Evidence for God in Life Design Archives

June 21, 2024June 18, 2024

Qiviut Fiber and the Muskox

One of Earth’s warmest, finest, and rarest fibers is not produced by humans. Qiviut is the Inuit language name for the coat of the muskox, which is native to Alaska. Muskox qiviut fiber is lightweight but stronger and warmer than sheep wool. The muskox wears its two-inch-thick coat throughout the winter and sheds it in the spring. Researchers are making a major effort to create a synthetic fiber that is even close to what the muskox produces.

Muskox inhabit the tundra of northern Alaska, where winter temperatures drop far below zero, and the wind is constant and substantial. Most animals migrate to warmer areas or hunker down into dormancy to wait out the cold tundra weather. The muskox will paw through the snow to reach moss lichen, willows, and roots while ignoring the typical blizzard conditions.

Alaskan farmers raise herds of muskox and ship qiviut to a mill that spins it into yarn. Qiviut is a challenge to spin because it has a tiny diameter, short staple length, and is smooth and slippery. Sheep wool is coarse with deep interlocking scales, making sheep wool yarn strong, but it also causes shrinkage, felting, and scratchiness. Qiviut is sometimes blended with silk.

Interestingly, human work with fibers of all kinds for thousands of years has not come close to the qiviut fiber of the muskox. God’s design of materials for every type of climate and condition speaks loudly of His wisdom and design. The muskox is an excellent example of fiber design not seen in any other life form on our planet.

Reference: Alaska Magazine for July/August 2024 pages 64-67.

June 13, 2024June 10, 2024

Coordinated Vigilance

Research shows that rabbitfish in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef forage for food in pairs using “coordinated vigilance” to avoid predators. The rabbitfish take turns foraging for algae in reef crevices while the partner is on guard duty in “an upright vigilance position.” Researchers said, “Both behaviors are strongly coordinated, and partners regularly alternate their positions.” The researchers say this reciprocity is “thought to require a suite of complex cognitive abilities.” In other words, how could fish that “lack complex social and cognitive skills” have evolved this system?

Scientists have studied cooperative behavior in some mammals and a few birds. Teamwork in fish is almost nonexistent, but God has placed this unique genetic value in rabbitfish. This is especially interesting when you look at humans. In Genesis 2:18-24, God created a helper for Adam. The Hebrew word “ezer” used in these verses does not indicate that woman is inferior to man or of lesser importance. The idea is that a woman can do what a man cannot do for himself. Like the rabbitfish and other life forms, coordinated vigilance is built into the genetics of various living things to allow them to survive.

The New Testament passages Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:21 indicate that fathers have a role to play in the family in relationship to children. The concept is that God intends for coordinated vigilance with husband and wife to be the foundation of the family. In human societies, when coordinated vigilance is not practiced, the whole structure of culture falls apart. This does not bode well for societies around the world today.

Our nation’s violence and struggles will only get worse as society distances itself from God and His instructions. We promote the Bible as the word of God because the evidence shows that when people follow biblical instructions, society works. When people fail to follow them, the culture disintegrates.

Reference: nih.gov

June 12, 2024June 10, 2024

Monarch Butterfly Migration

Some people have asked questions that show confusion about monarch butterfly migration. The idea that one butterfly migrates from northern latitudes to Mexico and back is incorrect. The monarch’s life begins in March and April as eggs on milkweed plants. They hatch into tiny caterpillars in about four days. After two weeks, the full-grown caterpillar will attach itself using silk to make a chrysalis. In about ten days, a butterfly will emerge and fly away. The butterfly will feed on flowers and fruit for two to six weeks. This first-generation monarch will die after laying eggs for the second generation.

The four-stage life cycle of the second, third, and fourth generations is the same as what we just outlined, but the fifth generation is different. The fifth generation is born in September and October, but the butterflies don’t die after two to six weeks. They complete the monarch butterfly migration to warmer climates in Texas, California, and Mexico. There, they hibernate for six to eight months, and the whole process starts again.

