science Archives - DOES GOD EXIST? TODAY

June 4, 2025June 2, 2025

Genetic Difference Between Humans and Chimpanzees

The media has popularized the myth that the genetic difference between humans and chimpanzees is only 1%. Recent research shows that the variance is 15% or more. What we have here is the old graduate student mentality: “Make sure your data conforms to your conclusions.” If you are trying to prove that humans came from apes and that genetics supports that faith, you cannot accept the 15% data. The result is the popular 1% myth.

The Bible is silent on how God made the human body, stating only that He formed it “of the dust of the earth” (Genesis 2:7 and 3:19). These verses use the Hebrew word “yatsar,” meaning to form as a potter would shape a vase from clay. The Bible does not tell us how God formed the first human or how long He took to do it.

One thing is clear: both men and women are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). This refers to the human soul, not the physical body. God is a spiritual being, not a physical one. Humans are uniquely endowed with a soul, a spiritual component that distinguishes humanity from all other life on Earth. The human soul enables us to create music and art, to worship, and to develop the capacity for critical thinking. We are not driven by instinct as animals are.

Some physical components of the human body are similar to those of chimpanzees. Stereoscopic vision, an opposable thumb, and body hair are some genetic similarities. The fact that the genetic similarity between humans and chimpanzees is 85% should not be surprising, given that fruit flies share 60% of their genes with humans. God has used the best design in many features of all animal bodies.

What separates humans from animals is our spiritual makeup, not our genes. However, the 1% genetic difference between humans and chimpanzees is a myth.

References: Evolution News, the journal Nature, and wikipedia

June 2, 2025June 1, 2025

Why We Care About Entropy

As a high school physics teacher, I frequently found myself challenged to keep my students interested. Some subjects were easy, but others were challenging, and the kids became bored very quickly. An example of the latter was a unit on the laws of thermodynamics. The second law, also known as the entropy law, states that a closed system tends to become increasingly disordered over time. Entropy is a statistical measure of disorder. During that unit of study, I once had a student who said, “Who cares?” There are good reasons why we care about entropy.

My response is that entropy is a design feature of the cosmos that produces black holes, but it also allows us to breathe and have engines in our cars. As a public-school teacher, I could not bring my religious views into the classroom, but it also disproves one of the atheist arguments against the existence of God.

When we say that God has always existed and He created the cosmos, atheists ask, “Then who created God?” They suggest it is easier to believe that matter has always existed. Why we care about entropy is that it shows that matter and the cosmos have not always existed.

Every reaction in the physical world reduces the amount of energy available to do work. The total energy in the cosmos available to do work is constantly decreasing, eventually becoming zero, and entropy will be maximum. That means the cosmos could not be eternal, and it must have had a beginning. There must be a cause for that beginning, and that cause is God.

May 29, 2025May 28, 2025

Nighttime Pollinators Are Essential

There is considerable media discussion about the plight of bees, attributed to the use of insecticides and to climate change. The media overlooks the fact that bees and butterflies are primarily daytime pollinators. Of the approximately 350,000 flowering plant species, some depend on nighttime pollinators.

The long list of nighttime pollinators includes moths, cockroaches, beetles, slugs, snails, and bats. Many people consider them to be pests, especially cockroaches and beetles. For this reason, they target pollinators by applying chemicals to control them. The result is that desirable plants fail to reproduce and die out.

The answer to this problem is helping people understand the importance of being cautious about what they apply to their plants and why. Christians believe that God has designed all ecosystems, and good stewardship requires protecting what He has given us. People who reject God’s design for life are engaged in chemical warfare, in this case, against nighttime pollinators.

Reference: BBC.com “Where bees won’t go: The unloved pollinators of the underworld.”

May 27, 2025May 26, 2025

Ice Crawlers and Ice-Worms

As humans enjoy spring’s warmer weather, we are reminded of extremophiles that can only survive in the cold. They include ice crawlers and ice worms.

Ice crawlers (Grylloblatidae), also known as icebugs, are about an inch (3 cm) long. They are nocturnal, spend the daytime under snow, and then emerge at night to forage for dead insects and plant material blown by the wind. They live under logs and deep in crevasses in warmer weather to stay cold. Ice crawlers have no wings and only diminished eyes. Their optimal living temperature is 34-39 degrees F (1-4 C). Lower or much higher temperatures can kill them. They survive on glaciers and ice sheets.

