science Archives

April 8, 2024April 7, 2024

Weather Can Surprise Us But Eclipses Do Not

Today is the day of the 2024 total solar eclipse in North America. People have traveled to locations where they can view it, and great crowds will gather in many locations. For many, it will be a thrill to watch. For others, it will be a disappointment because of the weather. Despite improvements in weather radar and computer data, weather can surprise us, but eclipses do not.

In 1970, a total eclipse was predicted to cross Perry, Florida. Although the town had only about 8,000 residents, the Perry Chamber of Commerce wanted to promote its location for eclipse watching. They ran print ads saying that Perry was “in the center of the eclipse,” and the long-term weather data indicated there would be a 70% chance of clear skies with a temperature of 72 degrees on eclipse day. That advertising convinced more than 25,000 people to come to Perry to view the eclipse.

Among the people who flocked to Perry were scientists from around the world who came with cameras and equipment. While tourists came to enjoy the eclipse, scientists came to study the Sun and its corona, which is only visible during a total eclipse. Swiss astronomer Max Waldmeier, director of the Zurich Observatory, brought a research team. The eclipse happened as predicted. However, the sky was densely overcast. Waldmeier and his team were bitterly disappointed as they packed their equipment to return home.

If we learn one thing from this, it is that weather can surprise us, but eclipses do not. What can we learn from eclipses? By studying total eclipses, scientists confirmed Einstein’s theory that gravity bends light waves. This led to the creation of accurate Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Also, total eclipses allow scientists to study the Sun’s corona and observe solar flares. For average people, eclipses show us that God’s creation is predictable and observable.

Everywhere we look, creation displays evidence of a wise Creator. The total eclipse also reminds us that we depend on the Sun. We can survive for a few minutes while it is hidden, but we depend on it for life daily. Likewise, we depend on God to supply the very things we need to survive each day. How often do we recognize that fact and show our gratitude for those blessings?

Reference: space.com

April 6, 2024April 5, 2024

There Is No Experience Like a Total Solar Eclipse

On Monday, April 8, 2024, millions will see a rare occurrence as a total solar eclipse travels across North America. Those living outside the totality path will see a partial eclipse, but, as we said yesterday, it won’t be the same. There is no experience like a total solar eclipse.

April 8 will bring in the “new moon” when the Sun, Moon, and Earth line up, with the Moon in the center. The Moon will block light from the Sun, creating a shadow that will travel across the Earth’s surface. The shadow will be about 9,000 miles long, 115 miles wide, and traveling at a speed exceeding 1500 miles per hour. If you are in the total shadow (the umbra), you will experience the total eclipse. Most of the United States will be under the outer shadow (the penumbra), and people living there will experience a partial eclipse.

I said there is no experience like a total solar eclipse. Eclipse watchers outside the path of totality will see a portion of the Sun obstructed by the Moon, with less obstruction farther from totality. People may also see a reduction in the light level, which is more significant near the totality path. Near the path, they may also notice a slight decrease in temperature. Let’s compare that with the experience of totality.

We emphasize that you must never look directly at the Sun without using approved solar eclipse glasses. If you are outside of totality, you must always use them when viewing the eclipse. However, during the brief minutes of totality, when the Moon completely obscures the Sun, you can take them off. In fact, you should take them off to see the Sun’s beautiful corona. That corona is one of the reasons why there is no experience like a total solar eclipse.

During totality, the darkness will be like deep twilight with a noticeable drop in temperature. You may hear night-time sounds as birds and other animals take on twilight behavior. Since the Sun is currently in a very active stage, you may see pinkish solar flares along with the corona. Some of the brighter stars or planets may become visible.

If you are on the edge of the shadow or as the Moon starts to move away from totality, the light you see may be affected by the mountains and valleys on the Moon. The effect is called Baily’s beads, as beads of light become visible between the Moon’s geological features. At the moment the Moon begins to move away from total coverage of the Sun, you may see an effect called the “diamond ring” as the Moon’s mountain features allow a larger bead of light to emerge. I took the above picture of the diamond ring during the 2017 eclipse.

I want to emphasize that there is no experience like a total solar eclipse. Actor William Shatner, Captain Kirk of the original Star Trek series, is scheduled to appear in the Hoosier Cosmic Celebration at Indiana University in Bloomington on eclipse day. He said, “To me, the magic of the eclipse, the extraordinary events it all took in the heavenly bodies to cause this eclipse, should make us ponder the mystery of existence, of our own existence, of the existence of everything else…”

I agree with Shatner’s words, but I would go further. The eclipse should cause us to ponder the existence of God, who created the heavenly bodies and put them in motion. It should also cause us to ponder the purpose of our own existence and our relationship to the Creator.

