Plants Archives

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025

Shark-Skin Biomimicry

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).

References: sciencedirect.com HERE and HERE, and popsci.com

Some other examples of biomimicry: Salvinia, Kingfishers, Harriers, Cacti, Beetles, Sponges, Cicada Wings

September 9, 2025September 8, 2025

Microbiomes in Living Tree Trunks

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.)

Reference: dnyuz.com

September 4, 2025September 3, 2025

Why Are There So Many Species?

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)

August 11, 2025August 10, 2025

Non-Native Species and the Natural Balance

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.

Reference: The American Legion Magazine for August 2025, pages 20 -26.

July 10, 2025July 8, 2025

Unloved Animals that Have Hidden Talents

National Geographic published a list of ten animals that you would not like to see in your backyard. They are unloved animals with hidden talents. Their ugliness or repulsive behavior keeps them from being displayed on cereal boxes or featured in animated movies. However, these unloved animals play essential roles, and many of them are endangered.

Vultures are bald, so when they plunge their head into a dead animal, they get no residue on their feathers. They have specialized stomach acid that neutralizes harmful bacteria in what they eat. These birds help prevent the spread of pathogens that cause diseases such as bubonic plague and anthrax.

Other unloved animals include leopard slugs, which consume decomposing plants and insects, thereby returning nutrients to the soil. The three-toed sloth’s fur supports a variety of insects and moths. The proboscis monkey’s huge nose may be unappealing to humans, but it attracts females and serves as a means of communication, much like a bullhorn. The African bullfrog can weigh as much as four pounds and digs burrows that hold water, allowing it to survive dry seasons.

The ferocious honey badgers have a fearsome reputation. Still, they pose virtually no threat to humans and can withstand snakebites, including those from venomous snakes such as cobras and black mambas. They are also unaffected by bee stings and can defend themselves against wild dogs and hyenas. Indian flying foxes are large bats with sharp teeth that live in large colonies. They are one of the world’s largest pollinators, eating fruits and nectar.

Tongan scrub fowl in Australia have large feet with claws that enable them to dig burrows, which can be five feet deep. Aye-ayes are primates found in Madagascar whose diet consists of grubs and insects in trees. Although people have killed them thinking they bring bad luck, they are essential predators of destructive insects and beetles.

Even in the ocean, we see unloved animals. The hairy frogfish has an appendage that resembles a worm, which it wiggles to attract small fish. This fish resembles an amphibian, covered with stringy spines for camouflage.

It seems that all of these “unloved” animals are designed to fit into a specific environment. Evolutionary models fail to trace a gradualism in any of these cases, but the balance of life in the natural world depends on them. These unloved animals demonstrate the truth of Romans 1:20 that we can “know there is a God through the things He has made.”

Reference: “The astonishing superpowers of nature’s most unloved animals” in National Geographic magazine, July 2025, pages 50-71, provides more details, including pictures, of these animals.

July 7, 2025July 7, 2025

Taxonomic Ranking of Living Things

Suppose that billions of years ago, a once-in-an-eon event took place. In a primordial soup of chemical elements, some of them came together to form amino acids. Over time, some of these amino acids assembled themselves into complex organic molecules such as RNA or DNA. Eventually, a living cell formed, complete with a nucleus and cell walls. It became the first living cell capable of metabolizing and reproducing through cell division. This was the first species in the taxonomic ranking of living things.

Next, imagine that mutations and natural selection acted on this initial species, causing it to evolve into different species. Over eons, more species appeared until one developed sexual reproduction. Then, things started to accelerate. Billions of years of reproduction and speciation resulted in a completely different animal. This was no longer a new SPECIES but the beginning of a new GENUS. More billions of years later, a new FAMILY of living creatures emerged. As life diversified, new ORDERS of animals appeared, followed by new CLASSES. Eventually, new PHYLA emerged within the animal KINGDOM. The tree of life finally grew into the amazing diversity we have today.

The problem is that the narrative we described seems to be in reverse order. Scientific classification, or the taxonomic ranking of living things, aims to illustrate the progression of genetic change, or evolution. The taxonomic ranking follows: species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom. This bottom-up progression described in our narrative does not align with the fossil record.

