creation Archives

May 2, 2024May 1, 2024

Fungi Are All Around Us and Even Inside Us

The cover of the April 2024 issue of National Geographic and its first article are dedicated to what the editors call “Fabulous Fungi.” The articles deal with “The Wondrous World of Fungi” with incredible pictures and a narrative that exposes what the authors call “The Hidden Kingdom.” Most of us probably don’t realize that fungi are all around us and even inside us.

Various fungus species have a symbiotic relationship with many plants and animals, including humans. Most plants today depend on mycorrhizal fungi living in their root systems to metabolize sugar from photosynthesis while bringing nutrients and water to the plant.

Fungi are heterotrophs, organisms that take nutrition from other organic sources such as plant or animal matter. They can break down wood and dead plant material by releasing and reabsorbing enzymes. Without fungi, dead plants and animals would pile up on forest floors, and plants would be unable to take in needed nutrients.

Fungi are all around us and even inside us. They work in our digestive system, and scientists are still studying what they do. Cancer research has found that fungi in the colon, breast, and lungs are related to the metastatic spread of cancer and can be used to predict the presence of cancer and perhaps even treat it.

Scientists estimate that there are around five million species of fungi, and they are more diverse than plants or vertebrates. In 2015, our program released a children’s book titled “The Friendly Fungus Among Us,” written by Charlsey Ford and John Clayton. This little 16-page booklet, written for children, points out a few benefits and uses of fungi, including food, medicines, insecticides, and detergents. It also introduces children to the role of yeast and truffles in food.

God’s design is so incredible that science is just scratching the surface of the things that enable human life to exist on Earth. Trying to explain it by undirected evolution is impossible. “We can know there is a God through the things He has made” (Romans 1:20) is true. We see evidence everywhere, even in the fact that fungi are all around us and even inside us, and life would not be possible without them.

Reference: National Geographic, April 2024

The Friendly Fungus Among Us children’s book is available from the Does God Exist? ministry by contacting jncdge@aol.com or in the set of 16 children’s books at powervine.store.

April 30, 2024April 30, 2024

Animals Can Learn From Their Peers

Scientists want to know how much animals can learn from their peers. How much animal behavior is genetic, and how much can they learn by watching other members of their species?

Many years ago, a friend who raised golden labradors showed me how her favorite lab had learned to recognize the design and shape of an inverted can that covered a treat. She used ten similar cans, but only one had a pattern on it. She had taught her favorite dog to turn over that can to get the treat, which was an odorless biscuit to eliminate the dog using its sense of smell.

The dog got the right can ten times out of ten, going straight to the can with the treat every time. She then took a puppy and put it with the adult dog and the ten cans. The puppy followed the adult dog one or two times, and then when it was alone, it ran straight to the can with the treat and turned it over. Clearly, animals can learn from their peers since the puppy had learned by watching the adult dog.

Various experiments show animals learning from others of their species, but what about insects? Researchers at Queen Mary University in London trained bumblebees to do complex behavioral actions. The researchers set up a container with bumblebees and a blue lever that unlocked a door when pushed. There was also a red lever to open another door leading to a container of sugar water. The researchers successfully taught a group of bumblebees how to press the two levers in sequence to access the sugar water.

When they added new bees to the container, the newcomers “watched the original bees and figured out how to complete the puzzle—showing for the first time that insects can learn multistep processes through social interaction.” We could challenge this experiment since bees have a built-in ability to convey information to other bees. When a bee returns to the hive after finding food, it can do a “dance” that tells its fellow bees where the food is.

Animals and insects communicate, but language is unique to humans. The Bible story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) shows how essential language is to human interaction. Animals can learn from their peers, but God gave humans alone the ability to communicate using language and symbols. Only humans can convey moral issues, beliefs, and values through grammar and vocabulary.

References: phys.org and nationalgeographic.com

April 29, 2024April 28, 2024

A Plant That Sweats

You and I keep cool in hot weather by evaporating water from our skin. For water to evaporate, it has to absorb roughly 540 calories per gram of water without changing its temperature. That removes a lot of heat from our bodies, allowing us to survive hot weather. Botanists have discovered that the carline thistle plant cools itself by evaporation. You could say it’s a plant that sweats.

Carline thistles grow in an area of southern Spain where almost no other plants can survive. In August, everything shrivels and dies in the arid region around the Sierra de Cazorla mountain range, except the carline thistle. By evaporative cooling, the flowers on this plant average nine degrees cooler than the surrounding air and may be as much as 18 degrees cooler.

