science Archives

January 16, 2024January 15, 2024

Survival in the Cold by Design

As I sit in my warm office in Michigan today, I look out at snow and ice. My outdoor thermometer registers -8 degrees, and I wonder how the ducks on the river, the squirrels on the ground, and the birds in the air handle these frigid temperatures. I enjoy watching the birds on my bird feeders and the squirrels chasing each other in the oak trees, but I wonder how they survive. Then I apply my knowledge of physics, and I understand animal survival in the cold.

I always enjoyed teaching the heat and thermodynamics section of my high school physics class. One of my lines that always got a laugh was, “Why do we need to wear clothes to survive, outside of the obvious one.” The point is that our skin is not very good insulation against the cold. In winter, we pick clothes with air spaces within the fabric because air is a very poor conductor of heat, so it insulates us from the cold. We use coats stuffed with goosedown or some facsimile to be well protected from the cold. Goosedown also insulates sleeping bags and quilts.

Chickadees visit my bird feeders regularly. They usually are relatively sleek birds that fly smoothly and efficiently. As I look at my chickadees on this day of -8 degrees, they are almost round. Their feathers are fluffed up to trap air, so the birds are well insulated for survival in the cold. They don’t fly as smoothly as they do in summer. They crowd my feeders and would sit there without moving if they could.

Squirrels have a different problem. Their coats give them some protection, but getting food is an issue when heavy snow covers everything. They need to keep warm but avoid activities that would sap their reserve of nutrition. My gaze goes to the top of the oak trees, and I see a large round ball of leaves and twigs. Many years ago, to expand our church parking lot, we had to take down a tree with a large round ball of leaves and twigs near the top. As the tree came down, a squirrel ran out of the ball. I put my hand into the nest to see what was inside. Even though the air temperature was 20 degrees, it was very warm inside the ball of leaves and squirrel hair.

God has equipped His creatures for survival in the cold, and His design enables our Michigan winter to throb with animal activity. Trial and error explanations are weak because survival errors are lethal. We can see design in the natural world that speaks of God’s wisdom and planning. The evidence allows us to “know there is a God through the things He has made” (Romans 1:20). Watching animals thrive in very cold conditions is an excellent example of that evidence.

January 11, 2024January 9, 2024

Aliens Visiting Planet Earth

The media has been full of claims that the government is hiding evidence from the general public about aliens visiting planet Earth. In this day of lying politicians and scams and fakes, it is essential to not buy into any claims too quickly.

The claims that were leaked out to the general public include the following:

1) A group of U.S. airmen found a downed alien spacecraft in Rendelsham Forest, England.

2) Sixty-two children in Zimbabwe witnessed a flying saucer near their playground.

3) A UFO knocked ICBMs offline in Montana.

(4) Various videos from the US Navy show aircraft maneuvering beyond what any earthly craft can do.

All of these and others are included in a film titled The UFO Movie They Don’t Want You to See, produced by Brian Dunning. (It is available for viewing on YouTube at the link below.) The reason we are interested in this film is that there have been those who claimed that aliens are responsible for the Bible, that Jesus Christ was an extra-terrestrial, and that the biblical narrative was given by aliens to guide gullible people into believing in God instead of knowing their true origin. This film exploring evidence about aliens visiting planet Earth has no religious interest and, in fact, is promoted by skeptic organizations.

It is important to understand that it is not our intent to say there is no life in outer space. With the massive number of galaxies, stars, and planets, other life forms may exist. God may have chosen other methods to conduct the war between good and evil. The problem is that the nearest star to our solar system is 4.3 light years away, and the closest galaxy to our Milky Way Galaxy is 750,000 light years away. Those distances are too great to allow any civilization to have an interest in us. Science fiction about aliens visiting planet Earth would have us believe that time and space can be controlled by aliens with intelligence far beyond our own. Some people choose to believe that even though it requires much more faith than to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

The UFO Movie They Don’t Want You to See, produced by Brian Dunning

January 10, 2024January 9, 2024

Bristol Bay and God’s Design

There are many fascinating facts about Alaska. One of them is how landlocked species of fish, animals, and plants receive the required nutrients. With the weather extremes, short growing season, and lack of soil, making the area biologically rich requires an extraordinary life form. Fishing lodges thrive throughout the Bristol Bay area because sport fishers consider it one of the most desirable places to catch wild salmon and trout. In addition to the sport fishing, native people and commercial fishing operations make a living in the Bristol Bay area. Both humans and wildlife in the area depend on one fish species, the red salmon, or as it is also known, the sockeye.

