Evidence for God in Life Design Archives

March 19, 2025March 18, 2025

Snakebite Antivenom and AI

For most of us living in the United States, it is hard to believe that around 100,000 people worldwide die from snakebites every year. Venomous snakes have a blizzard of toxins in their bite, but the most dangerous are the “three-finger toxins,” proteins that can stop a person’s heart and ability to breathe. Snakebite antivenom is produced today by milking snakes to extract their venom.

Technicians inject a small dose of venom into a horse or other large animal and harvest antibodies later to make snakebite antivenom. When medical personnel inject the antibodies into a snakebite victim, they bind to venom toxins, shutting them down. This process is expensive and time-consuming, so researchers want to find a better answer. The 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry went to three chemists who used artificial intelligence (AI) to design proteins that can dampen and neutralize snake venom.

People have asked us, “Why would God create snakes with venom?” It is essential to understand that snakes control the populations of rats, mice, and other disease-carrying animals. What would happen if there was no predator to eat rodents when they go underground? Rodents above ground are preyed on by foxes, bears, hawks, and eagles and killed by humans. When they retreat underground, they are safe from all of those, but snakes can go after and kill rodents even there.

When a venomous snake bites a human, it is usually because the human has invaded the snake’s territory and deliberately confronted it. I was hiking into geologically interesting areas in a National Science Foundation workshop in Montana many years ago. As we walked down an old wagon trail, I was in the back with 20 people in front of me. Looking ahead, I saw a diamondback rattlesnake coiled and sitting in the middle of the wagon tracks. It had made no effort to strike any of the people within inches of it, relying totally on its camouflage.

Snakebite antivenom is essential to protect human lives, but non-venomous animals can also cause human deaths. The late Steve Irwin showed many beautiful snakes in his TV show. When he died at age 44 on September 4, 2006, it was not from a snake bite. A ray’s barb on Batt Reef in Australia pierced his heart, causing him to bleed to death. Unlike snakes, rays are not considered to be dangerous animals, but nobody has challenged us on why God created rays.

Reference: Science News magazine for February 2025, pages 14-15 or sciencenews.org.

March 17, 2025March 16, 2025

Baikal Seals Are Unique

The world’s only exclusively freshwater seal is the Baikal seal (Pusa sibirica), which is found only in Lake Baikal in Siberia. This earless seal is relatively small, with a maximum of about 5 feet long. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake on Earth. It has a depth of over 5,000 feet and more freshwater surface area than all of North America’s Great Lakes combined. Lake Baikal is covered with ice most of the year, and the ice thickness can be several feet. Adult Baikal Seals can hold their breaths for up to 30 minutes, but their pups can only go a maximum of 15 minutes.

Researchers are amazed by how the pups survive. Female Baikal seals raise the pups on their own, digging a den under the ice. Some freshwater springs in Lake Baikal maintain holes in the ice. Adult seals use the holes to get air. After breathing in air, the female will go near her pup and blow bubbles to create an airspace under the ice. Pups live and breathe in that airspace and exercise by expanding the den with a maze of tunnels but never breaking the surface.

Lake Baikal is on a geological structure with no connection to any ocean. The primary food source for Baikal seals is golomyanka fish that live only in Lake Baikal. Researchers estimate that 80-100,000 Baikal seals live in the lake, as well as other unique species not found elsewhere. The evidence shows that every nook and cranny of God’s creation has life specifically designed to survive and prosper in that environment.

References: PBS documentary and Baikal seal and Lake Baikal in Wikipedia

March 12, 2025March 11, 2025

Baminornis Zhenghensis Fossil

Baminornis Zhenghensis - Ancestor of Modern Birds?

For many years, the scientific community has held that Archaeopteryx was the first bird. Most textbooks maintain that it was a crow-sized half-bird and half-reptile found in Germany in 1861. Archaeopteryx had a very long tail, teeth, and wing hooks or clawed hands resembling some dinosaurs. Now, researchers in China have announced they found a fossil called Baminornis zhenghensis that is more like modern birds.

The Baminornis zhenghensis fossil was found 5,500 miles away from Archaeopteryx. Dr. Min Yang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences says it had a short tail, which is critical for flight compared to Archaeopteryx’s long tail. The tail’s bone structure is made of fused vertebrae, allowing for fan-shaped feathers, which improve flight.