Ice-worms (Mesenchytraeus), also called glacier worms, survive in glacial ice and eat algae and bacteria that live there. They spend their entire life cycle at 32 degrees F (0 C) or lower and will die if the temperature goes above that. These tiny worms move between the ice crystals using small bristles called setae.

Birds that live in high-altitude snow and ice fields feed on ice worms and ice crawlers. Snow buntings stay in the ice fields year-round, and other birds stop there during migration in the spring and fall.

Many years ago, my daughters and I were on a snowmobile trip in Jasper Provincial Park, Canada. We gazed down into a crevasse and marveled at the beautiful blue color, free of any dirt lines. It was so pure that the ranger guiding us gave us a cup of melted glacial ice to drink. He said a biologist told the park service that the melted glacial ice was safer to drink than distilled water. I questioned that statement, but now we know that ice crawlers and worms do an incredible job of keeping the snow and ice pure. There were birds all around us during that visit, but it was years later before I learned that birds like snow buntings exist.

God’s design of every part of Earth’s biosphere has unique conditions, requiring living things to have special equipment to survive there. The more we see the Earth’s varied environments, the more we see God’s wisdom and creation around us.

References: Wikipedia “Grylloblattidae” and “Ice Worm”

May 26, 2025May 25, 2025

Microplastics and Dementia

You may have noticed that dementia is much worse today than it was in the past. Part of that is probably due to people living longer, but life expectancy has not increased enough to fully explain the growth rate of dementia. Perhaps there is a connection between microplastics and dementia.

Researchers from the University of New Mexico have found an amazing correlation between dementia and the concentration of microplastics in human brains. A study of specimens from autopsies found that the brains of people with dementia had as much as five times more microplastics than normal brains. Comparisons of brain tissues from 2016 and 2024 show 50% higher concentrations in the 2024 samples.

Global plastic production doubles every 10 to 15 years, so the problem is only going to get worse. The human brain is designed with a barrier between blood vessels and brain tissue, but some people have weak blood-brain barriers. Skeptics suggest there is a design failure in the human brain because it evolved by chance over time. A better explanation involves human failure to protect our health.

The fact is that pollution is apparently a significant cause of dementia. Like cancer, brain problems are linked to human greed and a failure to use what God has given us as a tool for successful living. Reducing the flow of microplastics into the environment is going to be an uphill battle because cheap alternatives to plastics are not available. Meanwhile, more studies are needed on the connection between microplastics and dementia.

Reference: Nature Medicine at nature.com

May 23, 2025May 23, 2025

Male and Female Bodies are Different

“Failure to protect the female category in sports is one of the most egregious forms of violence against women and girls.” Those are the words of Reem Alsalem, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, who reported that female athletes have lost nearly 900 medals to males competing in the female category. The scientific fact is that the male and female bodies are different by design.

This website deals with evidence and promotes the concept that science and faith are friends, not enemies. Stating that since Genesis 1 says God made Eve from Adam’s rib, men and women are the same is a misunderstanding of the biblical message. We are all one spiritually, not physically. In Galatians 3:28, we read, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Obviously, that is not true physically, but it is true spiritually, so those who quote this passage to say that there should be unity in all sports are not understanding the Bible.

The fact is that male and female bodies are different by design. Males and females have different-sized muscles, pelvises, and skeletal structures. You will never see a female fullback in the NFL or a female center in the NBA. You will never see a male giving birth to a child, even if an embryo was in some way placed in a male.

This issue has become a political manipulation. The tragic end of medical techniques used to control hormones and surgically alter genitalia will become clear. Those who have had transgender medical procedures as children will realize that their life expectancies have been drastically reduced and their relationships terminated by a decision made when they were too young to understand the consequences.

Genesis 2:24 says, “A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” In Genesis 2:18, we read, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” God created woman to do what man could not do on his own. Trying to change what God created will not work because male and female bodies are different by design. God intended the sexes to work together, fulfilling the roles He gave them.

Data from: “Faith and Justice” newsletter of Alliance Defending Freedom, February 2025, page 3.

