Originally Posted by
moneshot
The sun was born 4.17 billion years ago
Close, Earth was born as long as 4.567 billion years ago, so one can assume the sun to be a bit older. Wikipedia pegs it at 4.57 billion.
Also, matter consists almost entirely of empty space. This is also why neutron stars are so dense (read: if your thumb was made of neutron star matter, it would weigh something like A THOUSAND MEGATONS); all the space has been squished away!
Also also, you know how people are whining about global warming nowadays? Earth was WAY hotter back when dinosaurs existed. How much hotter? Well, palm trees lived on Greenland, and the deep sea ambient temperature was something like 17 Celcius. Today? 4 Celcius tops, generally just above freezing.