References: Space.com and GreatAmericanEclipse.com

April 5, 2024April 5, 2024

The 2024 Solar Eclipse Is a Rare Event

On Monday, April 8, 2024, millions in North America will see a rare occurrence. A total solar eclipse will travel from the Pacific Coast of Mexico, crossing Mexico, the United States, and Canada until it exits into the Atlantic Ocean. There are good reasons why the 2024 solar eclipse is a rare event.

If the sky is clear, people will see a partial eclipse over the entire United States. However, 40 million people live inside the 115-mile-wide (185-km) path where the eclipse will be in total, with 31 million of those in the United States. Millions more will travel to the path of totality for this rare experience. The 2024 solar eclipse is a rare event because of the width of the shadow and the population centers it will include.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves between the Sun and the Earth, a time called the “new moon.” When the alignment is exact, the Moon will cast a moving shadow on our planet. The total eclipse on April 8 will be the longest in 100 years. It will also travel a path that will make it visible to more people in the United States than ever before. The last total solar eclipse to traverse the United States was in 2017. It lasted about two-and-a-half minutes in some areas, but this one will last longer, up to about four-and-a-half minutes.

The next total solar eclipse visible in the United States will be in 2033, but it will be visible only in Alaska. After that, there will be one in 2044, visible just before sunset in Montana and North Dakota. The next coast-to-coast total solar eclipse will be on August 12, 2045, going from California to Florida.

It’s easy to see why the 2024 solar eclipse is a rare event. It is also predictable. God has created an orderly universe that allows life to exist on this planet. This orderliness also enables us to study and learn from creation. It allows us to accurately predict eclipses hundreds or a thousand years into the future.

Eclipses are natural events. Despite what you might hear, they are not supernatural prophetic signs of Christ’s return or catastrophic world events. They are evidence of God’s creative power. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…”

If you haven’t seen a total solar eclipse, you have missed a rare treat. Even 99% cannot compare to totality. Tomorrow, we will explain the difference between experiencing a partial and total eclipse.

References: Space.com and GreatAmericanEclipse.com

April 3, 2024April 2, 2024

Unique Pollination System of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Most plants must be pollinated to reproduce, but their methods vary enormously, sometimes involving wind, birds, animals, or insects. However, the unique pollination system of the jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum ) depends on fungus gnats.

The jack-in-the-pulpit’s hood resembles pitcher plants that capture and digest insects. Unlike its carnivorous counterparts, this plant uses insects, particularly fungus gnats, for pollination. It lures and ensnares these gnats by emitting a mushroom-like fragrance they find irresistible. The male flowers, blooming first, attract the gnats, which then become dusted with pollen. They manage to escape through a small hole, perfectly sized for a gnat but too small for larger insects.

The female flowers bloom next, and the gnats carry the pollen to the flower of another jack-in-the-pulpit. This cross-pollination prevents in-breeding for healthier plants. The female flowers don’t have an escape hole, so after the gnats pollinate the flowers, they are trapped and die. But, before the gnats die, they lay their eggs inside the jack-in-the-pulpit. The larvae that hatch from the eggs eat the jack-in-the-pulpit’s blossom as it decays. When the hood of the plant withers, the adult fungus gnats fly away so they can pollinate more jack-in-the-pulpits.

This unique pollination system of the jack-in-the-pulpit assures the continued survival of the plant and the gnats while controlling the gnat population. The complexity of this system shows design rather than random chance. The more we know of the creation, the more we can see the design skill and wisdom of the Creator.

References: ScienceNews and Wikipedia

April 2, 2024April 1, 2024

Hummingbird Navigation System

The flying ability of hummingbirds is an exciting example of design in living things. Hummingbirds can move with remarkable speed, hover, fly in all directions, including backward and upside down, and even do flips. Scientists have exhaustively studied their wing shape, attempting to copy it for possible aircraft design. Not only is the design of their wings and muscles amazing, but recent studies show that scientists don’t fully understand the hummingbird navigation system.

Many animals use “pattern velocity,” which depends on visual cues, to adjust their speed and position while in motion. Researchers tried to confuse the hummingbird navigation system by giving them false visual cues. They projected moving patterns onto the walls of a tunnel the birds were flying through to reach a bird feeder. The birds based their flight commands on the projected patterns when hovering or moving up or down. However, when flying forward, they seemed to have an internal speedometer that did not depend on the visual cues.

If you have watched them fly in a storm, through a tree, or through other obstacles, you have seen the amazing hummingbird navigation in operation. A hummingbird’s complex brain design enables it to switch rapidly from visual clues to its own motor responses. This research on hummingbird navigation can help improve drone flight technology. Scientists have discovered much in the design of living things to enhance human technology. To believe that these apparent designs are merely blind mechanistic chance requires a leap of faith that has little evidential support.