To perform photosynthesis, leaves allow carbon dioxide to enter through tiny pores called stomata. During this exchange, some water in the leaf escapes, allowing some evaporation. However, the carline thistle is the only known plant that allows substantial quantities of water to move to the surface, making it a plant that sweats. That provides cooling to allow the carline thistle to survive the heat of Spain’s Mediterranean habitat.

Researchers still don’t know how the carline thistle can retrieve enough water from the ground to continue this process. They plan to study the root structure for novelties that might explain it. The carline thistle’s advantage is access to pollinators. Since all other plants die, the thistle has sole access to bees and other pollinators when it flowers in August.

Scientists are interested in this plant’s ability to survive the heat as the planet enters a period of increased temperatures. Vast areas of Earth face drought conditions, and there have always been regions of high temperatures and a lack of precipitation. God has designed plants to survive every conceivable climatic condition, even a plant that sweats. We must use what God has given us intelligently, and the carline thistle deserves our study and attention.

Reference: “This Flower Refrigerates Itself to Survive Scorching Summers” in Scientific American, May 2024, pages 18-19.

April 26, 2024April 23, 2024

The Design of Peregrine Falcons

Human structures often upset the natural balance of birds. One example is the abundance of pigeons in urban areas, which disfigure statues and decorative stone buildings and spread various diseases. One solution to the pigeon problem has been the introduction of peregrine falcons. The design of peregrine falcons has allowed them to adjust to human structures and use their highly designed physical characteristics to defend themselves in both city and rural areas.

The peregrine falcon is not exceptionally large, but it is designed for high-speed flight and uses that ability to kill other birds, even eagles. The peregrine will fly high and dive on an intended prey at over 200 miles per hour. That speed produces many challenges for these birds. The change in pressure would cause the lungs of the peregrine falcon to burst, except for the design of its nostrils. The falcon has bony tubercles on its nostrils that guide airflow away from the nasal passages, reducing the change in air pressure.

Another problem with a high-speed dive is vision. Most of us have had the experience of having our eyes water when facing a strong wind, but the peregrine falcon has nictitating membranes that are essentially a third eyelid that keeps the eyes clear. Also, the design of peregrine falcons shows a dark area below the eye, which reduces glare.

In the city, pigeons comprise a large percentage of the peregrine falcon diet. The birds nest in the windows of skyscrapers, giving people in the offices a view of their lifestyles and the production of offspring. Several years ago, office workers in South Bend, Indiana, complained that peregrine falcons were killing pigeons and bringing their victims back to the nest. People in tall buildings were horrified when the falcons tore up the bodies of pigeons to feed their young. They didn’t realize that peregrine falcons help maintain the balance of birds in urban areas, meeting an important need for city dwellers. In the wild, peregrine falcons eat rodents and other small mammals.

Airplane designers have studied the design of peregrine falcons and copied many of their features. Like many other engineering problems, we can look to what God has created and copy the design to solve our own problems. Neither a jet airplane nor a peregrine falcon is a product of accidental change. Design requires intelligence and purpose, and the peregrine falcon is a classic example of both.

Reference: allaboutbirds.org, nationalgeograph i c.com, and wikip e dia.org

April 25, 2024April 23, 2024

The Precision of the Cosmos Shows Design

The Precision of the Cosmos Shows Engineering Design

One of the awe-inspiring scientific findings in astronomy is that the process of creating the cosmos is so exquisitely precise that it defies the notion of chance. In other words, the precision of the cosmos is a testament to an engineering design that leaves us in awe.

The latest measurements reveal a delicate balance in the cosmos. It is expanding at a rate that is precisely what is necessary for the Earth and life to exist. If the rate of expansion were a billionth faster, stars and planets would never coalesce. If the expansion were a billionth slower, gravity would pull everything together in a gigantic crunch with no stars or planets existing. The material universe is expanding at precisely the rate necessary for a planet able to support life to exist, a fact that fills us with wonder and appreciation for the Creator.

Even the leftover material of creation displays the precision of the cosmos. As of 2024, astronomers have observed 5008 comets, and the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA have determined their orbits. However, life on Earth has not been endangered by any of these space-going travelers.

Experts in the field are now writing about the implications of the recent understanding of astrophysics. Dr. Paul Davies, an Arizona State University astrophysicist, wrote, “The laws which enable the universe to come into being spontaneously, seem themselves to be the product of exceedingly ingenious design. If physics is the product of design, the universe must have a purpose, and the evidence of modern physics suggests strongly to me that the purpose includes us.” (Super Force: The Search for a Grand Unified Theory of Nature, Simon and Schuster, 1984)

James C. Peterson, writing in the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation (March 2024, page 1), writes, “So if the physical universe we can observe indicates that there is something not-material which is powerful enough to create the material; that is purposeful, smart, and generous enough to make it happen in a way that supports the development of conscious life; it might be expected that such a creator would have an interest in the resulting conscious life.”

