science Archives - Page 41 of 108 - DOES GOD EXIST? TODAY

February 10, 2022February 8, 2022

The Age of Methuselah in the Bible

A frequent challenge from atheists concerns the lifespan of early Bible characters. Genesis 5 contains the “generations of Adam” up to the time of Noah. It lists Methuselah as having lived 969 years. This chapter raises many questions, and atheists have ridiculed the idea that people ever lived that long. Anthropologists have methods for determining how old a person was when they died, and no data shows people ever living hundreds of years as we measure years today. Then what was the age of Methuselah?

It is essential to understand that this is not just a biblical peculiarity. Other ancient cultures have records of people living a very long time. The ancient Sumerian King List said that King Alulim ruled for 28,800 years, and others longer than that! However, the all-time longevity champ is a spiritual teacher in Jainism named Shreyansanatha, who was recorded to have lived 8,400,000 years. The message should be clear to us that none of these are our familiar calendar years as established by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.

There have been studies to determine how ancient people expressed time. The Hebrews used lunar cycles for reckoning time, but they have modified that because certain numbers had special significance. For example, seven indicated completeness, and six was just short of completeness. The Book of Revelation contains symbolic numbers that people have often erroneously misinterpreted.

A careful study of this subject will show that the intent of Genesis 5 is not to establish time or the chronological ages. Applying modern calendar concepts to Genesis would mean that Methuselah was killed by the flood of Noah. The message of the passage is not the age of Methuselah, but that he was a descendent of Enoch and an ancestor of Noah.

When you read any book of any culture, you have to look at who wrote it and to whom and why, and how the people it was written to would have understood it. That is especially true when considering the ages of ancient personalities.

February 8, 2022February 7, 2022

Color Vision Differences in Various Creatures

Color vision differences in various creatures result from eye design. Humans see color because we have three kinds of cones in the retina that respond to different energies of light. Our eyes have color cones sensitive to red, green, and blue. If light stimulates all three types of cones, we see it as white. When light stimulates red and green cones but not blue, we see yellow. Other combinations result in every color we can see.

Some light energies do not trigger any of our cones, yet they affect us. For example, our eyes don’t perceive ultraviolet energy, but UV rays can cause sunburn. Likewise, we can’t see infrared energy, but we can feel it as heat.

Animals have many color vision differences compared to humans. Why do deer not see the orange jackets that hunters frequently wear? A deer can’t see very much color at all. That means a hunter standing still in the woods wearing an orange camouflage outfit will be invisible to a deer but highly visible to other hunters.

Some animals that do not see color can see light energies that we can’t. For example, a rattlesnake can see infrared, which is a lower energy than the visible light we see. A warm-blooded animal such as a rat or mouse gives off infrared radiation. A rattlesnake can see the infrared light coming from the rat on a very dark night when there is no light visible to humans.

The National Science Foundation reported on a jumping spider (Saitis barbipes) found in Europe and North Africa with no red color sensitivity. A red ball would appear gray or black to those spiders. However, the males of these furry spiders have a bright red crown and legs. Even though potential mates cannot see the red, certain areas of the spider’s body strongly absorb ultraviolet light. Those areas appear as “spider green” to other jumping spiders.

In addition to color vision differences, some animals have specialized vision tools to help them survive. For example, a marine turtle’s eyes have polarized corneas. That polarization allows the turtle to see reflected light because it is polarized parallel to the reflecting surface. A turtle needing to locate water will simply scan the horizon to see polarized light reflected from the water’s surface. Other animals, such as birds or fish, have polaroids in a vertical orientation, enabling them to see through clouds or water without having to deal with glare.

Designing cells that can detect light is only part of the story. Making eyes that meet the peculiar needs of various animals is much more difficult. Your vision is just one more support for David’s statement, “I will praise you, Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalms 139:14.)

Reference: The National Science Foundation and the journal The Science of Nature

February 7, 2022February 5, 2022

Snow Is a Blessing from God

I just spent an hour moving snow. Blowing out the driveway, digging out the mailbox, and leaving early to get to any appointment is ordinary for us during the Michigan winter months. People moan and complain about it, yet snow is a blessing from God.

Most of us know about igloos used by people in the far north to shield themselves from super cold conditions. Snow is an excellent insulator, preserving plants and small animals during the cold winter months. I am always concerned when we don’t have snow during the very cold days because my roses suffer. Small animals also are very active beneath the snow. Not only does the snow protect them from the cold, but also from predators.

