Roland Earnst Archives - Page 13 of 45

February 28, 2022February 27, 2022

King of Saxony Bird-of-Paradise

Saxony is an area of Germany that hasn’t had a king since 1918. However, in the mountain forests of New Guinea, a bird has borne the name King of Saxony since 1894. It’s the King of Saxony bird-of-paradise (Pteridophora alberti).

The males display beautiful black and yellow colors. They also have two blue brow plumes attached to their heads that can be twice the length of the bird’s body. These birds are so strange-looking that when Europeans one for the first time, they thought it was a fake. Native people hunt the male birds for their prized plumes for ceremonial purposes. However, the King of Saxony bird-of-paradise is not easy to catch.

Adult males are highly territorial, guarding their domain while perched high in the tree canopy. Their unique courtship behavior consists of two parts. The first step is sitting on a bare branch and attracting females by singing a hissing rattling sound. It accompanies those noises by waving the long plumes independently or in unison. Next, if a female shows interest, the male will fly down to a lower branch to entice her. Then, the male will bounce up and down in front of the female while giving a hissing call. People find the entire ritual very entertaining.

Regardless of the threats they face from hunting, the King of Saxony bird-of-paradise is not endangered. That is beneficial for the ecology because these birds play a significant role in distributing fruit seeds on the island of New Guinea. Plants and fruits rely on animals to ensure their survival. In return, the plants produce fruit for the animals to eat in this marvelously complex system. Meanwhile, tourists to New Guinea enjoy these birds’ beauty and fascinating behavior.

The King of Saxony bird-of-paradise is a prime example of how each animal is unique, and the Creator has given us many species to study, enjoy, and protect. The interlocking system of birds, other animals, and plants shows evidence of a Creator who is an architect and engineer who has an appreciation of beauty and a sense of humor.

— Roland Earnst © 2022
The Cornel Lab of Ornithology has a video showing the song and dance of these fascinating birds.

February 19, 2022February 15, 2022

Why Do Loons Migrate?

It’s a bird that isn’t great at flying and is awkward at walking on land, but it’s very skilled at diving. The common loon (Gavia immer), also known as the great northern diver, is an aquatic bird that somewhat resembles a large duck or small goose. Since flying isn’t their strong point, why do loons migrate?

Most birds have hollow bones to reduce their weight for flying. The fact that a loon’s bones are not hollow adds weight to facilitate diving but makes flying more of a challenge. Loons can dive as deep as 200 feet (60 meters) and stay underwater for three minutes. Because of their dense bones, they sit lower in the water than ducks or geese when they swim. The loons’ legs, located near the rear of their bodies, facilitate quick diving but make walking more difficult.

Loons are well-designed for catching fish and well-suited for life in the ocean, where they spend their flightless winters. When spring comes, the loons molt, shedding their gray feathers and growing black ones. They gain stiff wing feathers and begin exercising to build strength for the migration journey. After a couple of months of preparation, they are ready to fly hundreds of miles north to freshwater lakes, where they spend the summer.

Why should loons leave the oceans where they have an abundant food supply? Just think that they wouldn’t have to go through the changes necessary to fly to the northern lakes. They could also avoid the dangers involved in making the migration. They wouldn’t need the complex navigation methods they use to return to the same lakes where they originated. Why do loons migrate? Why not do what many northerners do when they retire and just enjoy life along the warm and sunny ocean shores?

The answer seems to be more beneficial to other living creatures than to the loons. Their departure from the ocean relieves pressure on fish populations in coastal marine areas. More than that, it helps to control fish populations in northern freshwater lakes. Loons return to the north to benefit the northern ecosystems. These birds are well-designed to fill a niche in the ecosystem that other life forms can’t fully meet.

So even though loons are not the best at flying and even less adapted for walking, they have what is needed to fill a niche in the ecosystem. Why do loons migrate? The loon’s migration may benefit other living creatures more than itself. How could natural selection explain this? According to the survival of the fittest, shouldn’t these birds survive and thrive doing their own thing rather than benefiting others? We don’t think natural selection fully explains the design of loons and their lifestyle. We suggest that the common loon is a testimony to the Creator’s wisdom of design in the life system we see all around us.

