Plants Archives - Page 5 of 21 - DOES GOD EXIST? TODAY

November 26, 2022November 17, 2022

Tale of The Lonesome Pine

Don Betts is at it again as he gives us the Tale of the Lonesome Pine.
As usual, it reflects God’s design in living things.

TALE OF THE LONESOME PINE
The tall pine lived for ages, reaching for the sky,
But as time turned the pages, it was destined to die.
Green needles are long gone, no whistling in the wind.
Bark missing here and there, declaring a final end.
The role of the tree, though its beauty is diminished,
Has time yet to see its usefulness unfinished.
Standing upright still, in a mode of decay
It serves as host to others, nature’s facets on display.
Just one observation that I’ve made recently.
Was a reservation made for a home up in that tree?
A pileated woodpecker with a mind for finding grubs
Loosened rotting bark, revealing all kinds of bugs.
The staccato of its pecking and call so clamorous
Reached a pair of feathered cousins; (amorous).
The Red Bellies pecked, and a hole was soon begun.
A western orientation had them toiling in the sun.
Working with elation, they gave it their best,
And a few days later, they prepared a nest.
Falling moss, bark, and twigs evidence the continuum.
How long will they enjoy their pine tree condominium?
A final effort to be useful will find it lying inert
Still a home for worms, God’s way of turning it to dirt.

© Don Betts ~ August 4, 2022

November 23, 2022November 17, 2022

Observing Fibonacci Day

Humans look for ways to celebrate certain days. We laugh at Groundhog Day and use Valentine’s Day for special human relationships. Some days have extensive significance, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Veteran’s Day. We are now observing Fibonacci Day on November 23. Fibonacci Day is an unusual celebration of a remarkable mathematical sequence.

Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician who noticed in the year 1202 some interesting oddities about a particular sequence of numbers: 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55, 89,144, 233. Notice that when you add any two sequential numbers, you get the next number. For example 5 + 8 = 13; 8 + 13 = 21; etc. If you divide two sequential numbers, you get .618034, which some mathematicians have called the “golden mean.”

Applying this Fibonacci sequence to architecture, you get a practical application. A rectangle using any two sequential numbers is aesthetically pleasing to human eyes. If you cut a square off any of these rectangles, you get another rectangle with the Fibonacci sequence. If you connect the corners of the squares in a series of Fibonacci rectangles, you get a spiral (see sketch).

An amazing thing about this is that there are an unlimited number of examples of Fibonacci spirals in the natural world. A small sampling includes:
*The spiral arms of galaxies curl in a Fibonacci spiral.
*The curl of a wave in the ocean fits the Fibonacci spiral.
*The snail shells curl in a Fibonacci curve.
*Elephant tusks curve in a Fibonacci spiral.
*The roots of human teeth curve in a Fibonacci spiral.
*Spider webs fit the Fibonacci spiral
*Keys on the piano are 5 black and 8 white, 13 in all, fitting the ratio.

*Musical chords producing pleasing sounds have the Fibonacci ratio.
*Bacteria growth curves fit the Fibonacci ratio.

There is no natural or evolutionary reason for the Fibonacci sequence. Notice it isn’t just in one discipline but in widely separated areas of study.

The Fibonacci Association publishes a magazine called the Fibonacci Quarterly, and people have written several books about the Fibonacci ratio. If you are observing Fibonacci Day, realize that this demonstrates God’s design in the creation. Chance does not produce a pattern across multiple disciplines like this.

For more on this, go to DoesGodExist.tv and watch program number 5.

November 15, 2022November 14, 2022

Designing a Planet to Support Life

An interesting electronic game is one where you have access to a reservoir of materials to design a life-sustaining planet. Once you choose your materials and processes, the game computes how long life could survive on your planet. All the choices end up sterile, but the player with the longest survival time is the winner. Unfortunately, the limited number of variables causes all the options to eventually result in a lifeless globe because designing a planet to support life is a complex process.

As scientists examine systems that support life on Earth, they find multiple complex systems with some surprising agents that allow life to exist over the long haul. For example, we have written before about how many bird and mammal species spread seeds. Also, ants spread the seeds of more than 11,000 plant species. Without ants, the existence and abundance of many plant species could be impossible. A recent study has shown that other insects also spread seeds, allowing the enormous number of plant species on Earth.

