science Archives

September 15, 2026September 14, 2026

Heart Cancer Is Rare

Heart cancer is rare. Skin cancer is the most common form, occurring in about one in five people during their lifetimes. Liver cancer affects about one in 100. However, heart cancer develops in only about one in 50,000 people. When it does occur, it usually does not begin in the heart but metastasizes from another area of the body.

The fact that heart cancer is rare is connected with the slow regeneration of heart cells. The body maintains itself by regenerating cells. When cells are damaged, the body replaces them automatically with new cells. When new cells are formed, mutations are possible, and sometimes mutations can cause the regeneration process to go beyond what’s necessary. When new cells continue to grow exponentially, they form masses, which we call malignancies.

The uncontrolled growth of these new cells takes over and robs the body of energy needed for other functions. The faster cells regenerate, the greater the chance of mutations, which increases the possibility of uncontrolled cell growth. When a person smokes or uses tobacco, it affects the lungs, throat, and mouth, causing damage to those tissues and prompting those cells to be regenerated. This increased regeneration raises the chance of mutations and cancer in those areas.

Heart cancer is rare, in part because heart cells regenerate very slowly. Less than half of the heart cells you had when you were born will be replaced during your lifetime. However, your skin cells regenerate completely in less than two months. The slow regeneration of heart cells is apparently a major reason why heart cancer is rare. In some animals, such as amphibians, heart cells regenerate much more quickly. In mammals and humans, regeneration is much slower. Instead of making new cells, the heart develops scar tissue. The trade-off is that the heart is durable and functional from birth to natural death in humans.

Skin cells regenerate quickly, which is good because skin is exposed and easily damaged. At the same time, it means there’s a greater danger of skin cancer. Other parts of your body that are mistreated in various ways, such as your lungs from smoking or your liver from alcohol, must regenerate damaged cells, resulting in an increased risk of cancer. God’s design of our bodies is truly amazing. Many of the health problems we face stem from our misuse of the gift God has given us. Being good stewards of God’s gifts benefits us in many ways, including a longer and healthier life.

Reference: popsci.com

September 14, 2026September 13, 2026

Jesus Was Not Forecasting the Weather

In Matthew 16:2, Jesus quoted a weather slogan that shepherds and sailors used. You have probably heard it as “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.” In the culture Jesus addressed, you might substitute “shepherds” for “sailors.” Although this proverb contains some truth, Jesus was not forecasting the weather.

Science explains that ancient slogan. A red sky appears when dust and small particles are trapped in a high-pressure area and scatter blue light, making red predominant. As the Sun sets in the west and, in the mid-latitudes, the prevailing winds are from the west, that indicates a high-pressure zone is on the way, bringing fair weather. A red sky as the Sun rises in the east indicates that the high pressure has moved on and a wet or windy low-pressure system may be approaching. But, as I said, Jesus was not forecasting the weather.

Jesus had just fed over 4,000 people by the Sea of Galilee with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish (see Matthew 15:29-38). Then He got into a boat and went across to Magadan on the other side of the lake. There, His adversaries, the Pharisees and Sadducees, tested Him by asking for a sign to prove that He was really from God. Jesus responded by quoting that weather proverb. Then He called them a “wicked and adulterous generation.” He told them that He would give them no sign except for “the sign of Jonah.” What is the sign of Jonah?

The point Jesus was making was that there would be a very special sign, a miracle, to show that He was from God. Jesus had performed many miracles, including the recent feeding of more than 4,000 people with a tiny amount of food. No sign was going to convince the Pharisees of His divine nature. The special sign to come would be the only miracle Jesus ever predicted in advance. Jesus was not forecasting the weather or trying to impress the Pharisees. Without further explanation, Jesus left the questioners and walked away.

But what is the sign of Jonah? Go back a few chapters to Matthew 12:38-40. Jesus had just restored a man who was blind and mute, but the Pharisees accused Him of doing this by the power of the devil. Unsatisfied with the miracle Jesus had just performed, they challenged Him, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.” Jesus replied that He would give them no sign “except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Then He explained what that sign is. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Jesus was predicting His resurrection from the grave. This was much more important than the daily weather. In both instances described in Matthew 12 and 16, Jesus had just performed a miracle when the Pharisees asked for a sign from heaven. Jesus knew they wouldn’t pay attention to any miracle He could show them. Only one miracle would impact Jesus’ disciples, making them fearless messengers who risked their lives to take the message of the resurrection to the world. There would be nothing the Pharisees and Sadducees could do to stop it. Neither can today’s enemies of Jesus Christ stop the message of the resurrection. Jesus was not forecasting the weather, but predicting something that would change the world.