The stages of life development seem reversed in the fossil record. Dr. Hugh Ross noted, “…in many instances, such as the Avalon and Cambrian explosions, enormous macroevolutionary changes occurred rapidly; later, over long time spans, mere microevolutionary changes occurred. Diversification of phyla occurred first, and in no time, while diversification of species and genera occurred over eons.”

In summary, the fossil record appears to show the opposite of what naturalistic evolution predicts. However, the pattern in the fossil record aligns with the biblical view that God created various kinds of animals, each capable of change and adaptation. Their genetic design allows for microevolutionary adaptations over time to address changing circumstances and environments.

Today, we observe microevolution happening naturally and through guided human breeding and hybridization. We see this clearly in dogs and cattle. Even though humans have bred dogs to be very diverse, they remain within the canine (Canidae) family and do not evolve into a new order. Many varieties of cattle exist, but they are still cattle. Likewise, fossil evidence of animals transforming into a different class or phylum is lacking.

The best explanation for the incredible diversity of life on this planet, whether in the animal or plant kingdom, is that it was designed by a wise Creator who endowed living things with the ability to adapt and change on a microevolutionary level. The taxonomic ranking of living things seems to occur from the general to the specific rather than from the specific to the general.

Reference: “Unconfirmed” by Hugh Ross in Salvo magazine, summer 2025, pages 38-41

May 19, 2025May 18, 2025

Upside-Down Trees – the Baobabs

Our fourth quarter 2024 printed publication contained an article about the very unusual baobab trees that grow in Madagascar, Africa, and northwest Australia. These “upside-down trees” can live 2,000 years or more and grow to huge sizes. They have a pyramid shape with a large trunk that stores vast amounts of water, but they have no limbs or leaves except at the very top. Baobabs are essential to the lives of bats and birds.

Baobab trees are unusual because they have no genetic connection with gymnosperms like pine trees and modern seed trees like oaks or maples. They are also not related to palm trees, which are not true trees.

One of our followers sent me a letter about the article. She said it brought back memories of her childhood in Rhodesia and the story of the upside-down trees. She wrote:

“My family often camped out in the ‘bush,’ and no matter where we went, there were always baobabs. I must have seen a hundred or more over the years, but I never saw one with leaves and flowers … The Matabele, an African tribe in the Bulawayo area, had a great tale about why the trees look upside down and dead. When the baobabs were created, they were very proud of their size and beauty. They bragged to the other trees and became arrogant and annoying. The gods heard about their boasting, so they turned the baobabs upside down, and what we see are the roots.”

That is an interesting tradition with a great message about pride and boasting. We appreciate that our friend shared it with us. Despite the pagan story explaining the upside-down trees, we know they are not punishment, or an accident created by chance and without purpose. They are part of God’s amazing design for life on this planet.

If you are not on our mailing list and would like to read the article in the Does God Exist? 4th quarter publication, you will find it on our website doesgodexist.org. We also featured these trees in an earlier post on this website.

May 13, 2025May 12, 2025

Questions About Life in Three Categories

Everyone is curious about the things we see in nature. Our posts here and on Facebook often concern animals, plants, and ecosystems. Most people looking at living creatures believe they see design and have questions about life in three categories.

The first category of questions, asked primarily by scientists or the scientifically minded, is, “How does it work?” We want to know how DNA determines the various traits of living things. We are curious about how green plants convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy to power their cells. How does a bat find its prey in the dark? How can an octopus control eight arms independently? The questions are numerous.

The second category is, “What is the purpose?” Atheist scientist Richard Dawkins stops after the “how” question to say, “Biology is the study of things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.” But then he makes it very clear that he believes they are not designed and have no purpose. On the other hand, theologians look for a purpose. Since God created the world, He must have a purpose in mind.

Both scientists and theologians ask questions in the third category. They want to know, “How and when did this originate? How did the universe come into being? How did life come from non-living chemicals? When did the first human life originate, and how?” For believers, the Bible gives us basic answers to those questions. However, since the Bible is not a science textbook, it leaves many questions unanswered. That is where science can find answers.

