In our era of environmental threats, it’s reassuring to know there are solutions to some of the problems we face. God has created a form of life that purifies water and the atmosphere from pollutants, including human-made toxins and carbon emissions. At the same time, it supplies nutrients for marine life. We find this solution in the ocean’s kelp forests.
Kelp forests are 20 times more effective at absorbing carbon dioxide than similarly sized land-based forests. Kelp is plentiful along the west coast of the United States and grows on the coasts of Maine, Long Island, the United Kingdom, Norway, Tasmania, southern Africa, Argentina, and Japan. Kelp supports over 1000 species of marine plants and animals and provides roughly half of the oxygen we breathe. Kelp can also be used to make alternatives to plastics and chemical fertilizers used in agriculture. It can grow almost anywhere, including on abandoned oil rigs along various coastlines.
The Genesis account does not mention ocean life forms because the Fertile Crescent was far from an ocean coastline. Just as God knew humans would need coal, iron, copper, and other minerals, He provided kelp forests to shape the Earth for human survival. Science helps us understand how dinosaurs, diatoms, and many other animal forms not described in Genesis were God’s tools to prepare Earth for humans. We are in awe of God’s wisdom and creative power.
Although bamboo grows in forests and can look like trees, it is actually the largest type of grass. Bamboos are also the fastest-growing plants in the world, with some growing 3 feet (91 cm) in just 24 hours! The most fascinating thing about this unique grass is the bamboo alarm clock.
Bamboo is an important building material in many parts of Asia because it has a higher compressive strength than wood, brick, or concrete, and a tensile strength that rivals steel. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of bamboo is its reproductive method, often called mass, gregarious, or synchronized flowering—the bamboo alarm clock.
Bamboo doesn’t flower or produce seeds every year. Depending on the species, it may take 20, 35, 65, or even 120 years to flower. Then, the entire forest blooms, produces seeds, and dies all at once. Even more amazing is that if you take one plant from the forest and move it halfway around the world to a different climate, it will still flower at the same time. Even if you transplant it just a few weeks before its normal bloom time, it will still flower, produce seeds, and die at the same time as its original neighbors.
This raises two questions: “Why?” and “How?” Survival needs may explain the “why.” Synchronized flowering ensures effective pollination. They flood the air with pollen, so even isolated plants have a high chance of pollination, as the pollen cloud can travel hundreds of miles. Additionally, synchronized pollination and fruiting prevent predators from consuming all the fruit, securing the species’ survival.
Scientists are still trying to understand the “how” behind the bamboo alarm clock. Various theories have been proposed and dismissed. What we do know for sure is that bamboo has an internal clock that signals when it is time to reproduce. Only the Creator fully understands how this mechanism works. All we can do is marvel at this system’s design, as it seems impossible to be purely the result of chance.
There is so much about the everyday things in our lives that we don’t understand. When we see a tree, we have no idea what lives inside that tree’s trunk. Recent studies by scientists have found that inside a tree trunk there are entire communities of bacteria. A single mature tree hosts about one trillion bacteria, with different communities living in various layers.
What is especially remarkable is that some of the bacteria living deep inside a tree trunk are anaerobic, meaning they don’t need oxygen and produce methane. The outer layers of wood may absorb some of the methane, but more research is needed on that. The study’s lead author said that the inside of a tree trunk is more like a wetland, where anaerobic bacteria and methane producers thrive in low-oxygen environments.
Poets like Robert Frost and Joyce Kilmer have written famous poems about trees. While we admire the beauty of a tree and enjoy its leaves and their fall colors when they lose chlorophyll and turn vibrant, we often don’t think about what it takes to create them. In a desert, humans seek an oasis where conditions permit trees to grow. Most of the time, we take trees for granted and never consider what’s inside a tree trunk.
Genesis 1:12 tells us that God formed trees (the Hebrew word “ets”) as a special creation, separate from grasses or gymnosperms. That simple statement hides how complex it really is to make a tree trunk. As Romans 1:12 states, “We can know there is a God through the things He has made,” and the trees we see in our yard or garden demonstrate how much intelligence is needed to create a simple piece of wood.