Reference: metoffice.gov.uk

September 11, 2026September 10, 2026

Insects Are God’s Tools

One of my neighbors is a mechanical genius – he can fix anything. The secret to his success is that he has a tool for every situation. It is one thing to have a tool, and another to know how to find it. When he needs a screw with a special design, width, and length, he can go to a drawer full of screws and a tool rack full of screwdrivers and have exactly what he needs to do the job. Insects are God’s tools.

Recent studies have shown that scientists have vastly undercounted insect species. Entomologist Laura Melissa Guzman of Cornell University, writing in Science News, says that previous insect species counts of six million are way too low and that the actual count is at least 14 million species and may be as high as 20 million.

The question is why so many species exist, and the reason is that insects are God’s tools to sustain life on planet Earth. Insects serve in many ways. For example, flowers must be pollinated to produce seeds that will grow into new flowers. To pollinate flowers of various sizes and shapes, insects of various sizes and shapes are God’s tools for that purpose. While some insects have particular jobs, others help control insect populations. Scientists have identified over 2,400 species of parasitoid wasps that do this.

Like my neighbor, who has the right tool for every situation, insects are God’s tools for every situation. Guzman writes, “It’s humbling how much we don’t know and how much we have left to know.” Everywhere we look in the world, we see a wonder-working hand has gone before. Insects are another of the things God has created to enable life to exist on our planet.

Reference: Science News, September 2026, page 26

September 10, 2026September 9, 2026

What Are They If Not Insects?

Take this quiz to test your knowledge of living things. What are usually less than 6 mm long, have six legs like an insect, but are not insects? They come in various colors and shapes and live everywhere on Earth, including Antarctica. These tiny creatures can survive on the tallest mountains, in caves, underg r ound, in deserts, grasslands, and forests. The class Collembola includes more than 9,000 species. They can “fly” without wings and provide beneficial services for agriculture. What are they? They are springtails.

They are called “springtails” because they can “spring” into the air so fast that their motion can only be captured at 10,000 frames per second. That helps them quickly escape predators or change locations. Springtails accomplish this Olympic-style feat with a spring-loaded appendage called a furcula on their underside. You could think of it as a lever that stores elastic energy the springtail can release when needed. They keep the furcula tucked under their bodies when not in use, but at any moment they can release it and propel themselves forward and upward.

Springtails thrive in moist locations such as soil, leaves, and rotting wood. They shed their outer shells in warm temperatures, reducing their body size by 30% and giving them a survival advantage. Some springtail species are considered pests; however, most springtails benefit agriculture. Mycorrhizal fungi have a beneficial symbiotic relationship with plant roots. Springtails collect mycorrhizal fungi spores and spread them to other locations, benefiting more plants.

Not only do springtails transport beneficial fungi, but they also eat the spores of pathogenic fungi and the damaging vegetative parts of fungi called mycelia. Through these functions, springtails play a crucial role in controlling plant and fungal diseases. Plant scientists have realized that springtails can be integrated into greenhouses to limit fungal growth. These seemingly insignificant creatures benefit humans.

The next time you see tiny creatures in leaf matter or rotting logs launch themselves into the air, instead of wondering “what are they,” you will know that they are springtails. You will also know they are some of the planet’s most beneficial creatures, playing a role in the marvelous web of life. It is evident that a wise Designer created the system.

Reference: scienceandcultu r e.com

September 8, 2026September 7, 2026

Space Travel Takes Time

With so much talk about space travel, it’s easy to forget how vast the solar system and the universe are. In movies, spacecraft travel faster than light, which is impossible, and reach their destinations in minutes. In real life, space travel takes time.

It’s possible to reach the Moon in a few days; however, a future trip to Mars will take up to nine months. A round trip will take more than 3 years because the alignment of Earth and Mars creates a launch window about once every 26 months. Add nine months, nine months, and 26 months, and you get 44 months. How about traveling to Mercury? Two unmanned spacecraft are on the way and are expected to arrive in a few months.

Mercury is the least explored of our inner planets, but a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was launched in 2018. In April of next year, the two probes are scheduled to arrive near Mercury to gather observations. So, after eight years in space, the BepiColombo project will again demonstrate that space travel takes time.

On September 1, 2026, a nonprofit organization called the Fermi Explorer Mission (FEM) announced plans to send a probe toward Alpha Centauri by 2029. Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri are the closest stars to our Sun. But “close” is hardly the right word, since they’re actually 4.4 light-years away. Because spacecraft cannot reach light speed, this probe is expected to arrive in 80,000 years. If it launches in 2029, arrives 80,000 years later, gathers information, and sends a strong enough signal to be received on Earth, the signal will take 4.4 years to arrive.

If FEM’s plan works, will anyone be alive to receive the information it gathers? Space travel takes time, and human life spans are short. The Fermi Explorer Mission team is a nonprofit organization, and they’re asking for financial donations to get the mission off the ground. This is definitely a long-term investment.

