Evidence for God in Life Design Archives

February 4, 2026January 31, 2026

Ancestors of Modern Humans

The history of attempts to develop an evolutionary explanation for modern humans is filled with errors and assumptions. Some foot bones found in 2009 in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, along with other bones discovered since then, have led to the naming of a new “species,” Australopithecus deyiremeda. The Afar Region is also where the fossil known as “Lucy” was discovered, and these fossils have been celebrated as ancestors of modern humans.

The first problem with this type of report is that the word “species” is used very loosely. What exactly does “species” mean? When I took biology classes, species was defined as “a form of life that can breed and produce fertile offspring.” A dog and a cat are different species because they cannot breed to produce fertile offspring. Most of us remember the biological fact that a horse and a donkey can breed and produce a mule, but the mule is sterile because horses and donkeys are different species.

Today, we have two ape forms considered to be different species. The evidence includes a few foot bones, fragments of pelvis, skull, jaw, and teeth—not a complete skeleton. Because these bones were found in close proximity, researchers assumed they must belong to the same species, not to Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis. Since these supposedly show a progression among the ancestors of modern humans, how much variation do we see in humans and apes today?

The name Australopithecus literally means “the ape from the south.” These are not humans but apes. None of this has any connection to the biblical account of God’s creation of humans. The statement in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image…” does not refer to God’s physical image. God is a spirit (John 4:24). Genesis 2:7 describes man’s physical creation from “the dust of the earth.” The Bible does not tell us what that man looked like, how he was made, or how long it took.

Biblical critics and believers alike should not be concerned about the latest discovery by anthropologists claiming to be the ancestors of modern humans. Like all human endeavors, anthropology is fraught with errors and assumptions. Humans are unique as the only beings created in God’s image, a fact that anthropology does not address.

Reference: Science News February 2026, page 13

January 23, 2026January 17, 2026

Marriage and Contentment

It has been said that people need three things to be content: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. The biblical institution of marriage dates back to God’s statement in Genesis 2:18: “It is not good for the man to be alone.” A study conducted by Dr. Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, has confirmed that statement. There is a strong link between marriage and contentment.

The number of people living alone is increasing quickly, and the study finds that this is a major reason for the decline in national happiness. One possible cause for this trend is that some people see marriage as linked to religious belief, yet over 40% of Americans claim no religious affiliation. Additionally, there has been a rise in the number of divorced individuals.

The survey indicates that happiness is closely tied to marriage and family. Married men between 18 and 55 report being about twice as happy as their unmarried counterparts, whereas unmarried fathers are the least happy. Married women with children report the highest happiness levels, while single mothers are the least happy. The research shows a 30-percentage-point gap in happiness levels between married and unmarried Americans. According to the study, marital status has a greater impact on happiness than income, education, race, or location. It also notes that those who cohabited before marriage have a significantly higher divorce rate. Marriage was defined as a legal contract between a man and a woman.

In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus responded to a question from the Pharisees about marriage and divorce. He said that God created humans male and female and that marriage involves the two becoming one flesh. This description is not sexual but pertains to God’s plan for contentment and happiness. The studies by Wilcox and others have confirmed the validity of God’s plan and demonstrate the connection between marriage and contentment.

Reference: “Who Is Happiest?” Institute for Family Studies

January 22, 2026January 17, 2026

Space Travel Brain Shifting

Space travel can change your brain in more ways than one. We have mentioned the “overview effect” that people experience when looking down on planet Earth from space. It can open a person’s mind to the realization that we are small and that we depend on the components for survival that God has provided on this planet. New research indicates that space travel and weightlessness can also affect your physical brain. You could call it space travel brain shifting.

Brain MRI scans of 26 astronauts and 24 non-astronauts, conducted by Rachel Seidler and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), revealed how microgravity affects human brain anatomy. Their research showed that the astronauts’ brains shifted backward and upward while also rotating upward. The effects could still be detected months after returning to Earth. They analyzed MRIs from 15 astronauts before and after spaceflight, and from 11 others after returning. Twenty-four other volunteers participated in a long-duration head-down tilt bed experiment.