Most plants have a compound called “herbivore induced plant volatiles” (HIPVs for short). A plant releases these HIPVs when caterpillars start eating its leaves. The HIPVs attract hungry predators that eat caterpillars. A recent study showed that agarwood (Aquilaria sinensis ), which is native to China, depends on hornets to spread its seeds.

Agarwood fruit produces HIPVs even though it is not assaulted by caterpillars. The agarwood HIPVs attract hornets which rush to capture the plant’s seeds. The hornets carry the seeds to their nests, where they eat the fleshy nutrient-rich structures called elaiosomes attached to the seeds. The hornets discard the seeds on the ground near their shaded nests. The seeds would dry out and die in the sun, but they germinate to produce new agarwood plants in the shade.

The Chinese people use agarwood for various purposes. However, the plant is listed as “vulnerable” because of habitat loss and the fact that local people eat the hornet larvae. Designing a planet to support life is a complex and challenging goal only God can do. Unfortunately, humans lack the wisdom to protect the life-sustaining system God has created for us.

Reference: “Helpful Hornets” Scientific American, October 2022, page 18.

November 11, 2022November 12, 2022

Date Palms and Food

In our day of climate change, drought, and food shortages, it is essential to know God’s answer to these problems. The Bible talks about “a land of milk and honey.” Most of us probably think this refers to the product of bees and cows. In fact, the milk was mostly from goats, and the honey was entirely from date palms. This plant is so productive that each tree will provide 150 pounds of food a year.

Date palms can live for over 100 years and grow to the height of a five-story building. However, they grow best when the roots can find underground moisture while the tree is in arid and hot conditions above ground. That is the environment of the area where Jesus lived, and today groves of date palms grow on the edge of the Dead Sea.

Date palm seeds are so resilient that some from the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls 2000 years ago have germinated when planted and watered. In the United States, we merely call them “dates,” but there are many varieties for different uses, such as medjool, khalas, sukkary, barhi, rutab, ajwa, kimia, deglet noor, and halawi. In the Middle East, where dates have been used for over 4000 years, these varieties are well-known.

God has provided for human needs in a wide variety of ways. We can solve the problem of food shortages if we use what God has given us. Many of our staple foods in America are difficult to grow, especially in nutrient-poor soils or harsh climatic environments. Using God’s gifts wisely on a global level can reduce hunger, pain, and suffering enormously. God has given us what we need, but we must manage it intelligently.

Reference: “The Sweet and Sticky History of the Date” Smithsonian magazine for November/December 2022, pages 27 ff.

November 9, 2022November 8, 2022

Plant Survival and How It Works

Have you ever thought about the fact that everything in the natural world directly or indirectly eats plants? Not just animal life but bacteria, viruses, and pathogens also attack plants. So how do plants keep from being wiped out? Recent Duke University research headed by Xinnian Dong shows that similar to animals, plant survival depends on an immune system.

The difference is that animals are protected by specialized immune cells that travel through the bloodstream to a place of infection. A plant doesn’t have that means of resisting an attack. Instead of traveling immune cells, each plant cell has a built-in resistance to infection. Each cell synthesizes new proteins to attack an infection while suppressing the normal functions of photosynthesis and growth.

A plant must perform a complex balancing act. The infection will destroy the plant if it doesn’t produce enough defense proteins. If the plant produces too much defense protein, its growth will be stunted. Plant biologists are still trying to understand how plants can resist infection while still growing and carrying on their normal functions. That ability seems to be built into the design of the plant’s DNA.

Understanding the plant survival defense system and how it works will address one of humanity’s significant problems. Fifteen percent of all crops are lost to bacterial and fungal diseases, translating into some 220 billion dollars. With the growing need for food, we must find new ways to increase the productivity of plants by reducing the losses to disease.

When you look at a plant, you might think it’s a simple thing whose functions we understand. However, every plant is a showcase for the wisdom and design of God.