We have talked about hummingbirds, where one individual makes the journey from northern areas to subtropical climates. In the case of monarch butterfly migration, the journey involves five generations. How they make such a journey with five individuals who never see each other is the object of several studies. It seems rather obvious that their DNA has a built-in GPS, allowing this incredible journey. No one would suggest that a GPS is a product of blind mechanistic chance. There has to be a design to enable such a system to work. That design is the product of an intelligence that is not only built into the GPS but also the instructions for what to do in each of the four steps of this remarkable insect’s life.

God is the designer of the monarch butterfly migration system, and the design features we are coming to understand reflect God’s wisdom and purpose. What a great time we live in, to be able to understand the complexities of life and yet know there is still much for us to learn.

Data from Old Farmer’s Almanac

June 6, 2024June 5, 2024

Fly Wings Differ from Bird or Bat Wings

How does a fly fly? That may sound silly, but we know a little about how a fly’s wings work through AI, robotics, and high-speed photography. We can divide living, powered flyers into four classes: insects (including flies), birds, bats, and pterosaurs (which are extinct). Except for insects, their wings all seem to be modified limbs. Fly wings differ from bird or bat wings.

Scientific research has delved into the intricacies of fly flight. Dr. Michael Dickinson, a professor of bioengineering and aeronautics at Cal Tech, has constructed miniature flight simulators and wind tunnels to unravel the mysteries of the fly’s flight. His work has revealed that flies have a unique and incredibly complex biomechanical hinge, a structure that researchers have attempted to replicate with robotics.

Twelve neurons and twelve muscles control flight in insects. Flies have a hinge connecting the wings to the muscles in a structure like a complex 3-D puzzle. To study the movement of the fly’s wings, researchers recorded 70,000 individual wingbeats with high-speed cameras at 15,000 frames per second. When you see a fly land on a window, look carefully at the hardware that it possesses. It has feet that can stick to glass, and its ability to fly in any direction makes it hard to swat.

The design features built into these small insects enable them to survive in a world where many creatures eat them to survive. We are not promoting a “save the fly” campaign, but animals from fish to chameleons depend on flies for food. The fly population will never be wiped out because of the design features enabling them to survive.

This complex design is clearly not a product of gradual change from the modified limb structures of bird or bat wings. Fly wings differ from bird or bat wings. Instead, they are exquisite, unique structures that experts are studying to understand how the wings work. Perhaps they will learn some things to enhance human flying machines. Even the scourge of flies has something to teach us, and we suggest that one of those things is the wisdom of God.

References: evolutionnews.com and nature.com

June 5, 2024June 4, 2024

The Bombardier Beetle Takes Aim

The bombardier beetle’s defense mechanism is a fascinating display of complexity. It defends itself by shooting a very hot (212 degrees F) stream of acidic material at an invading predator. The beetle mixes hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone, which would explode in ordinary situations, but the bombardier beetle adds an inhibitor to control the reaction. A catalyst breaks down the peroxide, and a chemical known as peroxidase breaks down the hydroquinones so that the explosion does not occur.

The bombardier beetle has twin tail tubes that swivel like a gun turret to aim the hot, acidic mixture at enemies. Slow-motion photography has shown that the chemistry occurs in separate small bursts, so the beetle is not a one-shot wonder but can shoot repeatedly at a predator. This contrasts with skunks, which usually have one shot and require an extended time to replenish the odor fluid.

While many have proposed elaborate evolutionary theories to explain the bombardier beetle’s defense mechanism, The bombardier beetle’s defense mechanism is a fascinating display of complexity. It defends itself by shooting a very hot (212 degrees F) stream of the concept of intelligent design as a plausible alternative explanation.

Like all forms of life on our planet, the bombardier beetle has been designed with specialized equipm e nt to survive in a world of predation. Proverbs 8 talks about the wisdom of God, and Romans 1:20 speaks of living things as a demonstration that allows us to “know there is a God through the things He has made.” The bombardier beetle seems to be a good example of both of these statements.

June 4, 2024June 3, 2024

Spiders on Mars

An article by Eric Lagatta published in USA TODAY (April 2024) told about spiders on Mars. To Lagatta’s credit, the word “spiders” was in quotes, indicating that it might be misleading because they don’t indicate life but have a chemical explanation.