These are scientists writing in scientific literature, not preachers writing in theological journals. The precision of the cosmos speaks loudly of its Creator. In the words of the Psalmist, “The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalms 19:1).

Reference: “Big, Indeed Epic, History” in Perspectives on Science and the Christian Faith, March 2024, page 1.

April 24, 2024April 22, 2024

Rapid Evolution of the Florida Snail Kite

The Florida snail kite is a captivating bird found in southern Florida and the Everglades. Recently, researchers have seen a perplexing rapid evolution of the Florida snail kite. This bird, unlike any other, exclusively feeds on apple snails. These snails, with no significant predators, would overpopulate if not for the presence of the Florida snail kite, leading to a unique ecological balance.

There are always predators in the natural world to keep any species from totally wiping out its food supply and becoming extinct. Problems arise when humans upset the balance by eliminating the predators or introducing a species that has no natural enemies. That has happened in many places. For example, in Australia, many years ago, people introduced rabbits and eradicated the dingos that would have controlled the rabbit population. That allowed the rabbits to multiply in massive numbers, resulting in various environmental problems.

In the case of the Florida snail kite, a larger apple snail was introduced, posing a challenge as the bird’s beak was not designed to extract such snails from their shells. Consequently, the apple snail population surged due to the absence of predators, while the Florida snail kite population dwindled. However, in a remarkable turn of events, a mutation in the Florida snail kites led to the development of a larger and longer beak, enabling them to open the shells of the larger snails. This rapid evolution of the Florida snail kite restored the balance between the birds and the snails.

The problem for evolutionists in this situation is that it requires several mutations. A rapid change like this does not fit classical evolutionary theory, which says that genetic changes take a vast number of years to become totally distributed throughout a population. The change in the Florida snail kite population happened within ten years.

Many geneticists and other scientists are baffled. Dr. Robert Fletcher of the University of Florida has been studying the Florida snail kite and hopes to find an explanation for this rapid change. Whatever the explanation, it is a great testimony to the God who created all living things. His design is so complex that it takes humans a long time to understand. The rapid evolution of the Florida snail kite is just one of many cases where classical evolutionary theory doesn’t fit the evidence.

Reference: pbs.org

April 23, 2024April 22, 2024

A Very Tiny Frog

How small can a vertebrate get? The Brazilian flea toad (brachycephalus pulex) is the smallest known amphibian and the smallest known vertebrate. Despite its name, it isn’t a flea or a toad but a frog. This very tiny frog is small enough that two of them could sit side-by-side on your pinkie fingernail. From snout to rump, the males average about 7 millimeters and the females 8 millimeters.

The Brazilian flea toad’s name can be misleading. These frogs were actually discovered and named in 2011, but it wasn’t until a decade later that they were studied in detail. While both toads and frogs are amphibians, there are some key differences. Toads have drier, bumpier skin and are typically found in dry environments, while frogs have smoother, more moist skin and tend to live near water.

Brazilian flea toads have a bright yellow-orange color, which is probably an aposematic signal to potential predators. Aposematism in animals is often a warning that their skin may contain toxins that make them unpleasant or dangerous to eat. A creature this small needs some way to protect itself.

Why would such a very tiny frog exist? They are endemic to a few forested hills in the southern coastal area of Brazil. Researchers have not studied them enough to understand the niche they fill in their environment, and studying such creatures as this very tiny frog is challenging. Luci Kirkpatrick of Bangor University in North Wales said that tiny creatures are “ecosystem engineers” that are “critical in making sure the food web functions properly.”

God created an ecosystem with organisms that allow life to exist in a balanced environment on Earth. The very tiny frog known as the Brazilian flea toad can teach us a lot about the small world that sustains us.

References: earth.com, mymodernmet.com, bbc.com, and onlinelibrary.wiley.com

April 22, 2024April 21, 2024

Total Solar Eclipse and the Matthew 27 Account

We received comments from two men who related the recent total solar eclipse and the Matthew 27 account of darkness coming over the land when Jesus was crucified. One of the enquirers was a Christian who wondered about it, and the other was from an atheist who tried to use it in his attack on the Bible. Here is what we read in Matthew 27:45: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.”

This is an age-old skeptic attack, suggesting that later Christian writers manipulated the account to transform a natural phenomenon into a religious miracle. These critics also argue that the miracles of Jesus, as described in the Bible, are not historical events but rather fictional tales concocted by later Christian writers.

