Humans Archives

October 26, 2026October 25, 2026

Questions Science Will Never Be Able to Answer

Scientific American magazine addressed an old argument between science and faith. The article asks whether there are questions science will never be able to answer. This will irritate atheists and skeptics who claim that religion was invented by humans to explain what they didn’t understand. That claim has been true in some past cases. When people didn’t understand volcanoes, they invented Pele or Vulcan to explain them. People invented Neptune to explain things in the ocean. Minerva explained rain, and Thor explained lightning.

When science could explain these things, people ridiculed the gods of the past, though in some cases people abandoned belief in them slowly. While I was in Hawaii, I picked up volcanic rocks to bring home. A local man chastised me for it and warned that taking the rocks would bring me bad luck and misfortune. He showed me a letter and a rock from a lady in Ohio who had taken a rock home and had disastrous fortune until she sent it back. I have brought back a dozen rocks from Hawaii over several visits to the islands, and my life has been blessed with good health and happiness.

Are there questions science will never be able to answer? Sarah Scoles, writing in that Scientific American article, addresses some possible ones. They include: “What came before the Big Bang? What causes consciousness? Why are we here? What happens when we die? How did life begin?” It is important to understand that scientists have opinions about these questions, but they are faith statements, not science. In our quarterly publication, we have a column called “Scientists and God” that quotes prominent scientists who have expressed their belief in God. We have literally hundreds of testimonies to choose from.

Romans 1:20 says that we can know there is a God by the things He has made, and 1 Peter 3:15 tells Christians to “be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope you have.” Our “Dandy Designs” columns, plus our booklets and Facebook page, provide strong evidence that intelligence is the cause of what we see.

References: “Impossible Questions” in the October 2026 issue of Scientific American, pages 28-37, and our Facebook page. You can see current and back issues of our printed publication on doesgodexist.org.

October 23, 2026October 22, 2026

Molecules Exist as Mirror Images

Whether you are right-handed or left-handed, your body uses left-handed amino acids to build proteins and right-handed sugars in DNA. What does that mean? This molecular “handedness,” known as chirality, means molecules exist as mirror images—left- and right-handed versions of the same molecule. Practically all of life’s amino acids are left-handed, and its sugars are right-handed. Why? Scientists don’t know. No natural process explains this bias because in nature the mixture is generally 50:50.

This chirality matters for drugs. One chiral form may treat disease while the other may be inert or even toxic. Historically, drugmakers produced racemic (50:50) mixtures, sometimes causing unwanted side effects. Thalidomide is an example, with one handedness (enantiomer) causing birth defects. However, even if this drug is homochiral (single-handed), it can become racemic in the body.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry honored Henri Kagan (Paris-Sud University) and Kenso Soai (Tokyo University of Science) for developing “asymmetric catalysis,” enabling the selective synthesis of homochiral (single-handed) molecules. Kagan pioneered chiral catalysis in the 1960s, and Soai refined it in 2003. Their work enabled the pharmaceutical industry to produce homochiral drugs. For example, Eli Lilly produced a left-handed cough suppressant, Novrad, and a right-handed version called Darvon, an opioid painkiller. The molecules (and their names) are mirror images of each other.

The work of Kagan and Soai solved “how” to make single-handed drugs—not “why” life itself is homochiral. That remains unexplained. In nature, molecules exist as mirror images in roughly equal numbers. That means the formation of life from non-living matter (abiogenesis) faces a paradox. Random chemistry yields equal left- and right-handed forms, yet life requires near-perfect homochirality to fold functional proteins and replicate DNA. No known natural mechanism can do that. Is it reasonable to suggest that an external influence, an intelligent agent, was involved? We think this is another indicator that life is not an accident but God’s creation.

Reference: smithsonianmag.com

September 15, 2026September 14, 2026

Heart Cancer Is Rare

Heart cancer is rare. Skin cancer is the most common form, occurring in about one in five people during their lifetimes. Liver cancer affects about one in 100. However, heart cancer develops in only about one in 50,000 people. When it does occur, it usually does not begin in the heart but metastasizes from another area of the body.

The fact that heart cancer is rare is connected with the slow regeneration of heart cells. The body maintains itself by regenerating cells. When cells are damaged, the body replaces them automatically with new cells. When new cells are formed, mutations are possible, and sometimes mutations can cause the regeneration process to go beyond what’s necessary. When new cells continue to grow exponentially, they form masses, which we call malignancies.