There are many problems involved in this find. The Baminornis fossil lacks a skull, so researchers are guessing at the tooth structure. Both specimens are morphologically advanced, suggesting a common bird ancestor. In the biblical account, God said, “let birds multiply on the earth” (Genesis 1:22). The Bible doesn’t tell us when God created birds or what they were like. Baminornis zhenghensis was small, only about six inches long, and Archaeopteryx was slightly larger.

Much about the history of life on Earth that the Bible does not tell us has been revealed in the fossil record. The information we find shows agreement between science and the Bible. We maintain that science and faith are friends. The fossil record is incomplete, just as the biblical record is. Birds have a high body temperature and all the equipment they need to fly, but we don’t see that in other life forms. New chapters will be added to the fossil record as more fossils are found, but they will only add to what the Bible has revealed.

Reference: smithsonianmag.com

March 11, 2025March 10, 2025

Polar Bear Design Features

Polar bear design features enable them to live in a region of incredible cold. Previously, we reported that polar bear fur is hollow, providing insulation and creating an optical effect that looks white. New research by Norwegian nanophysicist Bodil Holst has shown how a polar bear can climb out of freezing water and then walk around in temperatures as low as minus 40. It has nothing to do with its fur, but because the polar bear has glands in its skin that secrete a grease resistant to freezing called sebum.

The skin of mammals, including humans, secretes sebum that makes hair greasy. Tests of other forms of sebum have shown that only polar dear sebum has the properties that keep the fur from freezing. At the same time, it lacks squalene that makes ice stick. There is great interest in this discovery not only from scientists but also from industries. It can potentially replace toxic de-icing chemicals used in ski wax and for plane de-icing.

Humans have benefited from many things copied from animals and plants. Common examples include Velcro (thistles), airplane design (bird wings), and synthetic fibers (spider webs). Polar bear design features are among the unique designs we see in the living world. They are not accidents but deliberate designs by a Creator, allowing life to thrive everywhere on planet Earth. As with polar bears, animals and plants usually have more than one specialized design feature.

Reference: science.org Here and Here

March 10, 2025March 10, 2025

The Mystery of Easter Island Moai

The giant moai statues of Easter Island have been a great mystery since their discovery. Easter Island is part of the Pacific triangle called Polynesia, which stretches between Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island. Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen arrived on the island on Easter Sunday in 1722 and named it Easter Island. The average moai statue on Easter Island was 13 feet tall and weighed 14 tons. The largest statue stands 32 feet tall and weighs about 80 tons. The mystery of Easter Island moai has been how the locals moved some 300 giant statues over several miles.

Some finished and unfinished statues remain in the Rano Raraku quarry on Easter Island. The Rapanui people who created the moai had no metal machinery, draft animals, or wheeled carts. Tabloids claimed the mystery of Easter Island moai could only be explained by space aliens carving and transporting them. In his book Chariots of the Gods, Erich von Daniken suggested extraterrestrial beings as the source of the statues.

Researchers have proposed various theories of how the statues were moved from the quarry to their locations. Some suggested they were dragged to the sea and floated to the final locations. Archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg and the Easter Island Statue Project have studied the moai and other Easter Island structures since 1983. Van Tilburg favors the theory that they were placed on sleds and pulled by large teams of workers on a trackway of tree trunks. When the first European explorers arrived on Easter Island, it was almost barren of trees and had a population perhaps in the hundreds. However, botanical studies have shown that palm forests once covered the island, and archaeological studies show that it may have had as many as 15,000 inhabitants at its peak. That would supply an ample workforce and trees to accomplish the task.

The bottom line is that the mystery of Easter Island moai does not involve extraterrestrials. Like humans throughout history, the ancient Rapanui people saw evidence of a higher power and tried to honor what they understood through elaborate works. The moai statues are another demonstration of human attempts to reach God. When Paul spoke to the scholars in Athens (Acts 17), he talked about the fallacy of trying to reach God through human intelligence and artistic ability. So, today, we see the evidence for God in the things He has made (Romans 1:20). We don’t need to impress Him with our intelligence and creativity. He is reaching out to us with His love.