Reference: The National Science Foundation in its Research News for September 20, 2022, and the journal Cell

October 14, 2022October 12, 2022

What It Means To Be Human

In my lifetime, the definition of what it means to be human has gone through many changes. When I was in high school, defining a human was based on the use of tools. Since then, people have observed crows, monkeys, and ants using primitive tools. Physical characteristics like brain size and erect posture fail on several fronts and, therefore, cannot be what distinguishes humans. Some have suggested that group dynamics are characteristic of humans, but bees, ants, and naked mole rats exhibit very complex group dynamics.

Scientists use the term “eusociality” for instances where colony members play various and separate roles to ensure the group’s survival. Now researchers have discovered plants that display eusociality. Dr. Kevin Burns at Victoria University of Wellington led a study of the staghorn fern Platycerium bifurcatum, an epiphytic plant. Epiphytic plants grow on other plants or trees and get their moisture and nutrients from the air. These staghorn ferns grow in colonies on trees in Australia.

Ferns reproduce by spores that originate on the fronds, which are the leaves of the ferns. The research team found that these ferns produce two types of fronds. Strap fronds are long and narrow and produce energy for the colony by photosynthesis. Some also produce spores for reproduction, but 40% do not. Nest fronds varied in size and shape and did not contribute to reproduction. Instead, they anchor the colony to the tree and provide for water and nutrient storage. In this colony of ferns, we see separate roles to ensure colony survival. With each of the roles contributing to the colony’s survival, this is an example of eusociality.

In the system of life on this planet, we see animals and even plants that do surprising things, showing design by an intelligent Creator. With that in mind, defining what it means to be human cannot be merely based on what we can do. The biblical definition of humans avoids that problem by describing humans as created in the image of God. Our spiritual makeup is what makes us unique. Our physical characteristics and what we can do physically cannot define what it means to be human. We are created in the Creator’s image, which sets us apart from the rest of the creation.

References: National Wildlife, October–November 2022, page 8, and Ecology.

September 26, 2022September 15, 2022

God Created Two Books

How have you arrived at the belief system that governs your life? God created two books we are called to use as the basis for our lives, morals, and religious practice. Since these two books have one author, they must be complimentary and cannot conflict. It is strange that many people read one book and refuse to look at the other. That is true of both atheists and religionists.

One of the books is the Bible, and it calls us to use it as a guide for life. Second Timothy 3:16-17 states it very clearly: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching, for training, for guiding and for moral discipline so that the man of God may be complete and adequately equipped for all good work.” Atheists reject this book because it involves denying one of a few physical pleasures and gives a purpose in living other than survival. Living selfishly has its rewards, and that is attractive.

God created two books, and the second book is the creation itself. The Bible is full of admonitions to use the things God has created as a means of knowing truth and learning how to live a productive and rewarding life. The Old Testament calls us to use what we see in the world around us as a guide to life. The entire book of Job carries that message. Numerous Psalms call us to see God’s wisdom and design and shape our beliefs in them. (See Psalms 8:3-9; 19:1; 53:1-4; 139:14-16.) Proverbs is full of admonitions to learn from the creation. (See Proverbs 6:6; 8:1-7 and 22-36.)

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used the created world as the basis of much of His teaching. (See Matthew 6:26-30; 7:16-20.) Romans 1:18 – 23 says of humans, “That which can be known of God lies plain before their eyes for God himself has made it clear to them. For those things of God which the eye can not see, ever since the creation of the world, are clearly perceived through the things that are made, and are clear to the eye of reason, even his eternal power and divine character so that men have no excuse.”

So God created two books, and it is clear why atheists do not wish to read and apply the Bible to guide their moral and spiritual lives. It is hard to understand why people who claim to believe in God refuse to look at the creation as a source of instruction and guidance. Some are too lazy to read the Bible and study its message, and others are too lazy to read the creation and learn its message. We need to read and study both books so that we can do what 1 Peter 3:15 tells us: “Revere Christ as Lord in your hearts and always be ready with your defense whenever you are called to account for the hope that is in you, yet argue gently and cautiously with meekness and respect.”

September 21, 2022September 15, 2022

Endothermic or Ectothermic – What’s the Difference?

You are an endothermic mammal. That means your body’s metabolic rate controls your internal body temperature. We describe that condition by saying you are “warm-blooded.” Many life forms on our planet are “cold-blooded” (ectothermic) because the environment controls their internal body temperature. The limitation of being cold-blooded is that it requires warm environmental temperatures. Ectothermic life forms can’t survive in polar areas. Endothermic life can survive almost anywhere.