The uncontrolled growth of these new cells takes over and robs the body of energy needed for other functions. The faster cells regenerate, the greater the chance of mutations, which increases the possibility of uncontrolled cell growth. When a person smokes or uses tobacco, it affects the lungs, throat, and mouth, causing damage to those tissues and prompting those cells to be regenerated. This increased regeneration raises the chance of mutations and cancer in those areas.

Heart cancer is rare, in part because heart cells regenerate very slowly. Less than half of the heart cells you had when you were born will be replaced during your lifetime. However, your skin cells regenerate completely in less than two months. The slow regeneration of heart cells is apparently a major reason why heart cancer is rare. In some animals, such as amphibians, heart cells regenerate much more quickly. In mammals and humans, regeneration is much slower. Instead of making new cells, the heart develops scar tissue. The trade-off is that the heart is durable and functional from birth to natural death in humans.

Skin cells regenerate quickly, which is good because skin is exposed and easily damaged. At the same time, it means there’s a greater danger of skin cancer. Other parts of your body that are mistreated in various ways, such as your lungs from smoking or your liver from alcohol, must regenerate damaged cells, resulting in an increased risk of cancer. God’s design of our bodies is truly amazing. Many of the health problems we face stem from our misuse of the gift God has given us. Being good stewards of God’s gifts benefits us in many ways, including a longer and healthier life.

Reference: popsci.com

September 3, 2026September 2, 2026

Giants and the Laws of Physics

A recent animated movie depicting David and Goliath showed Goliath as enormous. How tall was Goliath? The Bible says Goliath was “six cubits and a span,” which is about nine feet nine inches (3 meters). That is a large man but within the realm of possibility. The tallest man in modern recorded medical history was Robert Wadlow, who, in 1940, was slightly under nine feet tall. The children’s story of Jack and the Beanstalk depicts a giant of enormous proportions. In Homer’s “Odyssey,” Odysseus meets the one-eyed giant Cyclops, who can pick up a person in one hand. Are these legendary giants depicted in movies and storybooks possible in real life? Let’s consider giants and the laws of physics.

In 1638, Galileo Galilei wrote a document arguing that the way giants were depicted in folklore would not be possible. A human’s bone structure supports that person’s weight and is geometrically designed for optimal function. If you scaled up a human while keeping the same proportions, the bones would be stronger. If you increased both cross-sectional bone dimensions by 10 times, the strength would increase by 10 times 10, so the bone would be 100 times stronger.

At the same time, however, the body’s volume would increase by 10 times. The increased mass would be 10 times 10 times 10. Bone strength scales with the square, while volume scales with the cube. In other words, the weight of the body would be 1000 times greater. You now have bones that are 100 times as strong, but they must support a body mass that’s 1000 times greater. The fact that the bone structure could not support the weight is the problem of giants and the laws of physics. Increasing the size of the human body would require a much larger increase in the bone structure. That is why the leg bones of elephants are proportionally much thicker than the leg bones of dogs and cats.

Sometimes movies depict flies or other insects becoming huge because of some science-fiction apparatus. But if a fly became larger than a human, keeping the leg thickness in proportion, the legs would not be able to support the creature. A fly increased to only ten times its normal size would weigh 1000 times as much and be unable to fly. If a water bug that walks on the surface were increased 10 times in size, it would sink because surface tension would not support 1000 times the weight. Again, giants and the laws of physics are not compatible.

On the other hand, what would happen if humans were scaled down, as shown in science fiction movies? If scaled down by a factor of 10, the miniature humans would have bones that are 100 times weaker, but they would weigh 1000 times less. They could potentially carry a much larger load relative to their size. That explains how ants can carry loads several times their weight.

The bottom line is that humans are designed to do what we need to do, and ants are designed to do what they need to do. Science fiction movies about enlarging insects or shrinking humans are purely fiction. Goliath was a giant by human standards, but he was not as large as depicted in the recent animated movie. Regardless of his size, David did not defeat Goliath by his own strength. He clearly said it was by the power of God. (See 1 Samuel 17:45.) David was victorious because he trusted the same God who designed humans and ants – and the laws of physics.

Reference: mit.edu

August 27, 2026August 18, 2026

Neuron Computing Power

For three decades, experiments have suggested that the dendrites connected to neurons in the brain can compute information on their own. That could explain the amazing neuron computing power that scientists have underestimated.

A team of researchers at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center used new voltage-imaging technology to record activity in the brains of mice. Each neuron has dendrites that branch out from it. In the past, scientists thought dendrites merely connected neurons, allowing information to move from one neuron to another. This research indicates that individual dendrites compute information. Rather than each neuron acting as a single processor, neurons are more like neural networks, with dendrites computing information on their own. They can serve as memory devices and compute information before it reaches the neuron cell, increasing the neuron computing power.

