionary assumptions can yield inconsistent and
even nonsensical results.
The absolute best way to determine the age of
anything, including the universe itself, is by reliable eyewitness
testimony.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator Himself, is the ultimate
“faithful and true” (Revelation 3:14)
Eyewitness.
He was present at the Creation, He never makes mistakes,
and He never lies, and His Word testifies that the universe is only
thousands of years old, not billions.
How much better to believe Him than to trust the speculative, ever-changing stories of men determined to deny their Creator!" ICR
