science Archives

November 22, 2024November 18, 2024

Humuhumunukunukuapua’a

Hawaii’s state fish is the humuhumunukunukuapua’a. The scientific name is Rhinecanthus rectangulus, but people call them humuhumu for short. This is a species of triggerfish, and the design complexity of these fish defies any chance formation.

The name Humuhumunukunukuapua’a means “a triggerfish with a pig’s snout.” These fish eat lobsters, sea urchins, and snails. They can blow water jets from their mouths to find these foods under sand. The triggerfish name comes from having a “trigger” that locks their dorsal fin in the up position to prevent a predator from extracting them when they hide in a small crevice.

A four-bar linkage mechanism links the humuhumu’s skeleton to its jaws. That gives it a powerful mechanical bite needed to capture its hard-shelled prey. Engineers study the humuhumu to see how humans can assemble and use such structures. This bone-cartilage mechanical linkage defies any step-by-step evolutionary assembly process, and there is no evolutionary precursor to triggerfish.
Like all the examples of design in the natural world, the humuhumunukunukuapua’a strongly supports the biblical statement that we can know there is a God through the things He has made (Romans 1:20).

— John N. Clayton © 2024
References: Waikiki Aquarium, YouTube Deep Marine Scenes, Wikipedia, and “Evolution of Levers and Linkages in the Feeding Mechanisms of Fishes” in Integrative and Comparative Biology.

November 20, 2024November 18, 2024

What Is the Evidence for Vaccines?

This ministry is dedicated to the proposition that science and faith are friends, which requires looking at evidence. We mean objective physical evidence, not tabloid claims or religious tantrums. So, what is the evidence for vaccines? Vaccines can indeed cause an allergic reaction, but so can eating wheat in some individuals. In fact, eating wheat products has killed a few people.

In 2022, children in South Sudan were dying from measles. The government began a vaccination campaign in 2023, and medical workers there now tell us that measles is almost totally unknown. The Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C., says that in the past 50 years, the measles vaccine saved nearly 94 million lives. The oldest weekly peer-reviewed medical journal in the world is The Lancet, founded in 1823 in England. In May 2024, the Lancet said vaccines against the 14 common pathogens have saved 154 million lives over the past five decades – six lives every minute. Vaccines have reduced global Infant mortality by 40%.

The shining light of vaccines is the smallpox vaccine, which British physician Edward Jenner developed in 1796. Before that time, smallpox killed millions of people, and others were left with scars, infertility, blindness, and crippling. Abraham Lincoln and Mozart both survived smallpox. A worldwide vaccination campaign by the World Health Organization eradicated smallpox in 1977.

The big issue in South Sudan right now is malaria, which killed 7000 people in 2022. Children are especially vulnerable to malaria, and parents are doing extraordinary things to get their children vaccinated. What is the evidence for vaccines? They help save lives.

God did not cause these diseases. Human error, ignorance, greed, and selfishness all increase them, but God has given us tools to combat horrible diseases. I remember when polio was killing my friends and classmates in the 1950s and how eager I was to get the Sauk vaccine, which stopped that plague. Christians must be on the front lines of ensuring that vulnerable people can get vaccinations.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: “The Staggering Success of Vaccines” in Scientific American, November 2024.

November 19, 2024November 18, 2024

E-cigarettes Have Created a Teen Vaping Problem

As America moves away from God, young people are desperately searching for a substitute for the peace that faith brings. Since they came on the market in 2007, e-cigarettes have created a teen vaping problem. When a person inhales vapor laced with nicotine, the drug is quickly absorbed through the blood vessels and can reach the brain in as little as 10 seconds. This rapid absorption means that addiction comes very quickly.

Roughly 2.8 million young people use tobacco products, according to The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control. One in four of those using e-cigarettes say they use them every day. Data on long-term use of e-cigarettes is limited. Young people assume that vaping is safer than cigarettes, but frequently, other toxic chemicals are in the ingredients.