February 18, 2022February 15, 2022

No Life Without Water

Without water, life would not be possible. For that reason, astronomers are constantly looking for other locations in the universe where liquid water might exist. Only in such places could there be any hope of finding life. Whether life exists anywhere in the universe outside of planet Earth is a question people have asked for hundreds of years. Scientists still don’t know the answer, but everyone agrees that there could be no life without water.

The water molecule seems very simple. It is H²O–one oxygen atom combined with two hydrogen atoms. However, instead of bonding in a straight line (H-O-H), the two hydrogen atoms are on one side of the water molecule at a 104.5-degree angle from each other. That alignment gives the hydrogen side of the water molecule a partial positive charge, while the other side has a partial negative charge. Because of that, the positive and negative sides of water molecules attract one another and form hydrogen bonds resulting in a network of water molecules.

When water is in the gaseous state, the interaction between molecules is negligible. However, when it is in the solid form of ice, each water molecule forms a bond with four others, creating a lattice that causes ice to be lighter than liquid water. For most substances, the solid state is heavier than the liquid state. This unique property of water causes ice to float. Additionally, the low thermal conductivity of ice prevents the water below from freezing. If lakes and oceans froze from the bottom up, it would kill all marine life and ultimately all life on Earth.

If water molecules did not form hydrogen bonds, instead of boiling at 100 degrees C, water would boil at -100 degrees C. That would prevent life processes. Furthermore, because there is a 100 degree C difference between water’s melting and boiling points, life is possible in Earth’s wide range of environments. Water has the highest heat of evaporation of any known substance so that it remains liquid up to and even at its boiling point. It also has the second-highest heat capacity of any known substance, allowing its temperature to remain stable during heat fluctuations in the environment. Those qualities of water are also critical for life, meaning that there could be no life without water.

Water’s ability as a solvent makes it essential for the life processes of living cells. Likewise, water’s inability to dissolve oily substances is vital to create a strong “hydophobic effect.” Cell membranes, DNA, RNA, and proteins all contain oil-like regions. If the water in the cells could dissolve them, life would not be possible. In addition, the water molecule can participate in and enable chemical processes such as hydrolysis, reduction, oxidation, and others that are essential in living cells.

The bottom line is that there is no life without water and the fine-tuning of the hydrogen bonding in water molecules. With new scientific discoveries, we see fine-tuning for life in the cosmos and even in the cells of our bodies. Without that fine-tuning, life would not exist, and we would not be here. Accidental coincidences do not explain such incredible precision of design. We think the explanation goes beyond science and points to an intelligent Designer.

For much more on this, read chapter three, “The Chemical Anthropic Principle,” in Fazale Rana’s book Fit for a Purpose.

January 28, 2022January 26, 2022

The Carbon Miracle and Life

Life on Earth would not be possible without carbon. All known living things are carbon-based, and there is a good reason for that. Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe, and it’s also plentiful in Earth’s crust. That means there is plenty of it to form life. It’s the second most abundant element in the human body, after oxygen. However, that abundance is a carbon miracle because it demonstrates precise fine-tuning of the cosmic creation event known as the big bang.

First, let’s look at the qualities of carbon that make it so useful for life. Carbon can form more compounds than any other element. That’s because it is the smallest element that has four valence electrons. As we said in our discussion of oxygen, all atoms look for eight electrons to complete their valence shell. Carbon can form covalent bonds by sharing electrons with up to four other atoms to complete that shell.

Furthermore, the energy required to make or break those bonds is at the exact level to build large and complex molecules with both the stability and reactivity necessary for life. Carbon atoms are also lighter because they are smaller than the other atoms with four valence electrons. Their small and lightweight qualities allow enzymes to manipulate the organic molecules formed around carbon atoms. Metabolism requires the manipulation of organic molecules.