For years, scientists have known that plants vibrate at ultrasonic frequencies when their internal water pressure changes. Recently, they learned that drought-stressed plants or plants that have been cut produce ultrasonic sounds loud enough to be detected by a moth’s ultrasonic hearing. Dr. Yossi Yovel and a team of researchers at Tel Aviv University took this a step further to see whether female moths listen to plants and avoid laying their eggs on those that are distressed.
The researchers found that female Egyptian cotton leafworm moths avoided laying eggs on tomato plants that made distress-related sounds. Unhealthy plants do not allow the moth larvae to thrive. The sounds plants make when they are distressed or unhealthy are outside of the range of human hearing, but insects, bats, and even some small mammals can hear them.
Learning that female moths listen to plants, Professor Yovel speculates on whether “all sorts of animals will make decisions based on the sounds they hear from plants, such as whether to pollinate or hide inside them, or eat the plant.” Taking this even further, Dr. Lilach Hadany, also of Tel Aviv University, speculates on whether plants can pass information to each other through sounds and act on those sounds. “This is an exciting question,” she told BBC News. Previously, researchers learned that plants can communicate with each other through their roots.
The researchers, however, emphasize that plants are not sentient and that this interaction cannot be considered “communication” in the “conservative definition of the term.” Nonetheless, we can look at our own bodies and recall the statement of David in Psalms 139:14, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Likewise, we see that other forms of life are “fearfully and wonderfully made” as well. Everywhere we look in the natural world, we see evidence of a wonder-working hand that has gone before.
Ten species of hammer orchids (genus Drakaea) are found only in Western Australia, and each is pollinated by a specific wasp species in the Thynnid family. Each orchid has a fake model of the pollinating wasp carefully placed to attract the real wasps. It sounds like a clever practical joke, but the hammer orchid has a “dummy” labellum on a stem attached to a hinge that only bends toward the orchid’s flower.
Of course, the dummy on the stem resembles a female thynnid wasp in size, shape, and color. At the right time for fertilization, the hammer orchid releases a pheromone that mimics the female wasp’s scent. Thynnid wasps are unusual because the female is flightless and waits on a stem or grass blade for a male wasp to carry her away to a food source for mating. When a male thynnid wasp falls for the trick and tries to carry away the dummy, a hinge throws him backward into the orchid, dusting him with pollen.
The humiliated male wasp then leaves and might be fooled by another hammer orchid, where he deposits the pollen he collected from the first flower. The male wasp might repeat this process several times (assuming he’s a slow learner), which is the only way the orchid gets pollinated. If the trick didn’t work, the hammer orchid would become extinct.
Consider all the things that must go right for this trick to succeed:
1. The orchid must produce a labellum that resembles the female wasp in size, color, and shape.
2. The male wasp must be programmed to grab a flightless female and carry her away as part of the mating ritual.
3. The orchid must produce the right complex chemical pheromone to mimic the female wasp at just the right time to attract the male.
4. The hinge must move in the right direction and not be too weak or too stiff.
5. The stem from the hinge to the dummy wasp must be exactly the right length to coat the male wasp with pollen.
6. The male wasp must not be clever enough to learn from his mistakes.
Could the unique design of the hammer orchid have happened by chance, or is design a better explanation? Could it also be that the Designer has a sense of humor?
Beginning in 1987, a new glass and metal structure began to rise in the desert near Oracle, Arizona. In 1991, it opened as the world’s largest closed ecological system. It was called “Biosphere 2” because planet Earth is “Biosphere 1.” The idea behind the project was to test whether a closed system could support human life on another planet. This marked the start of a two-year mission in which eight people were isolated inside this artificial biosphere to simulate life on a space colony.
The experiment in Biosphere 2 ran from 1991 to 1993 with only limited success. It was attempted again for six months in 1994. Both attempts encountered technical issues and the strain of human group dynamics. Additionally, during the second try, the company managing the experiment was dissolved, leaving the project in limbo. Initially, Columbia University took control of the facility and used it for scientific research until 2003. When it seemed Biosphere 2 might be demolished for urban development, the University of Arizona (UA) took over in 2007 and gained full ownership in 2011.