In Job 38-39, God challenges Job with a list of mysteries of creation. That list includes questions about birds, including ostriches, hawks, and eagles (Job 39:13, 26-27). Today, we look at birds all over this planet and find that the hummingbird navigation system challenges our understanding, but we can wonder at its design and learn from it.

Reference: Scientific American, April 2024, page 11.

March 25, 2024March 24, 2024

Faith in God Brings Healing

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing that nearly 50,000 people died by suicide in the U.S. in 2022. That is a 3% increase over 2021 and the highest recorded number. In a CNN Opinion article, Carrie Sheffield reported that, along with other data, “scientific evidence suggests faith in God brings healing.”

For example, the Harvard University School of Public Health released data showing that 68% of women and 33% of men attending weekly religious services are less likely to die “deaths of despair,” which would include suicide, drug overdose, or alcohol poisoning. Also, the National Bureau of Economic Research found that states with decreased religious participation had increased deaths of despair.

Furthermore, the “Psychiatric Times” reported that two-thirds of 93 observational studies showed lower rates of depressive disorder symptoms in religious people. Boston University researcher Brian Grim reported that 84% of scientific studies show faith is a positive factor in addiction prevention or recovery.

Those of us who have worked with young people from rough family situations have seen that those who survive are usually the ones who find a faith connection, offering a positive alternative to the drug and sex culture. You can’t discount the fact that faith in God brings healing in overcoming dysfunctional family experiences.

Carrie Sheffield wrote a book on her faith journey titled “Motorhome Prophecies: A Journey of Healing and Forgiveness.” Ms. Sheffield grew up in a highly dysfunctional home and became a “bitter agnostic.” She received a scholarship that allowed her to earn a master’s degree from Harvard. After many experiences in business, she became what she calls a “Protestant Christian” in 2017. In telling her story, Ms. Sheffield says that the biggest hurdle she had to overcome was “comprehending the difference between human religious abuse and healthy faith in God.”

We believe Ms. Sheffied is correct that scientific evidence suggests faith in God brings healing from life’s bad experiences. A biblical connection to God and understanding the teachings of Christ will help people cope with life and the collateral damage of their past.

Reference: “I survived a nightmare childhood. God and science gave me a better life” by Carrie Sheffield in CNN Opinion’s Newsletter for March 13, 2024.

March 22, 2024March 20, 2024

Studying Fish Sounds

Science News magazine reported that virtually all fish produce sounds that can be received and interpreted by other fish of their species. While researchers have cataloged over 1,000 fish sounds, the largest group of bony fish contains more than 34,000 species. There is much more work to do in studying fish sounds.

Fish generate sounds differently from humans. They can click bony structures together, contract specific muscles to drum a gas-filled swim bladder, vibrate stretched tendons in fins like a guitar, or even expel gas from their rear ends. Audrey Looby of the University of Florida Nature Coast Biological Station in Cedar Key describes fish as having “probably the greatest diversity of sound-producing mechanisms across the tree of life.”

Fish hear through tiny stones in their heads that move in response to sound vibrations, triggering signals to the brain. They also have special cells running down their bodies that detect motion and sound waves in the water. The uses of sound among fish are still being sorted out. Fish use sound to attract mates and to tell males where the eggs are and when they need to be fertilized. Fish also indicate distress, warning other fish of danger or scare a predator away. Fish use sound to mark territories and to warn other fish who would invade their territory.

There are many practical reasons for studying fish sounds. Knowing how fish use sounds is essential to understanding how they are affected by human sounds in the water. This knowledge also helps us study fish migrations and determine fish populations.

For those who believe God has built into all life the things needed for survival, it should be no surprise that fish use sounds. It may be that Jesus used fish sounds when He summoned fish for Peter to catch in John 21:5-6. Jesus created all things, including fish. (See John 1:1-2 and 14.) There were several instances in the life of Jesus when fish responded to His bidding, even for the payment of taxes (Matthew 17:27).

When studying fish sounds or any aspect of creation, we see God’s wisdom and design. Romans 1:20 tells us we can know God by the things He has made, but each discovery increases our understanding of how awesome God is.

Reference: “What Does the Fish Say?” in the March 9, 2024 issue of Science News, pages 18 -23

March 21, 2024March 20, 2024

Ant Antibiotic Treatment

Researchers at the University of Wurzburg in Germany have discovered that a species of African ants make antibiotics and treat the infections of their wounded comrades. The species studied is Matabele ants (Megaponera analis)in sub-Saharan Africa. Their diet consists of termites. The ants raid termite nests to get their food, but the termite soldiers fight back with their powerful mandibles. Many ants are wounded, and some wounds become infected and require an ant antibiotic treatment.