The 2023 Verkada Teen Vaping Survey of 2,650 Americans found that 96% of teenagers who vape view it as a problem, and 61% consider themselves addicted. More than half (54%) of the teens expressed a desire to quit vaping. The Vercada survey also found that 9 out of 10 teachers reported vaping to be disruptive to learning environments. When users who vape don’t have access to nicotine, they become agitated and sometimes belligerent. Anger management becomes an issue. This causes school attendance problems and conflicts with the students’ families. It’s also an issue for the Church as many teens who vape find it hard to participate in teen classes or activities.

Christians must learn about the dangers of nicotine and alcohol. In the New Testament, we find Christ and the apostles warning repeatedly about the dangers of the world, and vaping joins the list of world agents that bring addiction, heartbreak, conflict, and death. Help for teen vaping addiction is available at THIS LINK.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: “The Problem Clouding the Classroom” in the NEA Magazine for October 2024, pages 38-41.

November 18, 2024November 17, 2024

God Reveals Himself in Two Ways

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork” (Psalms 19:1 KJV). That is how the psalm begins with a Hebrew parallelism where the same thought is repeated in slightly different words. The word translated “firmament” is sometimes translated as “sky.” Literally, the Hebrew word means “expanse.” As we look up at night, we see beyond what we usually call the “sky” and observe the “expanse.” We see God’s glory and handiwork in the things He has made. (See also Romans 1:20.) But an essential truth in Psalm 19 is easily overlooked. It tells us that God reveals Himself in two ways.

In that first verse, the Hebrew word David uses for God is “El.” The ancient Middle Eastern people used that word to refer to a generic “god.” The Jews used it to refer to the Creator. Read the first six verses of that psalm, and you will see the psalmist says that twenty-four hours a day, the visible physical creation reveals knowledge of God and speaks of Him without using words. He says that this natural revelation of the Creator is available to everyone worldwide at all times.

Something changes in verse 7 when David begins to speak of God’s law–His divine revelation. In that verse, the word for God becomes “Yahweh.” The psalmist no longer uses the generic term known to all but the personal name revealed to Moses. (See Genesis 3:14.) In the following verses, David speaks of how God’s law revives the soul, imparts wisdom, brings enlightenment, and is greatly to be desired. God reveals Himself in two ways.

The point is that God is clearly revealed in His creation, but only in His written word can we fully know His will and plan for us. The cosmos, physics, chemistry, biology, and life all point us to “El,” an intelligent Creator. However, to fully know “Yahweh” the “I Am,” we turn to the written word. Some people refuse to accept the evidence of God in creation and call themselves atheists or, at best, agnostics. Others recognize that the creation indicates a Creator and adopt a theistic view but go no further.

The point is that we need to recognize that God reveals Himself in two ways. Go beyond the generic and lame concept of “the man in the sky.” Recognize that God has revealed Himself in the Bible and most clearly in Jesus Christ. The Creator loves us, and He conquered death by dying for us. (See John 1:1-14 and the rest of the gospels.) Our lives can only be complete when we accept God’s natural and written revelations.

November 14, 2024November 11, 2024

Thoughts About Dandelions

You may not have kind thoughts about dandelions, but they are actually useful plants for animals and humans. The name “dandelion” comes from the French “dent de lion,” meaning lion’s tooth, referring to the coarsely-toothed leaves. Until the 1800s, people would pull grass from their lawns to make room for dandelions and other beneficial “weeds” like chickweed, Malva, and chamomile.

Here are some reasons for saying that dandelions are useful:

#1. Birds, insects, and butterflies consume nectar or the seeds of dandelion.
#2. Honey from bees pollinating dandelions is quite delicious.
#3. Dandelion root can be used as a substitute for coffee.
#4. Dandelion is used in folk medicine to treat infections and liver disorders.
#5. Dandelion tea is a diuretic.
#6. Dandelions can be used to make dye.
#7. Every part of a dandelion, including roots, leaves, and flowers, can be used for food.