Like Earth, Mars has seasons, but they last about twice as long. In the long, dark Martian winter, temperatures are cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide, which settles and covers its dark surface. As the temperature warms, the lower layers return to the gaseous state and break through the surface layers, bringing dark dust up from the Martian surface. The gas and dust become geysers in the thin Martian atmosphere. Next, the dust settles to the surface, forming radial blotches resembling giant spider legs. The area where the pictures were taken is a 53-mile-wide asteroid crater in the south polar region of Mars, called “Inca City” because it resembles the Inca ruins in South America.

The Inca City and spiders on Mars do not indicate life. Earth, in its unique capacity to support life in our solar system, is a marvel. God has blessed us with a planet that provides everything humans need to survive. If there is life on Mars, it would have to be microscopic and deep underground. There are no “ruins” of previous civilizations on the planet and no evidence of life existing there today.

We need to learn to get along with each other because aliens from Mars or anywhere else in the solar system are not coming to help us. Also, living on Mars will be extraordinarily difficult for humans. We may go to Mars to learn more about it, but God created the Earth for us to live on and entrusted us with its care. There would be no point in abandoning it and taking our destructive lifestyles elsewhere.

Reference: usatoday.com

May 29, 2024May 28, 2024

Animals Do Not Possess Human Values or Empathy

One result of evolutionary thinking is believing that humans are not unique but just animals at the top of the evolutionary ladder. As a result of that message, many people treat animals as if they are humans, at times even raising wild animals in their homes. The problem is that animals do not possess human values or empathy, and their instinctive behavior may cause unexpected problems.

In some cases, animals have reverted to instinctive drives, causing them to attack their owners. A man named Austin Riley in Boerne, Texas, found a newborn warthog whose mother had died. Riley took the tiny warthog, nursed it, and raised it for five years. He named the pet warthog Waylon after Waylon Jennings, a country singer known for his outlaw behavior. When Riley would lie down and listen to sports radio, Waylon would lie down beside him. Riley would take Waylon to Whataburger to get something to eat, and Waylon would sit in the front seat “happy as can be.” Waylon grew to weigh 250 pounds and was identified with Pumbaa in the popular Lion King movie, with the Swahili expression “hakuna matata,” meaning “no worries.” However, there was something to worry about in this case because animals do not possess human values or empathy.

Warthogs have lower tusks protruding from muscular jaws like blades. The tusks are curved, so the warthog can do incredible damage to any animal or person by twisting its head. Warthogs are designed to protect themselves from lions, their main enemies in their native Africa. On an October evening in 2022, Austin came to Waylon’s pen, and the warthog greeted him happily as he went to the feeding trough. Twenty minutes after feeding Waylon, Austin fed Daisy a potbellied pig he raised from a piglet and then walked to his ATV. Suddenly, Waylon attacked Austin, ripping his legs, wrist, abdomen, and neck. Doctors say that Austin lost half of his blood, and his treatment required ten surgeries. Medical studies of Waylon showed he did not have rabies.

The bottom line is that wild animals are not good pets. Animals do not possess human values or empathy. I have known friends who had snakes, alligators, turtles, deer, eagles, crows, chimps, goldfish, and even sharks for pets. In many cases, a time came when the animals acted aggressively toward their keepers. The point is that humans can behave like animals, but animals cannot behave like humans. Humans are created in God’s image, which is expressed in how we live and care for one another at all stages of life. The world would be a much better place if everyone followed the teachings of Jesus Christ in Matthew chapters 5 to 7.

Reference: boingboing.net and Texas Monthly

May 28, 2024June 20, 2024

Free Radicals are Chemically Reactive

One of the least understood design features of living things is the role of free radicals. The design of atoms and molecules calls for electrons to be paired for stability, but a free radical has unpaired electrons. With their unpaired valence electrons, free radicals are chemically reactive. Although some free radicals are essential to life, the accumulation of free radicals can cause cell damage.

Stress conditions such as radiation can cause harmful free radicals. Researchers have found that tiny animals called tardigrades (or water bears) exposed to stressful conditions curl up into a state of dormancy called a tun. That can explain their ability to survive in the vacuum of space, frigid temperatures, or radiation bombardment. The metabolism of the tardigrades shuts down in the tun state, but why is unclear. This intriguing discovery could potentially lead to practical applications such as medical treatments that slow the aging process, offering a glimmer of hope in the face of free radical damage.