There was a measurable change in how the astronauts’ brains fit inside their skulls depending on how long they spent in space. The maximum displacement was 2.52 millimeters. The bed rest control group did not show marked changes. The question is how the space travel brain shifting affects performance after returning to Earth. The astronauts did experience balance issues, apparently due to effects on the inner ear and sensory regions of the brain.

The bottom line is that the study showed that physical shifts in the astronauts’ brains lasted up to six months. The study is concerned about “the long-lasting effects of spaceflight on neuroanatomy.” Again, we are reminded of how much we depend on the components for survival that God has provided on this planet.

Reference: space.com

January 21, 2026January 17, 2026

Insects Use Static Electricity

One interesting fact about the insect world is that there is no common thread connecting how each insect gets its food. You might think that if all bugs had a common origin, they would show strong similarities, with some bugs being superior because they are more highly evolved. Diversity maintains balance in the insect world, preventing any one insect from dominating. Recent studies have shown that insects use static electricity in various ways.

Some parasitic nematodes, tiny worms about the size of a pinpoint, use static electricity to jump 25 times their body length to land on a flying insect. We’ve all seen insects being blown by the wind, but what most of us haven’t noticed is the role of static electricity. A little physics helps explain why static electricity can influence nematode aerial movements. Coulomb’s Law includes a constant that describes the strength of static electricity. The gravitational constant is 6.67 x 10^-11, while the Coulomb constant is 9 x 10⁹, making the static electrical force 10²⁰ times stronger than gravity.

When a flying insect flaps its wings, it generates a positive charge. The nematodes can use this charge to leap through the air and attach to the insect, where they lay their eggs. The faster the insect beats its wings, the stronger the positive charge, and the easier it is for the nematodes to attach.

Static electricity helps many insects in various ways. Bees can sense electric fields around flowers and use them to guide their foraging. Spider webs deform toward positively charged flying insects, trapping them. Ticks are attracted by the static electricity in the fur coats of animals. Researcher Sam England expects to find that electrostatic effects “play countless roles throughout the natural world.”

The complexity of Earth’s biosystem is immense and hard to explain as a product of blind chance. God’s creative genius is evident in the very large, but is especially clear when we study the very small.

Reference: “Static Launch” in the January 2026 issue of Scientific American (pages 18-19) and scientificamerican.com

January 20, 2026January 17, 2026

Newly Discovered Plant Communication Method

This isn’t a new method plants use to communicate with each other, because they have been using it for who knows how long. But for scientists, it’s a newly discovered plant communication method.

The natural world is filled with astonishing forms of communication, and plants are no exception. We have mentioned before that plants communicate underground with the aid of fungi and mycorrhizal networks in what some have called the “woods-wide-web.” They also communicate by releasing chemicals into the air. We have even seen that they communicate with insects by means of sounds. Plant communication does not involve images, spoken words, or written texts, but can still be considered communication.

Plants communicate primarily through chemical signals. When a plant experiences stress—such as an attack by herbivorous insects—it may release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. These airborne chemicals can be detected by neighboring plants, which may then activate their own defense mechanisms preemptively. This method of plant communication has sometimes been described as “eavesdropping.”

The newly discovered plant communication method involves electrical signals passing from plant to plant when leaves touch. Ron Mittler and colleagues at the University of Missouri in Columbia experimented by growing thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana). They grew some plants in isolation and some in dense patches where the leaves touched. Then they stressed the plants by exposing them to excess light. The plants that were grouped together showed less stress damage than the ones in isolation. The researchers analyzed gene expression in isolated plants and in plants that were touching. They also monitored signals passed between the grouped pants.