Carbon can combine with other carbon atoms to form macromolecules that life requires. Without carbon, there would be no proteins or DNA. Because of its unique qualities, carbon can form hydrocarbons such as sugar, lipids, and alcohols for storing energy in living organisms. Without carbon, there could be no life functions such as breathing, digestion, excretion, or reproduction. In other words, there could be no life. Some scientists have suggested the possibility of silicon-based life somewhere in the universe. However, there are numerous problems with the “rock people” concept, and there is no evidence to support it.

But what is the carbon miracle? According to Fermilab, it is “miraculous” that carbon exists. The cosmic creation event known as the big bang formed only the elements hydrogen, helium, and lithium. Clouds of hydrogen and helium gas came together because of gravity to form stars that collapsed and became hot enough to fuse some pairs of helium nuclei with two protons each into beryllium with four protons. The next step would be to fuse one more helium nucleus to form carbon with its six protons.

That is where there seemed to be a roadblock. The beryllium isotope is so unstable that it decays back into two helium atoms in a ten-thousandth of a trillionth of a second. However, scientists found that the carbon nucleus has an “internally excited short-lived state” that allows the miraculous microsecond bonding to take place. According to scientists, as reported by Fermilab, “Amazingly, if the strength of the nuclear force between protons and neutrons after the Big Bang were different by less than 1%, carbon would be extremely rare, and the universe would be devoid of life.”

That is the carbon miracle, and we don’t think it was an accident that the creation event was fine-tuned. English astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle first suggested the unique quality of the carbon nucleus that made it possible for carbon to come into existence. Hoyle was an agnostic, but seeing the fine-tuning of the creation, he wrote, “A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.” (Fred Hoyle, “The Universe: Past and Present Reflections”) We believe that “superintellect” is God.

January 15, 2022January 16, 2022

Oxygen and Nitrogen Levels in the Atmosphere

Oxygen and nitrogen are two of a handful of elemental superstars of life. Without them, life would not be possible. In some ways, these two elements are very similar, but they are also very different.

Oxygen and nitrogen atoms differ in only one proton and one electron. In chemical reactions, the important subatomic particle is the electron, and oxygen has eight while nitrogen has seven. In the last two days, we talked about the difference that one electron makes. Oxygen and nitrogen make up about 99% of our atmosphere, with nitrogen composing nearly three-quarters of our air. So why is nitrogen’s percentage so high compared to oxygen?

As we said previously, the triple bond of a nitrogen molecule requires more than twice as much energy to break as the double bond of an oxygen molecule. The oxygen bond can be broken to allow combustion oxidation and energize our bodies. On the other hand, the nitrogen bond is not easy to break, but plants require nitrogen for photosynthesis and growth. What is the solution?

Lightning breaks the nitrogen bond allowing rain to wash nitrogen to the ground. Plants such as beans, peas, and alfalfa, which we call legumes, have microorganisms on their roots that extract nitrogen from the air. That enriches the soil with nitrogen while providing for the legumes. More than a century ago, scientists found a way to extract nitrogen from the air to produce ammonia. That process enabled fertilizer production, which today allows farmers to produce enough food for the world’s population.

It is not easy to break the nitrogen bond so it can combine with other elements, but with 78% of the atmosphere being nitrogen, there is no shortage. So why is our atmosphere mostly nitrogen? Since it is only about 21% oxygen, wouldn’t it be better to have more oxygen so we could breathe easier? The answer is that nitrogen stability is essential for our safety. Wildfires have been a significant problem in recent years. If the atmosphere consisted of a very high percentage of oxygen, fires would be more common and dangerous. If the atmosphere consisted of 100% oxygen, all it would take is one lightning strike to set the whole planet on fire.

Remarkably, we have the correct percentage of elements in our atmosphere. We have the right amount of oxygen to allow respiration to power our bodies and combustion to power our vehicles and industry and heat our homes. At the same time, we have the right amount of nitrogen to prevent uncontrolled combustion leading to the destruction of life. We have just a small amount of carbon dioxide, which plants need for photosynthesis. Plants use CO² and generate oxygen to keep the gases in balance. The balance is amazingly precise as long as humans don’t generate enough carbon dioxide to mess it up.