Today, about 100,000 tourists visit Biosphere 2 each year while UA continues to conduct experiments there. One of the experimental areas is the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO). It consists of three artificial landscapes, each measuring 30 by 11 meters with a 4-meter depth of crushed basalt rock from a volcanic crater in northern Arizona. The scientists aim to observe how these landscapes change “from purely mineral and abiotic substrate to living, breathing landscapes that will ultimately support microbial and vascular plant communities” (UA’s words).
I wonder how the researchers could be sure that the one million pounds of basalt from a volcanic crater could be “abiotic,” meaning free of any life forms. However, if microbes or seeds are present, I believe the landscapes will “evolve.” The key is that for any life to develop, it must already be there. Evolution is change over time, but the development of life requires initial life to exist.
The UA scientists explain that the evolution of cyanobacteria—the first microscopic organisms to use photosynthesis—pumped oxygen into the atmosphere, facilitating the development of aerobic life. This paved the way for multicellular life, an ozone layer to shield life from harmful ultraviolet radiation, and weathering to break down rocks into soil.
Considering the history of Biosphere 2, I doubt it will be around—or that the scientists will be—long enough to observe significant evolution. It takes time for rocks to break down into soil. They describe the “process of primary succession,” where simple microbes expand into organisms of increasing “complexity and biodiversity.” The researchers state that photosynthesizing cyanobacteria will capture nitrogen from the air, preparing the way for mosses to grow. The next step involves “colonization by larger plants with roots,” and the primary succession continues.
Long before Biosphere 2, Genesis 1:11-12 details the process of primary succession: “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass” (Hebrew deshe, meaning tender grass such as lichen or algae), “the herb yielding seed” (Hebrew eseb, meaning naked seed or gymnosperm), “and the tree yielding fruit” (Hebrew ets, meaning tree, wood, or timber). The process of primary succession then continues. (For more on this, see John N. Clayton’s booklet “God’s Revelation in His Rocks and His Word.”)
As the UA scientists describe in their explanation of LEO, “The Earth system consisting of air, water, soil, plants, and microbes is a complex, interacting system.” And so it is, as God revealed to Moses thousands of years ago. Complex, interacting systems require an intelligent Designer.
Human engineers often draw inspiration from the natural world. When they adapt these designs for human use, it’s called biomimicry. Shark-skin biomimicry utilizes the design principles that enable sharks to move smoothly and quickly through water, applying them for industrial and practical purposes.
In addition to its body shape, a shark’s ability to swim swiftly and quietly through the water is largely due to the design of their skin. Shark skin has a textured pattern, known as riblets, that helps reduce water drag. Researchers at U.C. Berkeley and MIT explored ways to adapt this shark skin design to reduce the water’s drag on towed sonar arrays (TSAs) used by ships and submarines. They discovered that rectangular riblets could cut drag by 5% or more and reduce noise by 14%. Noise reduction is very important for sonar, which depends on detecting sound echoes. Less noise also benefits marine wildlife.
Another application of shark-skin design is in water distribution systems. Biomimetic riblets inside water pipes can lessen turbulence as water flows through. Reducing turbulence and drag decreases the energy needed to pump water to its destination. This means lower costs for supplying water to homes. Researchers found that, under ideal conditions, drag can be cut by up to 10%.
According to another study, shark-skin biomimicry can also improve the efficiency of microchannel heat sinks. Microelectronic components in computers and other devices can be damaged by heat. The researchers reported that “the shark-skin based bionic structure had higher heat transfer capacity and lower friction loss.”
Looking at nature’s designs reveals wisdom at work. Shark-skin biomimicry offers benefits in aviation, marine transportation, water systems, and the cooling of microelectronics. What other new applications of biomimicry are still to be discovered? God’s wisdom shows in what He has made. Humans have no excuse for failing to recognize His eternal power and divine nature (Romans 1:20).
A study of microbiomes in living tree trunks reveals that the woody tissues of trees contain a trillion microbial cells in addition to the actual tree cells. This includes single-celled bacteria and archaea, which are specialized for different parts of the tree and for various tree species.