Reference: The booklet “Discovering Easter Island“ from the Archaeological Institute of America

March 3, 2025March 2, 2025

The Origin of Life on Earth Is Not Found on Bennu

One of the great engineering accomplishments of NASA was the OsirisREx spacecraft landing on asteroid Bennu asteroid in October 2020. Not only did it land, but it also took surface samples of the asteroid and returned them samples to Earth. The samples arrived in September of 2023 and examinations of the asteroid material showed that 14 of the 20 known amino acids, the building blocks of life, were present in the asteroid material. The media jumped on that fact and proclaimed that it was now certain that life originated in outer space. The tabloids proclaimed that aliens had clearly seeded space with life forms, explaining the origin of life on Earth.

It is true that we know amino acids are produced in astronomical processes. In fact, scientists have known that for a very long time. They have shown up in certain types of meteorites found on Earth. What the mainstream media has not reported is that amino acids have a shape orientation to them. The molecule arrangement in amino acids causes them to be either right-handed or left-handed. Life as we know it is made up of 100% left-handed amino acids. Science is still looking for the reason, but the amino acids on Bennu are 50% right-handed and 50% left-handed. In other words, They could not explain the origin of life on Earth.

Every discovery made by science raises more questions. An analogy that may be applied is what happens when you put an ordinary key into a lock. If you try to insert the key upside down, it will not work. The wisdom of having only left-handed amino acids doubles life’s food supply, and that may be the answer to why. But one thing is sure: there is a reason for what Bennu teaches us and for the design of life.

Reference: apod.nasa.gov for February 12, 2025.

February 25, 2025February 24, 2025

Freshwater Mussels and Design

Humanity’s war with pollution has a surprising helper in freshwater mussels. They are susceptible to any change in the water in which they live. When anything disturbs the quality of the water, these mussels close their shells. In Poland, fifty water processing plants use these mussels to monitor any contamination of their drinking water. Technicians attach sensors to the mussel’s shells with hot glue. When four of the eight mussels close their shells, they trip a sensor alerting control computers to shut off the water supply. After three months, the mussels are removed from service and returned to the wild because they adapt to water quality and become less sensitive.

When Joe Kramarz sent this information, I thought it was a joke, but it’s true, as the National Institutes of Health reported. Our thanks to those who send us information we might miss. In this case, we find it interesting that mussels are designed to avoid pollution in their environment. Freshwater mussels are just one example of many animals that monitor their environment, including bats, whales, corals, moles, and even groundhogs. Some of these may not directly benefit humans, but they help us understand that God has designed animals for a complex and changing world.

When God challenges Job’s understanding in Job 38-41, He refers to many things in the creation that show wisdom and design. We are still learning about many of those examples, but all of them are beyond human capacity to duplicate.

February 19, 2025February 18, 2025

Animal Coprophagy – Recycling Poop

One aspect of design in the natural world is that virtually no food goes to waste. To that point, researchers have discovered many instances of animal coprophagy, poop eating. A study published in the journal Animal Behaviour documents 150 species of animals ranging from adult black bears to baby koalas recycling poop.

Many of the animals could not survive if they didn’t eat the feces of other animals. One example is pikas, small mountain-dwelling mammals on the Tibetan Plateau. They could not survive the harsh winters if they didn’t eat the droppings of Yaks. Blind cave fish can’t leave the cave to forage for food, so they survive by eating the guano of bats that inhabit the caves. Cows have multiple compartments for processing food, but rabbits do not. Rabbits and other small animals survive by eating the droppings of larger animals that have eaten harsh foods, breaking them down to a form the rabbit’s gut can easily absorb.

You might think that animal coprophagy would lead to diseases and parasites, but the nutrition gained vastly exceeds the possible infection for many animals. Capybaras eat their own feces, so you can’t call it waste. An interesting fact is that lab rats eat up to 40% of the poop from other rats and even themselves. If lab workers prevent them from doing that, they become sick from vitamin B12 deficiencies. Insects such as dung beetles survive on animal dung.

Recycling poop gives evidence that God designed the animal world so food is not wasted. Meanwhile, humans are guilty of wasting food, leaving many people to starve. That is why Jesus Christ, in Matthew 25:35-46, told His disciples to give food and drink to those who are hungry and thirsty.