During the dinosaur age, the oxygen level was higher, on the order of around one-third of the atmosphere. That allowed the enormous animals to prepare the Earth for humans. Now we have the precise balance to sustain human life and advanced society. The question is, did the features of oxygen and nitrogen and the balance between them happen by accident, or was it part of an intelligent plan? We think the best explanation is that an intelligent Planner of life created it.

January 14, 2022January 12, 2022

One-Electron Difference Between Oxygen and Nitrogen

How does a one-electron difference between oxygen and nitrogen allow life to exist on our planet? Why does the correct mix between those two elements in our atmosphere make it possible for us to be here?

Yesterday, we talked about covalent bonding in oxygen and nitrogen. We said that an oxygen atom needs to share two electrons with another oxygen atom to make a stable oxygen molecule. However, nitrogen needs to share three electrons with another nitrogen atom to complete the valence shell and create stability. So how can a single electron difference between oxygen and nitrogen be a big deal?

For oxygen or nitrogen to combine with other elements to form new compounds essential for life, the covalent bond between them must be broken. It takes about double the energy to break the triple bond between two nitrogen atoms as to break the double bond between two oxygen atoms. That means oxygen can be released to form other compounds much more easily.

What does it take to break the oxygen bond and combine it with another element? Apply some heat to combustible material, and you will find out. You will get fire, which is a chemical reaction involving rapid oxidation of the burning material. Much slower oxidation occurs when oxygen in your blood combines with nutrients in your body, giving you energy and generating body heat. Another slow form of oxidation is when iron combines with oxygen to form iron oxide, or rust.

If it were not possible to release oxygen from its molecular bond with relative ease, we would not have combustion to heat our homes, run our vehicles, or energize our bodies. Life would not be possible. However, nitrogen bonds are much harder to break, and nitrogen is also essential for life. Tomorrow we will look at how the one-electron difference between oxygen and nitrogen enables life on planet Earth.

January 13, 2022January 12, 2022

The Atmosphere Is Fine-Tuned for Life

Nitrogen and oxygen together make up about 99% of the air we breathe. The vast majority of our atmosphere is nitrogen. Oxygen is ten times as abundant as nitrogen in the universe, but it makes up only about 21 percent of our atmosphere. So, the less common element is the most abundant in our atmosphere. What does that mean to us? The bottom line is that the atmosphere is fine-tuned for life. Let’s examine that more carefully.

An atom of oxygen and an atom of nitrogen differ by only one proton and one electron. That may not seem like much, but it makes a world of difference. Both of those elements form diatomic molecules, meaning that two atoms bond together to make one molecule of oxygen or nitrogen.

Covalent bonding is the chemical bonding of atoms by equal sharing of electrons. That bond gives atoms stability in their outer, or valence, electron shells. Atomic stability requires eight valence electrons. The only elements with that number are the so-called “noble gases”–helium, neon, argon, krypton, and radon. For that reason, they are inert, refusing to combine with other elements. All other elements need electrons to complete the octet in their valence shells.

An oxygen atom has six electrons in its valence shell, so it needs to share two electrons to become stable. When an oxygen atom shares two electrons with another oxygen atom, they both become stable. Nitrogen, on the other hand, has only five valence electrons. Therefore, by forming a covalent bond with another nitrogen atom, sharing three electrons, both atoms complete their outer shell. In this way, our atmosphere is made up of stable diatomic oxygen and nitrogen molecules.

However, not all molecules are equally stable. That is where we see the atmosphere is fine-tuned for life. For example, oxygen molecules have a double bond sharing two electrons, but nitrogen atoms have a triple bond sharing three electrons for more stability. That difference may seem insignificant, but it is essential to make life possible. Come back tomorrow when we will explain what a difference it makes.

January 9, 2022January 6, 2022

Seven Wonders of the World and the Greatest

Seven Wonders of the World according to a young girl

What would you select as the seven wonders of the world? Writer Damien Thomas has a website called “Your Positive Oasis,” where he posts motivational articles and quotes. Several years ago, he published an article about the seven wonders of the world chosen by children. Since then, it has been repeated on social media.