Knowing that space travel takes time, I think God has given us a beautiful planet where we have been richly blessed. He has also given us a curiosity to want to know what’s out there. What is out there is a massive, incomprehensible universe that we will never fully explore or understand. We can also never fully understand God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—which we can clearly see in the things He has made (Romans 1:20).

Reference: Space.com

September 4, 2026September 2, 2026

Questions of Faith and Charles Darwin

The late priest, professor, and author, Dr. Stanley Yaqui, told about a 17-year-old German student who wrote to Charles Darwin with questions of faith. He was confused and filled with doubt after the death of a friend

The young student was W. Mengden, and his letter to Darwin said, “I make bold to ask you whether strong belief in your theory is compatible with belief in God?” Darwin replied that his theory was compatible with belief. Mengden was not satisfied with that answer, so he pressed the question further in a second letter. Again, not satisfied with Darwin’s reply, he wrote again, “I therefore come to you for the third time, asking and begging, so that your kind reply may provide a directive that tells me what I should believe… I know not where apart from you, I can get hold get hold of the truth… Please tell me, can one believe in Christ as described in the Bible?”

Thinking about his best friend’s recent death, Mengden further asked, “If you, however, are kind enough to be generous with your answer, would you please tell me what one should think about life after death and whether one should expect to meet others in afterlife?”

Because Darwin’s health was failing, his son Frances pinned the reply on his father’s behalf. He wrote, “I am much engaged, an old man, and out of health, and I cannot spare time to answer your questions fully, — nor indeed can they be answered. Science has nothing to do with Christ, except insofar as the habit of scientific research makes a man cautious in admitting evidence. For myself, I do not believe that there ever has been any revelation. As for future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities.”

As I read that correspondence from a young man seeking answers to some of life’s most important questions of faith, I can only think that Charles Darwin, a man who had given up his faith, would not be a good source for answers. All Darwin could say is that there are “conflicting vague probabilities.”

If you have questions of faith concerning the existence of God, the afterlife, and whether you can believe in Christ and the Bible, seek out the wisdom of a Christian who has a strong faith. And if you’re a Christian who can’t answer those questions, perhaps you need to study the scriptures and materials available from this ministry, along with information you can find on our websites. Christians should never fear questions, and we should never leave them unanswered.

For more information to answer these questions, see doesgodexist.org, doesgodexist.tv, and search the archives of this website, doesgodexist.today, or email jncdge@aol.com.

September 3, 2026September 2, 2026

Giants and the Laws of Physics

A recent animated movie depicting David and Goliath showed Goliath as enormous. How tall was Goliath? The Bible says Goliath was “six cubits and a span,” which is about nine feet nine inches (3 meters). That is a large man but within the realm of possibility. The tallest man in modern recorded medical history was Robert Wadlow, who, in 1940, was slightly under nine feet tall. The children’s story of Jack and the Beanstalk depicts a giant of enormous proportions. In Homer’s “Odyssey,” Odysseus meets the one-eyed giant Cyclops, who can pick up a person in one hand. Are these legendary giants depicted in movies and storybooks possible in real life? Let’s consider giants and the laws of physics.

In 1638, Galileo Galilei wrote a document arguing that the way giants were depicted in folklore would not be possible. A human’s bone structure supports that person’s weight and is geometrically designed for optimal function. If you scaled up a human while keeping the same proportions, the bones would be stronger. If you increased both cross-sectional bone dimensions by 10 times, the strength would increase by 10 times 10, so the bone would be 100 times stronger.

At the same time, however, the body’s volume would increase by 10 times. The increased mass would be 10 times 10 times 10. Bone strength scales with the square, while volume scales with the cube. In other words, the weight of the body would be 1000 times greater. You now have bones that are 100 times as strong, but they must support a body mass that’s 1000 times greater. The fact that the bone structure could not support the weight is the problem of giants and the laws of physics. Increasing the size of the human body would require a much larger increase in the bone structure. That is why the leg bones of elephants are proportionally much thicker than the leg bones of dogs and cats.

Sometimes movies depict flies or other insects becoming huge because of some science-fiction apparatus. But if a fly became larger than a human, keeping the leg thickness in proportion, the legs would not be able to support the creature. A fly increased to only ten times its normal size would weigh 1000 times as much and be unable to fly. If a water bug that walks on the surface were increased 10 times in size, it would sink because surface tension would not support 1000 times the weight. Again, giants and the laws of physics are not compatible.

On the other hand, what would happen if humans were scaled down, as shown in science fiction movies? If scaled down by a factor of 10, the miniature humans would have bones that are 100 times weaker, but they would weigh 1000 times less. They could potentially carry a much larger load relative to their size. That explains how ants can carry loads several times their weight.