May 22, 2025May 20, 2025

I WAS an Atheist

Yesterday, we looked at John N. Clayton’s answer to the question, “Were you really an atheist?” He said, “I WAS an atheist,” and explained two points about why. He concludes here with two final points:

My third point is that you cannot scare faith into a person. I have heard people say, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” That is not true. I have seen atheists who went through the worst of combat experiences continue their belief that there is no God. I had a few experiences as an atheist where I thought my life was about to end, and it never scared me into believing in God.

What finally changed my parents’ belief system was their response to Christians who ministered unselfishly to them when they could no longer take care of themselves. An atheist views death as part of life. What does not make sense to an atheist is someone who sacrifices when there is no personal gain for themselves. Survival of the fittest can explain death, but it cannot explain altruistic service to others. When my wife and I decided to keep and raise a multi-handicapped baby we had adopted, my parents were enraged. Our action violated their position, producing a major breach in our relationship for many years.

My fourth point is that helping someone out of atheism is never a fast process. I was never in a church building or worship service of any kind until I was nearly twenty years old. Hearing words like “Jesus Christ” used in any way but profanity was very strange to me. Prayer was a meaningless waste of time in my view.

When science forced me to recognize that my atheistic assumptions about the cosmos were inadequate, I started doubting my atheism. It was seven years until I was finally willing to ask questions and share my struggles with someone else. My father was not willing to discuss his atheism until he was seventy years old and faced leukemia. My mother was ninety years old before she would rationally discuss the existence of God.

People do not get out of atheism overnight, but if they accept the evidence and get to know God, their faith will be on fire like no person of inherited faith will ever be. I WAS an atheist because I inherited that belief system. Now I have my own faith, which is supported by evidence that I can see, and it is much better and more fulfilling.

May 21, 2025May 20, 2025

Were You Really an Atheist?

Were you really an atheist? People have asked this question incredulously, as if they couldn’t believe someone like me existed. Some will say, “I don’t think atheists really exist.” I have four points in answer to this challenge.

My first point is that I was an atheist for the same reason many people are believers. I inherited my atheist faith. Most Catholics are Catholic because they were born into a family with that conviction. My parents were atheists, so that is what I was. They indoctrinated me to believe that religion is a destructive and ignorant system that no intelligent person would believe. Ask yourself why you are what you are religiously. If you are what your parents were, is it because you have studied it and know it to be true, or have you just accepted the family faith as the line of least resistance?

My second point is that I did not doubt that there was no God. My only exposure to religion was negative, and my parents took advantage of every opportunity to reinforce the belief that religion was wrong and destructive. My father taught for several years at Talladega State Teachers College, an all-black school in Talladega, Alabama. I remember crosses burning in our front yard. I remember doctors refusing to give us quality medical treatment because of my father’s occupation. I remember my mother being refused service in a restaurant because we were sitting with a black member of the college faculty. Every time something like that happened, I was told that the prejudice was due to religion.

When newspapers carried the story of a religious figure doing something wrong, my parents told me that is what religion produces. Today, there are many examples of actions by religious people doing things that reflect badly on religion. That is why our ministry focuses entirely on scientific evidence for God, not on what “religious” people do. Many of today’s atheists are former Christians or even ministers of churches. They have seen people who are supposed to be Christians do destructive things, and they have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

These two points are adapted from John N. Clayton’s book Frequently Asked Questions © 2007. John has two more points in answer to the question “Were you really an atheist?” We will look at those tomorrow.

May 19, 2025May 18, 2025

Upside-Down Trees – the Baobabs

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 16, 2025May 13, 2025

Take It Easy and Live Longer

It’s an animal that can live for 500 years. The ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) is a clam native to the North Atlantic. They exemplify the slogan “Take it easy and live longer.”

The ocean quahogs living in deep, cold waters farther north live the longest. Those in the southern areas tend to have much shorter lives. Since these mollusks add one growth line to their shells each year, it’s possible to determine the age by counting the lines. The oldest reported specimen found in 2006 was 507 years old. That means this clam began its life shortly after Columbus discovered the Americas. Who knows how much longer it might have lived if it had escaped capture.

Ocean quahogs and a few other animals, such as tortoises, have a quality that scientists call “negligible senescence.” What that means is they don’t show signs of aging. Scientists are still trying to discover the factors that allow some animals to live long lives without apparent aging.

We suggest that one factor is obvious. “Take it easy and live longer” is demonstrated by the long-lived creatures with an unhurried and unstressed lifestyle. Perhaps we can learn something from that. The Creator had a reason for setting aside a time of rest.