The first point we need to make is that the duration of a total solar eclipse and the Matthew 27 account have no common ground. The sixth hour to the ninth hour would indicate about three hours. The most extended duration of a total solar eclipse is three to four MINUTES. History records an eclipse near the traditional time of Jesus’ crucifixion, but the scriptures do not give us the date of the crucifixion.

The second point we must make is that the miracles Jesus performed are not just fiction written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Many Christians and opponents of Christianity recognized that Jesus performed miracles. You can try to explain them scientifically, but they are beyond any scientific explanation. A total solar eclipse and the Matthew 27 account are not compatible.

In an era rife with fake news, skepticism, atheism, and secularism, the role of evidence in substantiating the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testaments becomes paramount. While we don’t claim to possess all the answers, evidence supporting the Bible’s accuracy and the historical facts of Jesus’ life is readily accessible to those who seek it. Our video series, “Beyond Reasonable Doubt,” meticulously examines the evidence for biblical accuracy. You can view it free of charge on doesgodexist.tv, or purchase it with a study guide from powervine.store. We also offer a free correspondence course of the same name upon request.

April 18, 2024April 15, 2024

The Nature of Time Is a Mystery

The nature of time is one of the great mysteries of life. Time is not three-dimensional; in other words, we can’t describe it as left-right, up-down, or back-front. Time is a created thing, and thanks to Einstein’s relativity theory, we know that it is not constant. At very high velocities, time changes.

In quantum mechanics, we discuss things that happened “before time began.” In Proverbs 8:22-23 Wisdom speaks about being with God before the world began, and 2 Peter 3:8 tells us that “with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.” Acts 1:7 tells us, “It is not for you to know the times or the dates the Father has set by His own authority.”

Many questions arise because people fail to understand the relationship between time and God. The way God answers prayers is radically affected by time. Humans tend to want our requests instantly gratified, but God frequently acts in a different time frame than we desire. God also does not answer prayers or produce actions that would violate our freedom of choice. We can pray for someone to do a certain thing, and God may make it possible, but He will not violate a person’s ability to choose. We are here for a purpose in the war between good and evil, and we can choose what we will do. God makes it possible but does not force us to accept His will.

Those who try to predict the time of Christ’s second coming fail to understand that all things are embedded in God’s independence from time. The question of the Earth’s age is also rooted in a poor understanding of the nature of time. Changes in stars and galaxies take very long periods of time, including how long it takes for the light from distant stars to reach the Earth.

How long did it take to produce the land masses we live on, and by what method did God make them? Those who want instant gratification have God miraculously zapping the entire geologic column instantly. That is not what the evidence from geology tells us. The record in the rocks of our planet tells of God’s careful preparation of the natural resources He knew we would need. God could zap oil into existence in an underground storage formation, but the evidence is that He has taken a long time with many different agencies to produce the fossil fuels of coal, oil, and gas, as well as the minerals we depend on.

The nature of time is a mystery to us, and we create conflict when we force our concept of time on a God who created time and is not limited by it.

April 17, 2024April 21, 2024

Nudibranchs in a Dazzling Array of Colors and Shapes

The diversity of life on planet Earth is astounding. One of the life forms that most of us are not aware of is the order nudibranchia. Nudibranchs are marine gastropod mollusks that shed their shells after the larval stage. The name “nudibranch” means “naked gills.” They are found worldwide in around 3,000 species, and they can be as small as a thumbtack or as long as 20 inches. Oceans contain nudibranchs in a dazzling array of colors and shapes.

What makes the nudibranchs important is that they help keep in balance some dangerous lifeforms that humans have a hard time handling. Nudibranchs will eat sponges, corals, anemones, jellyfish, and just about any stinging life forms that live in the ocean. There have been times when a species of jellyfish or stinging coral have threatened human use of an area of the ocean, but the nudibranchs have brought these creatures under control.

From the Arctic to the tropics, we find various species of nudibranchs in a dazzling array of colors and shapes, keeping balance in the ocean. However, you might assume they are just sea slugs of no value unless you know what they are. Climate change can alter the ocean’s ecological balance, but nudibranchs help control overpopulations of destructive agents in reefs and estuaries.

Most of the marine world has not yet been explored, and we have much to learn. Humans have done more to explore space than the floor of the ocean. As better technology allows us to travel into deep ocean trenches, underwater volcanoes, and isolated reefs, we will gain more understanding of what God has designed to allow life to exist in all parts of planet Earth.

Reference: Smithsonian Magazine for April-May 2024, pages 40 -48.

Nudibranch expert Gary Cobb maintains a Facebook group called Nudibran c h Central, where you can see more examples of these dazzling creatures.