"Science Guy" Bill Nye took on Genesis-believer Ken Ham in a debate on earth's origins on Tuesday, UK MailOnline reported.
Watched online by more than a million people, the debate saw Nye argue that the earth resulted from the big bang and teaching children otherwise would lead to America's demise as a world power.
Ham, however, referenced the Bible and claimed the world was created in seven days.
"If we continue to eschew science...we are not going to move forward," Nye said. "We will not embrace natural laws. We will not make discoveries. We will not invent and innovate and stay ahead."
According to UK MailOnline, the debate took place Tuesday night to a packed house of 900 at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky. - which Ham founded.
Nye, popular for his 90s TV show "Bill Nye the Science Guy," agreed to the debate and the museum paid his estimated 50-75,000 speaking fees. The museum charged $25 per ticket which didn't come close to covering the cost of the debate, though they hope to make up money be selling DVDs of the event.
According to UK MailOnline, "On his show, Bill Nye explained scientific theories in an entertaining way. The show ran from 1993 to 1998."
With each one getting a five-minute opening statement, both Ham and Nye were allotted half an hour to give prepared speeches on how they believe Earth originated, backing their arguments with photos and charts.
Moderated by CNN Reporter Tom Foreman, the debate was rather tame with Foreman rarely interrupting the pair and the audience being mostly quiet throughout except to applaud the debaters at the end of their speeches.
During his argument, Ham stressed that there exists a difference between "observational science" and "historical science."
Observational science is what you can see and test through experiments, and historical science is what you can interpret about the past based on existing evidence, UK MailOnline reported.
Claiming that the natural laws observed today hold just as true in the past, Nye pointed to evidence like Antarctic ice cores that have recorded seasonal highs and lows in temperatures dating back 680,000 years to disprove Ham's argument that the Earth was created just 6,000 years ago.
Moreover, there should be Kangaroos in the Middle East or between there and Australia if the Great Flood really happened as explained in the story of Noah's Ark, according to UK MailOnline.
In the end, Nye said it was fine to have faith in a religion but that doesn't mean you can't believe in scientific theories as well.
"I just want to remind us all there are billions of people in the world who are deeply religious, who get enriched by the wonderful sense of community by their religion," Nye said. "But these same people do not embrace the extraordinary view that the Earth is somehow only 6,000 years old."
Pointing to several famous scientists who have publically stated that they believe in creation, including MRI inventor Ray Damadian, Ham argued a similar sentiment.
"I believe the word 'science' has been hijacked by secularists," Ham said.
Atheist Misty Brewer of Tulsa, Oklahoma drove the 12 hours to Kentucky with her son to see the talk, and said the debate was impossible to win, UK MailOnline reported.
"I think the believers will stay believers," Brewer told USA Today. "No one's going to walk out of here saying, 'I changed my mind.' That's not going to work."
While many on Twitter expressed the opinion that Nye won the debate, academics who believe in evolution said Nye only helped Ham publicize his museum.
Currently fundraising to build a $60 million Noah's Ark theme park in Grant County, the museum was previously having a hard time getting the project going.
"Nye's appearance will be giving money to organizations who try to subvert the mission Nye has had all his life: science education, particularly of kids," Jerry Coyne, professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago wrote on his blog.
According to UK MailOnline, Nye agreed to debate Ham after the two got into a previous online debate over creationism.
In 2012, Nye posted a video urging parents not to teach their children creationism, even if they themselves believe it.
"I say to the grown-ups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine," Nye said in the video. "But don't make your kids do it, because we need them."
Responding with a video of his own, Ham argued the Genesis-friend young-earth theory, UK MailOnline reported.