During the time of the dinosaurs, the planet was very hot. That means biological systems, including plants, grew quickly. Those conditions were part of God’s preparation of resources that humans would need, including oil, coal, topsoil, and oxygen. However, the geologic record shows a point in Earth’s history when the climate radically changed.

As the entire planet cooled, areas at or near the poles became too cold for cold-blooded life to exist. Studies of bone growth rates and oxygen isotopes in ancient bones indicate a rapid change. This change would not be a problem for warm-blooded animals but would reduce the number, size, and activity of cold-blooded life forms.

The challenge would be to design living creatures that can translate food into enough internal heat to survive in a cold environment. Science News reported on studies of the inner ears of reptiles and mammals. In warm-blooded animals, the inner ear fluid is less viscous, requiring that the ear canals become smaller. As a result, fossils show a sharp change in inner ear morphology at the time when Earth’s climate became colder.

Many other changes were required for life to go from ectothermic to endothermic. However, the inner ear structure is preserved in the fossils, making it useful for scientists to study the history of life on Earth. The complexity of endothermy reminds us again of the words of Psalms 139:14, “I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are your works.” In our time of changing climate, the design of life continues to show the wisdom involved in life’s creation.

Reference: Science News August 27, 2022, page 9, and Nature.com

September 14, 2022September 12, 2022

Natural Insect Control by an Insect

People struggle with many insects that give us diseases, impact our food supply, and even damage our clothing. Mosquitoes, locusts, grasshoppers, cockroaches, crickets, and the like have been a scourge prompting the use of pesticides. The pesticides, in turn, have brought cancer and attacks on our immune systems. Yet, we often overlook the fact that God has given us natural insect control by providing agents that eat insects, including birds, bats, fish, and even insects. One insect-eating insect that looks like it came from another planet is known to entomologists as “Mantis religiosa” but is commonly called the praying mantis.

The mantis has bulging eyes and a triangular-shaped head that swivels atop a long neck, giving it an odd extraterrestrial look. It is the only insect with three-dimensional vision. It holds its two front legs at an angle as if folded in prayer while actually poised to ambush prey. Those forelegs are armed with spikes so that when they capture an insect, it cannot escape.

Humans introduced the praying mantis from Europe into New York state in 1900 to control grasshopper infestations. Mantises are voracious eaters and can even be cannibalistic. Their population is partly controlled by eating each other when the food supply becomes reduced. Females sometimes eat the males and the egg capsules when there is a food shortage.

A mistake humans have made is using chemicals to control insect populations instead of using the natural controls God has given us. Spraying massive amounts of insect-killing chemicals kills everything, including insect-eating birds, fish, and insects like the praying mantis. We often hear people blaming God for the diseases and afflictions humans have caused.

The more we study the creation, the more we see natural insect control agents. They may require work and a more significant time investment than the easy process of spraying, but they cause far less collateral damage.

References: The Spokesman-Review for 8/30/22 page A01 by Linda Welford and Wikipedia

September 10, 2022September 7, 2022

Foods Derived from Flowers Need Auxin

What seems like a simple question may have a very complex and essential answer. The question is this: How does a flowering plant develop fruits and seeds? This is a crucial question to answer for the production of common food crops such as peanuts, corn, rice, strawberries, and all other foods derived from flowers.

The time when flowers turn some of their parts into seeds or fruit determines when the fruit will be ready to harvest, how big it will be, and what nutrients and water must be applied at what time.

Zhongchi Liu at the University of Maryland has identified a gene called AGL62 that stimulates plant production of a growth hormone called “auxin.” Once the gene activates, the plant synthesizes auxin, causing the creation of a seedcoat. The seedcoat is the outer layer protecting the endosperm, the part of a seed that provides food for a developing plant embryo and fruit. More auxin can boost grain size and stimulate fruit enlargement. If there is insufficient auxin, the crop produced will be smaller, and the fruit will not be commercially viable.

Liu has been working with strawberries because they are easier to study, but it applies to virtually all foods derived from flowers. This is another example of the design God built into the creation of life. When humans finally understand the design, it opens up a way to produce more food for a hungry world.

Reference: Research News from the National Science Foundation