More than 60 million wild salmon pour into Bristol Bay every year, sustaining the wildlife and human economy. Sockeye eggs provide food for all five species of Pacific salmon, but they also allow the land-locked species Arctic char, Dolly Varden trout, and rainbow trout to exist. The fry, smolts, and adults support commercial and subsistence harvesting.

The total mass of sockeyes each year is in the millions of tons. After the sockeyes have spawned, they die, and their carcasses provide nutrients that allow plants to thrive in an area with very little soil. Without the sockeye, the entire Bristol Bay area would be a biological desert unable to support any fish or animals that eat fish.

Mining operations are trying hard to get permission to establish several kinds of mines in the Bristol Bay region. Undoubtedly, such operations would create roads capable of hauling metals, mining equipment, chemical leaching, and waste materials. Supplying food and managing waste from hundreds of miners and support personnel living in the Bristol Bay area for years at a time could destroy the fragile ecosystem, harming those who depend on it. The more scientists study the ecology of Alaska, the more they become aware of its fragility.

Bristol Bay speaks of our need to care for the creation that God has placed in our hands. It is hard to experience this area and believe its formation and natural balance happened because of blind, accidental chance. We must not allow it to become a showcase for selfish human greed and mismanagement.

Reference: Alaska Magazine for February 2024, page 48.

January 9, 2024January 8, 2024

Why Women Have to Experience Menopause

We get some interesting questions in this age of skepticism and rejection of God. One that came up recently is why women have to experience menopause. Like many questions raised by those who wish to deny God’s existence, this question is rooted in ignorance and a failure to think carefully.

Most members of the animal kingdom die when they can no longer reproduce. Mammals such as elephants and orangutans remain fertile throughout their lives. The number of animals that live beyond their reproductive years is very small. It has only been documented in a few species, including humans, orcas, and short-finned pilot whales.

There is no scientific explanation for the uniqueness of the human reproductive cycle. Dr. Shankar Singh of McMaster University in Canada maintains that this is because men favor younger mates, but this evolutionary explanation ignores the genetic implications that come with it. The more logical explanation of this fact is the different roles women have at various stages of life. In Titus 2:1-5, Paul talks about older women teaching younger women.

As we get older, our roles change. There is a reason for humans to live beyond the time when they can produce offspring. Teaching, leading, and serving can be more effective when done by older humans. That is not true of fish, birds, rodents, insects, or most mammals.

It is a good design that older women can no longer reproduce. My 70+-year-old wife says the thought of having a baby at her age is appalling. For orangutans and elephants, a female having offspring late in life helps maintain the species, and the whole group raises offspring, not just the mother.

Instead of asking why women have to experience menopause, we should note that God’s remarkable design of reproduction uniquely shows His handiwork.

Reference: National Wildlife, winter 2024, page 17.

January 4, 2024January 2, 2024

God Gave Predators the Tools They Need

The balance we see in the natural world is strong evidence for design rather than chance. God gave predators the tools they need to control the population of animals that reproduce in large numbers. Owls are a great example of skillful predators. Rodents can cause significant harm to humans if their populations get out of control. However, in some cases, humans have interfered with the natural function of the predators of mice and rats, allowing the population of those rodents to grow to the point of threatening human populations.

In places where humans have not interfered with the natural balance, the design features of predators allow them to control rodent populations. Winter snow cover benefits rodents because they can move under snow. This security would let rodent numbers explode were it not for predators designed to catch them under the snow. One of those predators is owls.

An owl can capture a rodent under two feet of snow by detecting infrasonic low-frequency sounds. Dr. Cristopher Clark at the University of California, Riverside, has been studying how the design of owls allows them to have this skill. Using modern equipment, Dr. Clark has found that only low-frequency sounds can penetrate deep snow. The owl’s facial disk is especially sensitive to these low-frequency waves, and the infrasonic detectors are located right behind each eye. The owl will hover in midair over a spot where it senses prey. When the owl receives the low-frequency sounds, it plunges into the snow to grab the prey with its talons.

Between owls, foxes, and some subsurface animals, God gave predators the tools they need to control the rodent population, protecting humans. The predators’ special equipment is required to remove the rodents, and the design of that equipment indicates it was not a mere accident.