This new understanding of dendrite architecture as a tree-like network suggests our brains have more processing power than previously understood. Each neuron has more capabilities than previously known, and receiving input from its dendrites and thousands of neighbors allows our brains to achieve much in a relatively small space with minimal power consumption. At a time when people worry about the space and power needed to run huge data centers across the country, we realize we have an amazingly efficient data center in our heads.

Right now, your brain is reading this information, receiving input from your surroundings, generating conscious experience, and piloting your body, including all your internal organs. Your brain’s 86 billion neurons are aided in computation by sprawling branches of dendrites that are also performing computations, storing memory, receiving input, and sending output to the rest of the neural network. The textbook diagrams of neurons with only a few dendrites are not accurate representations of the neuron computing power in your brain.

Humans have not only this amazing, living computer, but we also have a soul at work guiding the computer software. Truly, we can say to God, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Reference: scientificamerican.com

August 19, 2026August 17, 2026

Random DNA Mutations

In the 1960s, Japanese biologist Motoo Kimura introduced the neutral theory of molecular evolution. It advanced the idea that most random DNA mutations are not driven by survival of the fittest but by pure chance. Now a team of scientists at the University of Michigan has published a new study saying that beneficial mutations arise more frequently than Kimura had believed. However, they say that a changing environment often prevents those mutations from spreading through an entire population. In other words, environments change more quickly than mutations can spread through populations.

Random DNA mutations arise by chance, and natural selection removes the unhelpful ones. The new study determined that only 1% of amino acid mutations are beneficial. That doesn’t sound like a very big percentage, but it is larger than what Kimura suggested. Even then, those mutations don’t spread to the entire population of a species.

To conduct this study, researchers at the University of Michigan used yeast cells, which live for only 3 hours. That brief generational time allowed them to study 1320 yeast populations over 800 generations using 100 different growth media to create different environments. Environmental changes effectively erased a mutation’s advantage before it could spread through an entire population. In addition, mutations that are beneficial in one environment are usually harmful in another.

In all research, random DNA mutations have not been shown to create new species or higher orders, but they do change and refine existing species. Even with mutations in yeast populations, whether they were beneficial or otherwise, the result was still yeast. The same could be said in other cases, such as dogs or cattle, where we can see mutations resulting in new variations among those animals, but they still remain dogs or cattle.

As we have said before, microevolution does not prove macroevolution. Even if the uncommon mutations are beneficial, they are often lost because they don’t spread through the entire population. Evolution cannot explain the diversity of life on planet Earth.

Reference: msn.com

August 17, 2026August 17, 2026

Trees Are Good for Your Health

Trees are good for your health. That’s the conclusion of various studies, including recent research in Chicago. Over 11 years, researchers analyzed annual satellite measurements of Chicago’s tree canopy and more than 220,000 death records from the health department. They found a correlation between tree canopy coverage and the number of deaths in those neighborhoods. The results were published in the journal GeoHealth in August 2026.

Trees bring us comfort, coolness, and beauty. The study found that in neighborhoods where the tree canopy was shrinking, death rates were climbing, and where the tree canopy was increasing, death rates fell. The researchers noted that you can’t say for certain that losing trees causes more people to die, but it’s interesting that the trends move together.

One reason increased tree canopy could lower summer death tolls is the cooling effect trees provide. In neighborhoods where trees provide more shade, the streets and homes are cooler. But other factors seem to be involved, because, according to the study, year-over-year percentage-point increases in tree canopy were tied to roughly a 10% drop in mortality.

The greatest reduction in health-related deaths was in three areas. Not surprisingly, two of those areas were cardiovascular and respiratory, which could be related to heat. The third area was mental-health-related deaths. What effect can trees have on mental health?

Could it be that the beauty of trees provides a certain amount of mental comfort to ease anxiety? Trees are good for your health, not just physical health. Trees provide shade, but they can also create a soothing, peaceful atmosphere. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air. God has given us trees for many uses, including construction materials, fruits and nuts, and beauty. We could not live without trees.

Reference: livescience.com

August 13, 2026August 10, 2026

Helpless Newborn Babies

Anyone who has raised a child from infancy knows it’s a lot of work over several years and can be exhausting. When humans are born, they are far less developed than virtually any other mammal. Even the great apes are more developed at birth than humans. Helpless newborn babies have weak neck muscles, soft skulls, and underdeveloped brains. These traits change as the human brain becomes far more developed than that of any other animal, including the apes.