Dandelions remind us of three celestial bodies—the Sun, Moon, and stars. The yellow flower resembles the Sun, the puff ball resembles the Moon, and the dispersing seeds resemble the stars. A gust of wind often transports away dandelion seeds, which travel like tiny parachutes as far as five miles from their origin!

Whatever your thoughts about dandelions, whether you like them in your lawn or not, they are, quite possibly, the most successful plants, masters of worldwide survival, and part of God’s design of living things.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Our thanks to Joe Kramarz for this data.

November 11, 2024November 7, 2024

Saturn Launched a Comet

Among the many evidences for design in our solar system are the outer gas-giant planets that protect Earth from comets. We have seen Jupiter draw in a comet, break it into multiple pieces, and then swallow it. If Jupiter had not stopped that comet in the outer reaches of our solar system, it could have been catastrophic to our planet. Astronomers have recently learned that Saturn launched a comet out of the solar system.

In June 2014, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) discovered a comet they call A117uUD. Looking through previous images of the comet, they were able to “wind back” the history of its solar orbit. They found that in 2022, it came close enough to our second-largest planet (the one with the famous rings) that Saturn’s gravity grabbed it and flung it away from us. Now, it’s traveling out of the solar system at 6,710 miles per hour (10,800 km/hr).

A117uUD is the second comet astronomers have seen a gas-giant planet launch into deep space. In 1980, Jupiter sent comet C/1980 E1 (Boswell) on a path out of the solar system. What would happen if a comet invaded our solar system and the outer planets, with their massive gravity, were not there to send it on a detour? How long would our planet survive? What if Jupiter and Saturn were not available to swallow, destroy, or re-route a destructive comet?

When Saturn launched a comet into the wild black yonder, it caused no danger to Earth’s inhabitants. We can be thankful that the solar system is well-designed for us to survive. Does design indicate an accident or a Designer?

Reference: space.com

November 7, 2024November 4, 2024

Blind Cave Fish Find Food

How is bat guano controlled in caves, and how do blind cave fish find food? Like all natural balances, there is a relationship between these two questions.

With vast numbers of bats in caves, over many years, their droppings could fill the caves if there were no natural ways to reduce the volume. Dr. Josh Gross at the University of Cincinnati has discovered that blind cave fish actually eat bat guano. It provides food for the fish, which would otherwise have nothing to eat.

What the fish get from the guano depends on what kind of bats live in the cave. Fruit bats will have some sugar in their guano, and bats that eat insects will have some protein in theirs. The next question is, how do the fish find the guano that will nourish them? The answer is that the fish have taste buds under their chin and on top of their heads.

The fish avoid destructive bacteria that might be in the guano because some of the taste buds can detect lactones in the bacteria that would taste bitter. These taste buds are called tuft cells, and in addition to harmful bacteria, they can detect dust mites and mold.

Everywhere we look in the natural world, even in the darkest caves, we see God’s design and handiwork, even in how blind cave fish find food. Romans 1:20, “We can know there is a God through the things He has made,” has special meaning when we see examples like this.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
References: “A Matter of Taste” in Scientific American for November 2024, page 16 and Nature Communications Biology

November 6, 2024November 4, 2024

The Accents of Their Mothers

According to an article in American Scientist magazine, newborns cry in the accents of their mothers. They differ in their cries when they are first born, and this translates into speech later on. In the seventh week of pregnancy, the unborn baby begins to move and discover its body and world. The abortion issue is incredibly complex.

Doctors have told me that babies react emotionally to sounds that have been a part of the mother before the baby’s birth. If a woman has been abused by her husband during pregnancy, the child will scream and move away from the husband after birth. A mother singing to the baby in her womb will find that those same songs will calm the child after birth.

Many years ago, as a graduate student at Indiana University, I was privileged to attend a concert for music majors by the violinist Isaac Stern. During a break in his music, he introduced a tune that he called a mystery melody. The story goes that Stern was playing a piece while his mother was listening. She asked him where he got the piece, and Stern said he didn’t know. His mother said, “I wrote it when I was carrying you and played it over and over, but I didn’t save it, and it was never published.” Stern played it to honor his mother.