Reference: “Snow Hunting Owls” on nwf.org and in National Wildlife magazine Winter 2024, page 8.

January 2, 2024January 1, 2024

Loneliness Crisis Is Deadly

A recent USA Today article gathered data from the University of Michigan and Harvard University, showing that loneliness has increased dramatically in the United States. According to the article, 61% of adults ages 18 to 25 feel profound loneliness. Harvard professor Jeremy Nobel has established an initiative called “Project Unlonely” to address this loneliness crisis.

Professor Nobel classifies three types of loneliness:
(1) Psychological loneliness – not having anyone to trust or confide in
(2) Societal loneliness – feeling systemically excluded because of such things as gender, race, or disability
(3) Spiritual loneliness – feeling disconnected from oneself.

The U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory report says that loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 26%, equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The American Heart Association says that feeling lonely increases a person’s risk of heart disease by 29% and stroke by 32%, indicating that the loneliness crisis is deadly.

The U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says that the solution to loneliness is to take 15 minutes a day to reach out to someone you care about or look for ways to serve others. He says that when we are with someone else, we must give them our full attention and put away our devices. He further states that schools, companies, and healthcare facilities must adopt strategies to reduce loneliness.

Nowhere in the USA Today article is the Church mentioned. The fact is that the teachings of Christ offer a real solution to loneliness. Read Acts 2:41-47, and you will see an excellent cure for loneliness. Read Matthew 25:31-40 and see what Jesus considers essential in how we live our lives. Christians can avoid the loneliness crisis by becoming active in building relationships and serving others.

Having a relationship with Christ gives us an understanding of our purpose for existing. Loneliness results from a world dominated by “survival of the fittest” and “looking after # 1.” The loneliness crisis in America has become an epidemic and is just part of the collateral damage that comes from rejecting God.

Reference: “Americans are lonely, and it’s killing them” by Adrianna Rodriques in USA Today 12/27/23

December 29, 2023December 30, 2023

A Mindful Ultimate Cause for Our Existence

Yesterday, we said that all major polls from Gallup and Pew agree that faith in God is declining in America. We pointed out that the majority of atheists and agnostics agree with the statement: “The findings of science make the existence of God less probable.” That is true even though recent scientific discoveries point to the existence of a mindful ultimate Cause for our existence.

In the past, a significant factor that caused people to reject faith in God was the problem of pain and suffering. Why would a loving and all-powerful God would allow pain and suffering? That question has led many people to reject God in the past, but another factor for rejecting God has exceeded that one.

According to the Discovery Institute, research shows that 50% of people who reject God do so because of suffering, disease, and death. However, 65% of those who reject belief in God today do so because of: “Scientific theories about the unguided evolution of life.” That means science has become a more significant factor in rejecting God than the pain and suffering problem.

What are the implications for humans if we evolved by unguided evolution? Suppose humans have evolved from the lower animals by a mindless, undirected process. In that case, it means that humans have no intrinsic value, no ultimate purpose, no objective morality, and death is the end of our existence as our bodies decay. When people believe that, what can keep them from being filled with despair and choosing suicide and murder? If we fail to find happiness in life, why not bring it to an end?

Before society is destroyed by complete despair, we have a message of hope. We want to tell you that there is a mindful ultimate Cause for our existence. Even scientific evidence points to the existence of God. The Bible and Jesus Christ show us that God loves us and has a plan for our lives. There is purpose and hope and a reason to live. As we enter a new year, the Does God Exist? ministry will continue to share that good news with everyone willing to open their hearts and minds to listen.

Reference: Stephen C. Meyer on “Has Humanity Forgotten God” on YouTube

December 28, 2023December 27, 2023

Major Factors for Rejecting Faith in God

Polls show that belief in God among Americans has declined over the past few years, and most dramatically among Gen-Zers. Generation Z is the term used to describe those born between the late 1990s and early 2000s (approximately 1997 to 2012). This generation grew up with access to the internet and portable digital technology. What are some major factors for rejecting faith in God?

Stephen C. Meyer said that the Discovery Institute surveyed people if they agreed with this statement: “The findings of science make the existence of God less probable.” Among self-proclaimed atheists, 65% agreed, and 43% of agnostics agreed. What these people perceive about science has influenced their belief in God. However, as we have said before, science supports faith in God.