References: Science News for February 2025, page 27, and Animal Behaviour journal for December 2024, pages 75-86

February 13, 2025February 10, 2025

Neanderthal DNA and Being Human

The 1856 discovery of human-like specimens that looked different from modern humans baffled scientists. Anthropologists named the specimens Neanderthals after the place where they were discovered, the Neander Valley in present-day Germany. The Neanderthals had a larger brain than modern humans, but the head was flattened, and the skull had a heavy bone structure. The media portrayed the find as a missing link between apes and humans. Atheists jumped on the discovery by saying it proved human evolution and showed that the biblical account was fantasy. Today, Neanderthal DNA reveals their relationship to modern humans.

In 1912, Jim Thorpe won two gold medals at the Summer Olympic competition. Thorpe was a native American member of the Sac and Fox tribe. He was exceptionally strong and had numerous physical characteristics similar to the fossil remains of the Neanderthals. Thorpe was racially different but not a different species.

In 2010, researchers published the Neanderthal DNA genome sequence. Comparisons between that data and modern humans confirm that modern humans have Neanderthal DNA in their genome. In addition to the new genetic information, when researchers dig into places where they found Neandertal remains, they also discover the remains of complex tools, plant-based medicines, and storage of staples such as flour for making food. Evidence also suggests the use of symbols to communicate and ritual treatment of the dead. These things indicate that Neanderthals are not a missing link but an early race of humans.

The Bible does not define humans based on their physical makeup. Artists have depicted Adam and Eve as white-skinned, blue-eyed, six-foot-tall, attractive Caucasians. In my travels around the world, I have seen Adam and Eve portrayed as people of color, orientals, and even pygmies. What defines humans is not our physical appearance but our spiritual makeup. That is how we are created in the image of God.

The Bible’s description of how God created the physical human body is that we are made from the dust of the earth. (See Genesis 2:7 and 3:19.) No matter what our physical bodies are like, we are all one and are all created in God’s image. (See Genesis 1:27 and 9:6.) That concept permeates the biblical account. It helps us understand the teachings of Christ, that we are to love (agape) our neighbors and even our enemies.

— John N. Clayton © 2025
Reference: Scientific American magazine for February 2025, pages 43 -47 and scientificamerican.com

February 12, 2025February 10, 2025

Astronaut Eyes in Space

We read many quotes from various sources about humans traveling to the Moon, Mars, or some distant moon of Jupiter or Saturn. Most media stories seem to indicate that all astronauts would need to survive the journey is a space suit. They overlook the fact that the human body is carefully engineered to survive on Earth, but studies from the International Space Station show a new challenge for astronaut eyes in space.

We can address the damage to the heart and some other organs by providing enough cardiovascular activity on treadmills. However, new data on astronaut eyes in space show that long periods of weightlessness affect ocular biomechanics. More than 70% of astronauts on the International Space Station have Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS).

NASA collected data on 13 astronauts who spent between 157 and 186 days in a weightless environment. The studies detailed a 33% decrease in ocular rigidity, an 11% decrease in interocular pressure, and a 25% reduction in ocular pulse amplitude. These changes caused decreased eye size, an altered focal field, optic nerve edema, and retinal folds. The researchers point out that some of these effects can produce long-lasting changes in the eye’s mechanical properties.

Science shows that the human body is engineered and designed for the gravitational effects of our planet. If only one or two things were essential for life on Earth, you might attribute it to chance. We are not talking about one or two things but the human body as a total unit. Every organ has to adjust when the body is subjected to weightlessness, but most organs cannot change. When NASA put Scott Kelly in space and his identical twin Mark stayed on Earth, it provided a comparison. Scott was in space for 340 days during 2015-16, and there were changes in his DNA and numerous changes in his body.

Now, we have additional data showing the effect of weightlessness on astronaut eyes in space. Some items like ocular pressure have potential complications like glaucoma. It is obvious that our bodies are engineered with many individual characteristics essential for life. The more variables that must be “just right,” the less likely it is that the final product could exist by chance.

For an airplane to fly, thousands of features must be carefully engineered. That requires engineers, not chance. That is even more true for the human body. God carefully designed us to live on planet Earth, and the media often oversimplifies what we need for space travel. Look in the mirror and behold the handiwork of God. (See Psalms 139:14.)