Stories like this one are numerous and remind us that a human embryo is not just an extension of the mother’s body. Morning sickness happens because the woman’s body recognizes there is a foreign object in her. We know that unborn babies are aware and react to what is going on in the outside world. Late-term babies will fight the intrusive medical hardware being used to do an abortion. Now, we know that newborns cry in the accents of their mothers.

The abortion issue is incredibly complex, but the “woman’s right to choose” argument has the wrong timeline. She chooses whether to have a child or not when she enters a sexual relationship. Denying that the baby is a human flies in the face of all the evidence.

Discarding God’s moral laws is the root of the abortion issue and also the complex end-of-life issues. The slippery slope is real, and we must discuss what we want our society to be like in the future. Survival of the fittest started with Darwin, and we see it today in these issues.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: “Baby Talk” in American Scientist magazine for November/December 2024, pages 368-374

November 5, 2024November 4, 2024

The Design of Cacti

There are 1,500 known species of cacti on our planet, and many live in places so dry and hot that it is hard to imagine any life surviving. Cacti can branch out as massive trees or be small enough to fit on a penny. Scientists are studying the design of cacti to find ways to apply their ability to survive heat and conserve water.

The saguaro cactus, which grows in the Sonoran desert of Arizona, California, and Mexico, can retain hundreds of gallons of water. These plants have pleats that expand to hold the water when rain comes. Saguaro cactus flowers bloom from mid-April to mid-June. They boom only once at night and close the next day, protecting them from the Sun’s intense heat. The flower buds are on the crown of the cactus and bloom in a counterclockwise migrating pattern from the east to the north, giving them more shade as the season becomes hotter.

Saguaros have a unique way of photosynthesis. Most plants lose water as they open their pores to absorb carbon dioxide. Saguaros do not open their pores until after sundown. Then, they absorb carbon dioxide and convert it into malic acid, which they store in their cells for the next day. The design of cacti shows great wisdom and efficiency in the use of resources.

Copiapoa cacti thrive in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, the driest nonpolar desert on Earth. Most copiapoa cacti are 5 to 6 inches in diameter and covered with spines. Every morning, as fog sweeps in from the sea, water condenses on the spines and skin of these plants. The spines have a series of tiny grooves that broaden at the base, enabling the cactus to channel moisture into itself. Scientists are looking at the possible use of this design for dew-collecting in areas with water shortages.

As scientists study cacti, they look for ways to use their hot and dry climate adaptations to solve some of the problems agriculture faces with extreme heat. Biomimicry is a process in which we study the plants and animals God created and use what we learn to improve our lives. Proverbs 6:6 says, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” The principle is clear. We can learn by studying the design God built into all living things, including the design of cacti.

November 4, 2024November 3, 2024

When Neutron Stars Collide

The periodic table has 94 elements that occur naturally and 24 others that exist only in particle accelerators, nuclear reactors, and atomic explosions. The natural elements include one group known as “rapid neutron capture process” or r-process elements. Most of those elements are created when neutron stars collide, giving off gamma rays.

In the periodic table above, you can see the r-process elements in lavender. Without those elements, life would be very different, if not impossible. Two of the r-process metals are thorium and uranium. Earth’s strong magnetic field that protects us from deadly solar and cosmic radiation exists because of radioactive thorium and uranium inside our planet. Those elements are also the reason for plate tectonics, which transformed the planet from a water world (Genesis 1:2) into a world with oceans and continents (Job 38:8-11).

Other valuable metals in the r-process group include silver, gold, platinum, palladium, and osmium. Those metals are essential for electronic components and catalysts that make our high technology possible. They are also involved in medical treatments, including chemotherapy.

The precisely fine-tuned properties of neutrinos and the weak nuclear force make the rapid nuclear capture process possible. When neutron stars collide, we are also blessed by the fact that they are far away from our planet, so the gamma rays pose no risk to our survival. The closest detected collision was in a galaxy 130 million light-years from Earth. We see evidence of God’s creative wisdom in all of these things and many more.

Reference: salvomag.com