According to the report, the plants with leaves touching activated over 2,000 stress-response genes that could help to protect them from excess light, cold, salinity, and wounding. The isolated plants showed greater cell damage under stressful conditions.

Understanding plant communication opens new doors for agriculture, conservation, and our appreciation of design in the natural world. Mittler hopes that this newly discovered plant communication method may be used to design mixed plant communities that are more resilient, perhaps reducing the need for chemical pesticides or fertilizers. We believe that God has given us the tools and the talent to reveal new strategies for ecosystem management and food production.

Reference: sciencenews.org

January 14, 2026January 2, 2026

Butterfly Timing Discovery

If you read a textbook on the evolution of butterflies, you will see that the evolutionary model holds that butterflies appeared after flowering plants provided the pollen needed for their survival. There was no fossil evidence to definitively prove this model, but it made sense and fits the evolution model well. A recent discovery, however, has changed scientists’ understanding of butterfly timing.

New studies of coprolite from prehistoric plant-eating animals challenge this model. Coprolite is fossilized animal dung, and one such fossil found in Talampaya National Park in Argentina contains butterfly remains. This fossilized feces predates the existence of flowering plants. The question then is: what did the butterflies eat? The answer appears to be that plants of that era—mainly conifers and cycads—secreted droplets of a sugary substance that would have been an ideal food source for butterflies.

The key point is that the timing of butterfly emergence, based on the fossil record, does not support the traditional evolutionary model. There are many instances where accepted models of life development are contradicted by evidence, and this is another example. Insects are a vital food source for higher life forms, so the creation of various insects laid the foundation for later life. Like all of God’s timing in creation, butterfly timing was perfect.

We can learn much about the history of life on our planet by reading the biblical account, and even more by combining that with insights from the fossil record. One of our publications, titled “God’s Revelation in His Rocks and in His Word,” is available free at doesgodexist.org.

Reference: discovermagazine.com and Discover for January 2026, pages 10-11.

January 13, 2026December 31, 2025

Downy Woodpecker Dynamics

One of the interesting birds we see here in Michigan is the downy woodpecker. We have discussed before how woodpeckers avoid brain damage while hammering out insects embedded in trees. Watching downy woodpecker dynamics as they pound hundreds of times per minute with a force 30 times their body weight, you would expect them to have concussions. But the design of the woodpecker’s head and brain prevents brain damage.

Behavioral psychologist Nicholas Antonson at Brown University, with the help of colleagues, captured eight downy woodpeckers and examined the muscular and vascular systems that enable their unique behavior. The researchers found that these woodpeckers exhale with each strike, and their muscular system is coordinated with this breath control, resulting in consistent hammering.

Downy woodpecker dynamics require a complex muscular system, as neck muscles activate to pull the head back even before other muscles complete the forward motion. A hip muscle controls the power of the strike, while tail muscles brace the bird just before impact.

The muscles and breathing systems work at a rate of 13 times per second, with a 40-millisecond inhale period between each strike. This coordination of muscles and breath allows the woodpecker to find food, control insects, and communicate territorial claims to other woodpeckers. It also reflects God’s creative design of the systems in living things.

Reference: “Woodpecker hammering is a full-body affair” by Anna Gibbs in Science News, January 2026, page 21

January 7, 2026December 30, 2025

God’s Magic Bullet – Dsup

As scientists explore the design of life more deeply, they discover increasing evidence of God’s creative wisdom. God knew humans would encounter destructive agents like cancer and COVID and would require a weapon to overcome Satan’s work. Scientists may have found that weapon in a previously unknown protein in microscopic animals called tardigrades. This protein has been named “Damage Suppressor” or Dsup. We call it God’s magic bullet.

Tardigrades, also known as water bears or moss piglets, are incredible animals. Researchers have found these tiny creatures to be almost indestructible. Tardigrades can survive being placed in boiling water, frozen, or exposed to radiation levels 2000 times higher than what human cells can tolerate. They are the only animals known to survive in outer space. Scientists have wondered how this microscopic animal can endure conditions that would kill other animals or humans. The Dsup protein can bind along the entire length of the DNA molecule and act as a shield against attempts to damage it. That’s why it’s called the Damage Suppressor protein.