Evolution cannot explain why free radicals are not chemically reactive. Scientists are studying the design of atoms and molecules with magnetic properties related to electron spin. This phenomenon goes back to creation itself. When God produced matter/energy in the beginning, electron spin, magnetic pairing, and free radical production were built into the very design of atoms and molecules. This design structure allows life to exist.

The future is bright as scientists learn more about the effect of free radicals on human health. Learning about the complexity of matter and life reminds us of “Wisdom’s” comment in Proverbs 8:22-23: “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His work, before His deeds of old. I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning before the world began.”

Reference: Scientific American for May 2024, pages 10-11.

May 23, 2024May 21, 2024

Learn from the Woodpecker Design

Woodpeckers can hammer 25 strokes while their heads travel more than 20 feet per second. If you banged your head into a tree for a few seconds, the results would be headaches, detached retinas, concussions, eye damage from flying wood chips, and massive skin damage. With all the talk about brain damage from football collisions, perhaps we can learn from the woodpecker design.

Many design features protect woodpecker brains. Their skulls are thick and heavily ossified to prevent shattering. Shock-absorbing tissue between the eyes and around the skull acts as a crash helmet. Spongy material separates the skull and bill. A sac of fluid surrounds human brains, but a tough membrane surrounds a woodpecker’s brain to prevent it from bouncing around. The woodpecker brain is tiny, weighing a fraction of an ounce, so it has much less inertia.

Woodpecker eyes are held tightly in place by bone and surrounding tissue to prevent damage. A membrane blinks over the eye to keep out wood chips. The nostrils are covered with fine bristly feathers or are narrow slits to protect the bird’s air chambers. Woodpeckers have long tongues that reach deep inside tree openings to capture insects. The tongue wraps around inside the skull, further protecting the brain when the bird is hammering on the tree. The woodpecker’s bill is solid and shaped like a chisel. Thick and strong neck muscles absorb the kinetic energy.

Woodpeckers are essential to forest ecosystems. They control worms and insects that can infect trees, avoiding blight and infections. Medical personnel dealing with head trauma have much to learn from the woodpecker design. Design features requiring so many specialized features are difficult to explain by chance. A step-by-step evolutionary process can’t explain the production of the many unique features. God’s creatures are designed to do specific jobs, and “We can know there is a God through the things He has made” (Romans 1:20).

References: Audubon Magazine for Jan/Feb 1999, page 104, and National Geographic “Wildlife.”

May 22, 2024May 21, 2024

An Animal Using Photosynthesis

Animals use an enormous number of methods to get nourishment. Harsh environments often require unusual methods, and many times, the animal at the bottom of the food chain is unusual. An excellent example is the leaf slug or leaf sheep (Costasiella kuroshimae). This sea slug is an animal using photosynthesis to secure its nourishment by a method known as kleptoplasty.

Plants serve as the foundation of the food chain, harnessing sunlight through photosynthesis to produce energy. Many animals, such as herbivores, rely on plants to meet their energy needs. Even carnivores indirectly depend on plants, as they consume the herbivores. However, the leaf sheep, through a process called kleptoplasty, bypasses this reliance on plants and directly uses photosynthesis for its energy needs.

The leaf sheep, a sea slug measuring only five to ten millimeters long, was first discovered off the coast of Japan in 1993 and later found in the Philippines and Indonesia. Its common name derives from the two dark eyes and two rhinophores on the top of its head, making it resemble a tiny sheep. They feed on algae, which are plants that contain chloroplasts that enable photosynthesis. The leaf sheep retains the chloroplast cells within its body, enabling it to become an animal using photosynthesis. In this way, it bypasses the need to eat more algae for over two months. In the food chain, the leaf sheep become food for a variety of fish and other forms of sea life.

The more we learn about the natural world, the more we see unique systems that allow life to exist in symbiotic relationships that give evidence of design. Mindless chance does not provide the best explanation for examples such as leaf sheep. If there were just one such case, you might think it might be blind chance, but this is just one of a vast number of cases where a very specialized design allows life to exist. Everywhere we look, a “wonder-working hand” has gone before, and we would suggest that it’s the “hand” of God.

Reference: wikipedia.org