The story tells of a teacher who asked her students to name the current seven wonders of the world. Compiling their lists into the most popular wonders they selected:

1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids

2. Taj Mahal

3. Grand Canyon

4. Panama Canal

5. Empire State Building

6. St. Peter’s Basilica

7. China’s Great Wall

According to the story, one girl had not completed her list because there were so many she could not select only seven. When the teacher asked what she had written, her list was:

1. To See

2. To Hear

3. To Touch

4. To Taste

5. To Feel

6. To Laugh

7. To Love

The point of the story was that the most precious seven wonders of the world are not the ones we must travel to see or things that we can make or buy. The most incredible wonders of the world are those we often overlook and take for granted. They are the ones for which we should be thanking God every day that we live.

I would add another that I think is the greatest wonder of all. It is that God loves us and gave His Son to redeem us to Himself so that we might enjoy the wonders of His presence forever.

“Now the dwelling of God is with His people, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

You can read this story on Damien Thomas’s website, “Your Positive Oasis.”

January 8, 2022January 6, 2022

Life Under the Antarctic Ice Shelf

One of the amazing things about our planet is its ability to support life. We find a diversity of living things on land, in the air, and under the oceans. Scientists have even found a variety of life under the Antarctic Ice Shelf.

Gerhard Kuhn and Raphael Gromig of Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute, a polar and marine research organization, drilled through the Antarctic ice shelf. After boring through 656 feet (200 m) of ice, they scooped up material from the seafloor another 328 feet (100 m) down. What they brought up surprised them. They turned the material over to David Barnes, a marine biologist with the British Antarctic Survey. He was so amazed that he said, “Is this a practical joke?”

Barnes was surprised that as he studied the sediment, he identified 77 different species of animal life in the material they extracted from a single drill hole. The species identified included bryozoans, which are stationary filter feeders, and tube-feeding worms. Barnes said, “This discovery of so much life living in these extreme conditions is a complete surprise…”

Filter-feeders feed on algae which require sunlight to grow. However, there is no sunlight to provide photosynthetic life under the Antarctic ice shelf. The explanation is that these creatures are feasting on microorganisms that the ocean currents sweep under the ice shelf. You could say the food is delivered to their doorstep.

Despite the cold and dark conditions, life survives in a location where fires, storms, or predators do not threaten it. The only thing that may threaten these creatures is the melting and breakup of the ice shelves. So, here in one of Earth’s least-known habitats, life survives. Like the scientists who discovered and studied these life forms, we are amazed. But, more than that, we thank God for wisely creating life with the ability to adapt and survive even in hostile environments.

References: Current Biology and Li v eScience.com

December 31, 2021December 31, 2021

Five Years with More to Come

With this article, we reach the milestone of five years with more to come on DoesGodExist.today. In our daily posts during that time, we have covered many topics. We have dealt with current events, moral issues, and design in the natural world. In addition, we have attempted to show evidence for design that demands a Designer.

You can find articles on a subject that interests you by using the “Search” box on this page. You can select all articles on a category topic using the “Categories” list. Our “Recent Posts” list allows you to go to any of the last dozen articles we published. Below that, you can go to the “Archives” to read articles we published in any month back to 2017. If you scroll to the bottom, you will find a form where you can choose to enter your email address to receive our weekly “Best Of” email. We send it out each Monday morning with links to our most popular postings from the previous week.

The “Best Of the Week from DOES GOD EXIST?” email includes not only the three best articles from this website but also the three best from our daily Facebook postings. Our Facebook page concentrates on design evidence in plants and animals. We often feature animals or plants that many people have not even heard of. We also bring out little-known design facts about the very familiar living things we see every day. You can find our page on Facebook at facebook.com/evidence4god. We have been doing daily posts on Facebook for seven years, ever since 2015.

You can help us continue this ministry in two ways. First, pray that we may reach people worldwide with the message that God exists and He loves us and has sent His Son to redeem us. Secondly, please share our posts on this page and our Facebook posts with your friends and acquaintances. We look forward to great things in 2022.