Helpless newborn babies require parents to spend much more time holding, caring for, and working with their infants. Why should human babies have soft heads and underdeveloped brains? One factor is the size and shape of the birth canal through which the skull must pass. Of course, the much larger brains that develop later give us the ability to do many things–not just walking upright but also reasoning, creating, and living out the life for which God designed us.

Gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and bonobos are born more physically independent than human babies, and they also have less cranial deformity at birth. God must have a reason for requiring humans to be more involved in raising their offspring than other animals and primates. The responsibility of childcare and support is an essential part of becoming a human created in God’s image.

The Bible contains instructions for parents because God has given us a great responsibility. Raising those helpless newborn babies into productive adults is a great challenge for two parents in a solid marriage. It is not up to “the village” or the educational system or social media to bring our children to a point where they can be all that God intends for them to be. Parents can be thankful to God that He has allowed us to help form the next generation. (See Deuteronomy 6:5-7 and Ephesians 6:4.)

August 12, 2026August 10, 2026

QT45 and Origin of Life Research

Researchers at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, have synthesized an RNA polymerase, an enzyme that assembles RNA molecules. RNA is ribonucleic acid, an organic molecule necessary for replicating DNA, which is found in every living cell. QT45 is hailed as a step toward understanding the origin of life, but is it really?

Researchers called this RNA polymerase QT45 because it is “Quite Tiny” and has only 45 organic molecules called nucleotides. Most RNA polymerases have over 150 nucleotides. The researchers proudly point out that this RNA polymerase can replicate itself with “high accuracy.” UK Research and Innovation posted an article titled “Scientists’ chemical breakthrough sheds light on origin of life.” But that may be an exaggeration.

If the origin of life happened by chance without intelligent intervention, then this discovery proves nothing. Creating QT45 required several steps, at least three of which used advanced laboratory techniques. First, the researchers had to generate trillions of random RNA molecules. Then they had to apply eleven rounds of mutation and selection to obtain a few RNAs that could link a growing chain. Then they had to apply seven rounds of selection to improve performance. The bottom line is that this did not happen naturally. Furthermore, it could not have happened naturally.

As reported in Science and Culture in February of 2026, “Such highly specific conditions and highly orchestrated steps do not resemble any environmental conditions that could have ever existed.” Even if such conditions could have happened and QT45 formed naturally, it is still far from being a living cell. Life requires much more than the ability to replicate. It is far from a “chemical breakthrough” that “sheds light on the origins of life.” The origin of life remains a scientific mystery for those who reject the Bible. For more on this issue, use the link below.

Reference: scienceandculture.com

August 4, 2026August 3, 2026

God’s Design of the Central Nervous System

One of the great mysteries of science has been the properties of human beings that separate them from all other living things. Pharmacist and pastor Shawn Arstein wrote that modern tools of medical research show that God’s design of the central nervous system “affects mood, motivation, memorization, pain, pleasure, action, response, love, and fear—and it also regulates the heart.” He said the miles of nerve threads that connect body parts from head to toe illustrate how God “is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6).

The fall of Adam and Eve demonstrates how sin affects the central nervous system (CNS), causing neurological instability. In Genesis 3:10, Adam says, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” Fear, hiding, and blame-shifting resulted. The story of Cain in Genesis 4:1-12 also shows CNS instability, with anger, murder, denial, being downcast, and panic.

Adam’s rebellion altered his nervous system both physically and spiritually. In Genesis 2:17, God had told Adam, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die.” What did God mean by that? Adam didn’t drop dead from physical poisoning. The key to understanding this death lies in the term “naked” in verse 25. God’s design of the central nervous system involves myelin surrounding the axons of neurons, insulating them and allowing electrical impulses to pass at a faster rate. According to Arstein, severing the Spirit from the image of God is like leaving the central nervous system stripped of a protective layer, allowing a short in a wire. Adam and Eve looked alive, but the connection with God vanished, making them feel vulnerable in their nakedness. Simultaneously, the knowledge of evil brought anxiety, fear, and chaos. Nakedness demanded a response, and fig leaves provided the first coping strategy for stability.

Because of God’s design of the central nervous system, the fruits of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23 enable humans to battle evil, resulting in changed behavior and stability. Achieving that stability, however, requires effort. Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Seeing God’s design of the central nervous system and how He helps us, as Christians, to walk in the light instead of in darkness (1 John 1) is essential for our growth as children of God.

Reference: godandnatureasa3.org 2026 #2