Looking at questions about life in three categories, the third category is very contentious because scientists and believers disagree. I mean that unbelieving scientists disagree with believers and vice versa. But also, scientists disagree with other scientists, and believers disagree with other believers. The curious thing is that in recent years, scientists have resolved some of their disagreements. Those who once insisted that the universe was eternal have been forced to accept the evidence of a cosmic beginning about 13.8 billion years ago.

Believers, however, continue to argue about young-earth and old-earth theology. All believers need to accept the fact that the Bible does not tell us when the universe began or when Adam and Eve lived. As Christians, we must let the Bible speak where it speaks and allow science to speak where it speaks. Of the questions about life in three categories, the most important for believers to examine falls into the second category. “What is the purpose of life?” That is a question the Bible clearly answers. For example, read Romans 12:1-2, Romans 6:22, and Ephesians 3:10-12.

May 7, 2025May 28, 2025

Evidence for Design in Nature

On our websites, we often talk about evidence for design in nature. When average people see the amazingly organized structures in living organisms, they can’t help but feel that they must be designed. Even Richard Dawkins, the evolutionist best known for his worldwide atheism campaign, said that living systems “give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose” (The Blind Watchmaker, page 1). Of course, he adds that it is only an illusion. Atheist Francis Crick, who with James Watson, discovered the helical structure of DNA, warned biologists that they must “constantly keep in mind that what they see was not designed, but rather evolved” (What Mad Pursuit, page 138).

The intuition of design is nothing new. Plato and Aristotle saw evidence for design in nature and thought there must be a mind behind it. Of course, they could not know about the information-rich DNA molecule and the intricate structures within every living cell. They didn’t even know about cells. Even Charles Darwin thought that cells were just jelly-like protoplasm. He had no idea that there are machines, transportation vehicles, gates, duplicators, inspectors, and trash collectors within the cell wall in a city-like structure.

The more we learn about the inner workings of living things, the more we see design evidence not even imagined in previous years. Every living cell has a DNA molecule containing the instructions for building the proteins and structures required for that living creature. Computer pioneer Bill Gates wrote, “DNA is like a computer program, but far, far more advanced than any software ever created” (The Road Ahead, page 188). Even Richard Dawkins wrote, “The machine code in the genes is uncannily computer-like” (River Out of Eden, page 17).

Is there evidence for design in nature? Let me ask another question. Has any computer program ever created itself by chance, or did an intelligent mind write it? Apply that thought to the living things you see every day.

May 2, 2025May 1, 2025

Programmed to Survive – Self-Preservation Subroutine

HAL was Programmed to Survive with a Self-Preservation Subroutine

Every living organism is programmed to survive. That is a very broad statement, but let me tell you what I mean. On this website, we often describe the way God designed creatures with the defense mechanisms necessary to avoid, evade, or defend against predators. However, they are equipped with more than defense mechanisms. In computer terms, a self-preservation subroutine is programmed into their DNA. Even plants that have no brain or desires have this self-preservation quality. I’m sure you have seen this when you try to get rid of weeds in your lawn or garden.

Where does this self-preservation subroutine come from? Living things are programmed to survive by their Creator. In 1969, I was a college student in Cincinnati when the science fiction movie 2001: A Space Odyssey opened in movie theaters. The movie depicted space travel and “picture phone” communications. Space travel today has still not reached the level shown in the film, but today’s mobile phones make the picture phone booth of the movie seem primitive. I still don’t fully understand the movie’s meaning, but HAL, a computer with a self-preservation subroutine, fascinated me.

HAL 9000 was programmed to survive and refused to allow the human astronaut to disable him. That was the scary part of the movie for me. The concept of an evil computer or robot with artificial intelligence and a self-preservation subroutine endangering humans has become the plot of science fiction thrillers. Those human creations could become a modern Frankenstein’s monster. That terrifying scenario is what many fear AI (artificial intelligence) could lead to.

You can take some comfort in the fact that human programmers have been unable to design a computer program with a self-preservation subroutine. Look around you, and you will see a myriad of living things that are programmed to survive. God has programmed survival software into every living organism, demonstrating that He is far more intelligent than any human computer programmer. God’s wisdom and creative genius programmed all life to survive for a purpose.