Dsup has enormous potential to treat diseases or disorders with a genetic component. Diseases that damage DNA include cancer, COVID, and even strokes and heart attacks. No Darwinian theory explains the origin of the tardigrade or the protein that could be key to curing diseases. Yesterday, we discussed the discovery of orphan genes that code for unique proteins that don’t fit the Darwinian pattern of small genetic changes leading to gradual evolution. The Dsup protein appears to be the result of one such orphan gene.

The Damage Suppressor protein might help us cure diseases, lessen DNA damage from chemotherapy and radiation, shield against radiation during space missions, and prevent crop damage on Earth. That’s why we call it God’s magic bullet.

Reference: TheConversation.com

January 6, 2026December 29, 2025

Orphan Genes Challenge Darwinism

The DNA in every cell in your body is made up of shorter strands called genes, which contain the instructions to produce various proteins. Neo-Darwinian evolutionary scientists look for genes with very similar sequences to others to show that one gene evolved from another through random genetic mutations. However, researchers are discovering genes that don’t resemble any other known gene. The technical term for these is taxonomically restricted genes (TRGs). These so-called orphan genes challenge Darwinism.

If all of life evolved from a common ancestor through small genetic mutations, orphan genes don’t fit this model. They either shouldn’t exist or should be extremely rare. A few years ago, evolutionists argued that only a small percentage of species’ DNA had been sequenced, and that with more research, the mystery of orphan genes would be resolved. However, the number of orphan genes continues to grow. The trend indicates that orphan genes challenge Darwinism.

Even closely related species that share a common trait can have their own unique orphan genes. In other words, the evidence does not support gradual changes caused by small mutations but instead points to entirely new, unique genes that have not been seen before. Evolutionists respond by saying natural selection can explain this, but they are unable to specify how. The research continues, but for now, it seems to me like an “evolution-of-the-gaps” argument.

As Jonathan Witt wrote in Salvo magazine, “Our uniform and repeated experience tells us that generating significant amounts of novel, functional information doesn’t happen by chance. It requires a mind. Our uniform experience tells us this, and probability calculations applied to everything from English text and software code to DNA confirm it.”

It’s safe to say that orphan genes challenge Darwinism and will likely continue to do so.

Reference: “Darwin’s Orphan Nemesis” by Jonathan Witt, in Salvo magazine, Spring 2025.

December 29, 2025December 23, 2025

Life Design Posts in 2025

As we end 2025, we look back on some of our Life Design posts in 2025. We have selected 10 that you may have missed.

A report on how pregnancy can affect a woman’s brain. https://doesgodexist.today/a-pregnant-womans-brain/

Is there really a difference between males and females? https://doesgodexist.today/male-and-female-bodies-are-different/

Comparing the DNA of fruit flies and humans. https://doesgodexist.today/fruit-flies-and-humans/

How about comparing humans and chimpanzees? https://doesgodexist.today/genetic-difference-between-humans-and-chimpanzees/

2025 was the 100^th anniversary of the famous, so-called Scopes Monkey Trial. https://doesgodexist.today/bryans-arguments-against-darwin/

Psychologists say that Darwin made a mistake. https://doesgodexist.today/darwins-mistake-according-to-psychologists/

Left- or right-handedness is crucial to the building blocks of life. https://doesgodexist.today/darwins-mistake-according-to-psychologists/

The amazing story of the orchid and the wasp. https://doesgodexist.today/hammer-orchid-and-thynnid-wasp/

What is Biosphere 2, and what is Primary Succession? https://doesgodexist.today/biosphere-2-and-primary-succession/

How did life get started? https://doesgodexist.today/to-explain-the-existence-of-life/