The research team, led by Jonathan Gewirtzman of Yale University, studied more than 150 trees across 16 species in the northeastern United States. The trees examined included red maples, black birches, and white ashes. They discovered that microbes can live in both the outer sapwood and the inner heartwood, with each region hosting its own microbiome. Sapwood is mainly inhabited by microbes that require oxygen, while heartwood contains anaerobic microbes.
The study shows that microbiomes in living tree trunks vary from species to species. But how do these microbes get inside the trees? It might happen through wounds or openings, or they could be passed through the tree’s seeds. Perhaps, there is another route scientists have yet to discover. Regardless of the method, Gewirtzman explains, “What looks like one thing is a trillion-in-one organisms living together.”
When you see a tree, you might not realize how intricate its design is. Genesis 1:11-12 states, “Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds,’ and it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seeds according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seeds in it according to their kinds.”
Like many other living things, scientists are only beginning to understand the complexity of microbiomes in living tree trunks. We can recognize that there is a God through the things He has made, including trees. (See Romans 1:20.)
How many species of living things exist? So far, scientists have identified, classified, and named 1.2 million species, according to worldatlas.com. The same source states there are about 8.7 million species on Earth. Nobody knows for certain, but other estimates—excluding viruses and bacteria—range from 10 million to 100 million species. Why are there so many species of living things?
How quickly are scientists discovering and describing new species? According to worldatlas.com, they identify and assign genus and species names to 15,000 to 18,000 new species each year. At that rate, if we assume 1.2 million have already been named and there are 10 million in total, the task will take over 500 years, but that’s a conservative estimate. Clearly, biologists still have a lot of work ahead.
There are between six and seven thousand known mammal species according to ourworldindata.org, . But the insect world surpasses that number. For example, beetle species alone number between 350,000 and 400,000. Each year, biologists identify most of the “new species” from museum specimens discovered earlier but not carefully studied. Some species in the wild are facing extinction, and some specimens in museums may already be extinct.
We may ask, “Why are there so many species?” God created diverse kinds of living things and endowed them with the ability to adapt to different environments. Each new species fills a niche in the incredible diversity of animal and plant life that makes our existence possible.
We have previously described the various taxonomic classifications used to categorize living things. (You can read that HERE.) “Species” is the lowest and most specific taxonomic category used by scientists to describe life forms. God created humans with an insatiable curiosity and an amazing ability to organize and categorize information. Then, He gave us plenty of life forms to study. We believe that we can learn more about God as we explore His creations. (Romans 1:20)
People often disturb the delicate balance of the natural world by transporting plants, animals, or insects from one region to another, either accidentally or intentionally. When non-native species have no predators to keep them in check, or they outcompete local species for food or space, the natural balance is disrupted. The consequences are often negative.
The list of known cases of destruction caused by non-native species is extensive. Researchers say that introducing outsiders has led to 60% of local bird, mammal, and reptile extinctions. Over the past decade, Florida has spent an estimated six million dollars to control Burmese pythons. These large snakes were brought into the U.S. and sold as pets. When they grew too big to handle, people released them into the Florida Everglades. Without natural enemies in America, these snakes have been preying on local wildlife, including alligators, domestic dogs, cats, and even cattle.
A single Japanese knotweed plant brought into the U.S. can grow rapidly, has no natural predators here, and can crowd out other species, damaging buildings and drainage systems. This plant has appeared in 43 states, including Alaska. Even viruses and bacteria have been introduced from other parts of the world. COVID-19 is one example, but there are lesser-known cases too. For instance, the West Nile virus came into the U.S. from Uganda.
The number of invasive non-native species is huge. It includes Asian carp, parachuting Joro spiders, kudzu, giant hornets, sea lampreys, zebra mussels, South African red weevils, red swamp crayfish, and starlings, among others.
The U.S. government spends over three billion dollars annually on managing invasive species, and more than $150 billion yearly on agricultural damages. Globally, the bill reaches $423 billion. All of this stems from humans acting as poor stewards of the natural resources God has given us.