The bottom line is that humans are designed to do what we need to do, and ants are designed to do what they need to do. Science fiction movies about enlarging insects or shrinking humans are purely fiction. Goliath was a giant by human standards, but he was not as large as depicted in the recent animated movie. Regardless of his size, David did not defeat Goliath by his own strength. He clearly said it was by the power of God. (See 1 Samuel 17:45.) David was victorious because he trusted the same God who designed humans and ants – and the laws of physics.

Reference: mit.edu

August 31, 2026August 30, 2026

The UFO/UAP Issue and the Media

Yes, this picture is fake.

The media brings up old UFO/UAP stories, making it sound like we are being invaded by aliens. Sometimes the media attempts to relate this subject to biblical accounts. In 2 Kings 2:11, when Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind, some suggest that it was an alien transportation beam. Isaiah 66:15 says the Lord is coming with fire like a whirlwind, and some claim it describes an alien spacecraft coming to kidnap people for food or entertainment. The book of Revelation is heavily quoted as a picture of aliens. Revelation 19:11 says, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.” This, they suggest, is the ancient humans’ understanding of aliens and their spacecraft. Some skeptics use the UFO/UAP issue to discredit the Bible.

Politicians who are not trained in science are very happy to open a hearing where economics and human rights are not involved. When the media resurrects the UFO/UAP issue, politicians jump in to get free media coverage. A classic example of media distortion of the UFO/UAP issue is a Time magazine article for August 17, 2026 (pages 50-54). Here are some common errors the media reports that appear in this article.

1) Sightings are not modern. Time’s leading claim is from August 11, 1948. Many old claims have either been disproven or cannot be studied.

2) There is money in claims. The movie “Disclosure Day” grossed 93 million dollars worldwide on its opening weekend alone. The claims concerning Area 51 in Roswell, New Mexico, mentioned in the Time article, are fraudulent, including the museum with alien figures.

3) The American government continues to promote the UFO/UAP issue to distract Americans from the failures of politicians to answer the real problems facing American citizens today. Avi Loeb, a Harvard astrophysicist and cosmologist, was subjected to congressional questions, but he didn’t give the answers the politicians wanted.

The truth is that there is no credible evidence that aliens are controlling what happens on planet Earth. We need to solve our own problems, and Jesus Christ has told us how to do it. Soliciting alien help is not an option.

Reference: Time Magazine, August 17, 2026, pages 50-54.

August 27, 2026August 18, 2026

Neuron Computing Power

For three decades, experiments have suggested that the dendrites connected to neurons in the brain can compute information on their own. That could explain the amazing neuron computing power that scientists have underestimated.

A team of researchers at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center used new voltage-imaging technology to record activity in the brains of mice. Each neuron has dendrites that branch out from it. In the past, scientists thought dendrites merely connected neurons, allowing information to move from one neuron to another. This research indicates that individual dendrites compute information. Rather than each neuron acting as a single processor, neurons are more like neural networks, with dendrites computing information on their own. They can serve as memory devices and compute information before it reaches the neuron cell, increasing the neuron computing power.

This new understanding of dendrite architecture as a tree-like network suggests our brains have more processing power than previously understood. Each neuron has more capabilities than previously known, and receiving input from its dendrites and thousands of neighbors allows our brains to achieve much in a relatively small space with minimal power consumption. At a time when people worry about the space and power needed to run huge data centers across the country, we realize we have an amazingly efficient data center in our heads.

Right now, your brain is reading this information, receiving input from your surroundings, generating conscious experience, and piloting your body, including all your internal organs. Your brain’s 86 billion neurons are aided in computation by sprawling branches of dendrites that are also performing computations, storing memory, receiving input, and sending output to the rest of the neural network. The textbook diagrams of neurons with only a few dendrites are not accurate representations of the neuron computing power in your brain.

Humans have not only this amazing, living computer, but we also have a soul at work guiding the computer software. Truly, we can say to God, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Reference: scientificamerican.com

August 26, 2026August 18, 2026

Moths Smell With Their Wings

Moth wings have a soft look because they are covered with sensitive hairs. These multifunctional hairs provide moths with flying stability, temperature regulation, and a sense of taste. Yes, moths taste with their wings, but a new study indicates that moths smell with their wings.

The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, was conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany. The researchers found that tobacco hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) have receptor proteins in their wings that detect both smells and tastes.

Examination with an electron microscope showed that some of the hairs are porous. Further analysis showed that the wings have genes for detecting scents. They can detect the odor of organic compounds present in the leaves of nightshade plants, where they prefer to lay their eggs.

Knowing that moths smell with their wings reminds us that the more we learn about God’s creation, the more we are amazed at the diversity of living things and the way each has been given what it needs to survive.

Reference: popsci.com