Healthy ants pick up their wounded comrades and carry them back to the nest to treat their infected wounds. The ants create an antibiotic substance in a gland on the side of their thorax. Researchers found that the wound treatment reduced mortality rate by 90%. Can humans learn from this ant antibiotic treatment?

Proverbs 6:6 says, “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise.” The writer of Proverbs was primarily concerned with food gathering, but God programmed a set of survival instructions into the ant’s DNA. Researchers say that the primary pathogen in the ant’s wounds is a leading cause of infections in humans, so this study may lead to the development of improved antibiotics.

Humans have much to learn about maintaining our existence on Earth, and every form of life has secrets to teach us. Learning what God has built into life is essential to answer major questions of medical science.

Reference: phys.org

March 20, 2024March 19, 2024

Earthquake Catastrophe Risk

The United States Geological Survey published a map showing the earthquake catastrophe risk in different parts of the country. This data comes from seismic records of 130,000 earthquakes of a magnitude on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale of six or higher, which is severe enough to frighten people, move furniture, and cause other damage, like falling plaster. Most of us know about some geologically unstable regions of the country, but other areas may be surprising.

The highest earthquake catastrophe risk within the next 100 years is essentially the whole western edge of California, the southern part of Alaska from Juneau through the Aleutians, and the eastern islands of Hawaii. Those areas with a 75 to 95% chance of a damaging earthquake include virtually all of California, the Yellowstone National Park area, and the intersection of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The study says that 230 million people live in areas with a 95% chance of a damaging earthquake.

The point of this data is that there will be a massive earthquake sometime in the next 100 years, causing death and structural damage. Many people will blame this coming catastrophe on God. The fact is that earthquakes are a natural product of the uplift of the land. Without those forces, erosion would have brought all land masses to sea level. Despite the data, humans continue to build huge structures in areas where earthquake catastrophe risk is high. This can be added to a long list of situations where humans set themselves up for a catastrophe.

My wife and I were on Hawaii’s “Big Island” when Kilauea erupted in May 2018. In one of the places we visited, lava flow had destroyed many homes. We happened across a man who was working on a new house. I asked him if he was not concerned that another lava flow might destroy this house. He laughed and said, “God wouldn’t do that to me twice.”

We need to understand that God does not cause bad things to happen to us. If you eliminate what humans do to each other and the foolish acts humans engage in (like building a house in the path of a lava flow or on an earthquake faultline), much human pain and suffering would stop. Read James 1:13-17.

Reference: U.S. Geological Survey HERE and HERE

March 19, 2024March 18, 2024

Analysis of the Bennu Asteroid Sample

In 2016, NASA launched a spacecraft to the asteroid Bennu with the goal of collecting a sample and returning it to Earth for analysis. The canister containing the sample material arrived back on Earth last year. Everything worked fine until scientists tried to open the canister. Thirty-two screws held the container closed, and two of them were stuck. Scientists were cautious not to contaminate the asteroid material with Earth molecules, so they had to develop a new tool to remove the stuck screws. On January 10, 2024, they succeeded in opening the canister to analyze the contents. Analysis of the Bennu asteroid sample gave interesting results.

Some people have suggested that creation occurred in various regions of the universe with different materials. Those who promote that idea have maintained that chance, not creative design, formed the cosmos. They predicted that material from outer space would contain different elements arranged differently from what we see on Earth. The Genesis account maintains that creation is a singular act of God, and Proverbs 8:22-30 indicates that He used wisdom in the creation.

The Bennu minerals contain no elements that don’t exist on Earth, and the rocks formed by those elements contain no surprises. They contain serpentinite formed from olivine and pyroxene. Those minerals are familiar to anyone who has taken a petrology course. Analysis of the Bennu asteroid sample shows evidence of being formed by ice made of carbon monoxide and ammonia. That requires extremely cold conditions, which could only exist far from the Sun. Temperatures needed to form carbon monoxide and ammonia ice do not exist on any of the inner planets. So, Bennu was formed in the outer solar system beyond Mars.

We still have much to learn about how the formation of the solar system, and this research may be more critical as humans venture beyond the Moon into outer space. Even the possibility of establishing human colonies on other planets will depend on what materials are available there. Analysis of the Bennu asteroid sample is only the beginning. The more we learn about the solar system, the more we realize the importance of the unique features of Earth. It also reminds us of how essential it is to care for the planet God has given us.

Reference: Science News, March 9, 2024, page 7.