In recent years, scientific discoveries have given us more reasons to believe in God. One significant discovery is that the material universe had a beginning. Evidence for that appeared in the 1920s, was confirmed in the 1960s, and further reinforced in the 21st century. The Bible tells us that in verse 1, but it took scientists years to accept the evidence. Anything that begins to exist must have a cause. The cause of the material universe must be outside of time and space and, therefore, immaterial. Science recognizes that time, space, matter, and energy all had a beginning, but they could not have created themselves.

A second discovery that points to an intelligent Creator is that the universe was fine-tuned for life from the beginning. Many physical constants must be precisely as they are for life to exist. More than that, without precision fine-tuning of the physical laws and constants, the universe itself would not exist. Chance cannot explain the precision because so many precise factors must work together.

A third discovery that came into a fuller understanding in the 21st century is the design of the digital code in the DNA molecule that makes life possible. This design has been there since the emergence of the first living cell. We have no examples of information being created without a mind to create it. Information does not happen by chance.

In those three recent discoveries, science rediscovers God. Then what are the major factors for rejecting faith in God? More on that tomorrow.

Reference: Stephen C. Meyer on “Has Humanity Forgotten God” on YouTube

December 27, 2023December 26, 2023

Birds that Swim in Cold Water

Scientists have only recently come to understand many designs in nature. An interesting example is how birds that swim in cold water survive without hypothermia. The feet of ducks, gulls, loons, and geese show an example of incredible hidden design.

In these birds, arterial blood enters the leg and cools down. On its way to the heart, ventral blood picks up the heat released by the arterial blood in a process called “countercurrent heat exchange.” A mesh of arteries and veins called the “rete mirabile” (Latin for “wonderful net”) surrounds the blood vessels and amplifies the heat exchange. This arrangement limits the amount of heat the bird loses, saving it from having to use energy to reheat the blood. When you combine this discovery with the design that allows them to stand on one leg, you see how they are ideally suited to live in cold climates.

It is truly remarkable that virtually all climate zones have life forms perfectly designed to live in them. God created life to fill the whole earth regardless of climate conditions. Romans 1:20 says, “We can know there is a God through the things He had made.” Birds show the design of living things that radiates the wisdom and knowledge of the Creator. The foot design of birds that swim in cold water is just one great example of that.

Reference: Audubon magazine winter 2023, page 52

December 21, 2023December 19, 2023

Natural Science Cannot Answer these Questions

Natural science cannot answer these questions we examined yesterday:
1- ”Why does the universe exist?”
2- ”How did something come from nothing?”
Science is very good at answering “how” questions but not as good with “why” questions. Let’s look at two more “why” questions.

3- ”Why are the physical constants precisely tuned to support conscious life?”
Science has determined that the universe’s physical constants are fine-tuned to support our existence. They are fine-tuned with such precision that it could not be merely accidental, and this precision makes scientists who don’t want to believe in God very uncomfortable.

If you eliminate an intelligent Creator, there seems to be only one possible explanation for the apparent fine-tuning. It’s the “multiverse” idea. This proposal suggests that an almost limitless number of universes exist with various physical constants. We are lucky enough to be in the one universe with precise constants to support conscious observers like us. Therefore, it is merely an accident that we see the physical constants as being fine-tuned; otherwise, we wouldn’t be here to observe them.

The multiverse concept is not scientific since it cannot be proven or disproven. It lies outside of the limits of science. Furthermore, if you can’t explain the emergence of one universe from nothing, how can you explain an infinite number of universes from nothing?

Since science has set limitations on itself, it also can’t answer this question:
4- “Why do I exist?”
It’s a question that probably everyone thinks about at some time in life. “Why am I here?” “What is my purpose?” Regardless of how you ask the question, the answer is what gives meaning to life. Science can’t answer the question, but without an answer, many people give up on life. The lack of an answer is perhaps the biggest problem in today’s world, especially among young people.

Natural science cannot answer these questions because the answer is supernatural. God loves you and designed you for a purpose. He came into our world in a physical form we know as Jesus Christ. (See John 1:1-14.) From a humble birth to a perfect life, He showed us how to live. By His sacrifice on the cross, He demonstrated God’s love. If you take time to ponder this, you will realize that the questions natural science can’t answer are the most important ones.