Snow is a blessing from God. In Job 38:22, God refers to the storehouse of the snow. In many areas of the world, mountain snow stores water that melts in the spring and summer, supplying a constant water supply to arid and semi-arid locations. When additional layers compact the snow, it behaves as a fluid and actually flows. We call that a glacier and glacial ice can store massive quantities of water. One of the concerns about climate change is that if the glacial ice melts, the sea level will rise, threatening populations worldwide.

Snow exists only because of the unusual properties of the water molecule. The water molecule is polar instead of being linear (H – O – H), as you might expect. Both hydrogen atoms are on one side of the water molecule, with the oxygen atom on the other side. (We have discussed the polar nature of the water molecule previously on this website.) When the temperature is low enough, one molecule will attach itself to another, and because of water’s unique molecular structure, they form a lattice at many different angles.

If you haven’t looked carefully at snowflakes, please do so. Snowflakes are all hexagonal with six sides, but they are all different with unusual spacing that gives them a lower density than water. For this same reason, ice is less dense than water, and it forms on the surface of a lake and does not sink to the bottom. Usually, solid forms of materials are more dense than their liquid forms, but that is not the case with water. Otherwise, a lake would freeze solid and kill all the fish and other creatures living there.

This design of water is a testimony to God’s wisdom that we see in every corner of His creation. In Job 38:29-30, God reminds Job of His design of snow and ice by saying, “From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven when the waters become hard as stone when the surface of the deep is frozen?” We have learned much about the design of water since Job’s day, but the message of creation to us is the same as it was to Job. Snow is a blessing from God.

February 5, 2022February 5, 2022

Christianity and the Origin of Science

Stephen C. Meyer and the origin of science — Stephen C. Meyer

One of the most prolific writers in the field of apologetics is Stephen C. Meyer of the Discovery Institute. His book Return of the God Hypothesis has stirred up a great deal of discussion in academic circles, and Prager University has been promoting his work on the web. One of his interesting points relates to the origin of science.

Stephen Meyer points out that science began in western Europe, and he attributes that to the tenants of Christianity. However, all cultures have made significant contributions to human progress and technology. For example, the Chinese perfected the use of gunpowder and rockets. Islam contributed to the field of mathematics and applications of math to astronomy. The Incas and various Central and South American native populations made significant progress in agriculture, irrigation, and land use. Egyptian and African cultures built marvelous pyramids and employed incredible engineering techniques to build great memorials.

In all of these cases, there was no advancement of science as occurred in western Europe. The science of western Europe culminated in enormous progress in chemistry, physics, biology, and medicine. It resulted in industrialization and the high standard of living that we enjoy in America today. While ignorance, greed, and selfishness may have contaminated that progress in modern times, the origin of science is in the belief system of Christianity.

The biblical concept of the natural world shows us that it is intelligible. If you believe there is design and order in nature that we can understand, we can study that design and use it. The great heroes of western science saw that there was order and planning in what they were investigating. The “Scientists and God” column in our quarterly journal contains quotes from the great minds in western science expressing that the universe is orderly because the Creator made it that way, and we can understand it. The Christian system was the basis of their work. The Bible condemns witchcraft, spiritualism, sorcery, and multiple gods and goddesses fighting each other, resulting in chaos.

The orderliness of the universe is based on laws such as the laws of thermodynamics. Fixed laws guide the fields of astrophysics, geology, and oceanography. The whole basis of Darwin’s understanding of biology was that there is an order to life that depends on the environments in which living things find themselves.

Webster defines science as “knowledge,” and modern knowledge has come from the biblical beliefs of a creation that can be understood and has order and design. The origin of science did not come from a chaotic belief system that embraced mysticism and spirits.

February 2, 2022February 1, 2022

Studies of Elephant Trunks

So many designs in living things seem to be beyond any chance explanation that it is difficult to watch a nature program or read a scientific paper without seeing another example. For example, we have recently written about studies of elephant trunks HERE, HERE, and HERE. National Wildlife magazine for the first quarter of 2022 reported on another elephant trunk study.

This report centers on the elephant’s specialized respiratory system, which produces lung pressure that allows the elephant to use suction both on land and underwater. No other terrestrial species can even come close to doing what an elephant can do.

Every day an African elephant consumes 400 pounds of food and drinks several gallons of water. The engineers studying the elephants discovered that they can dilate their nostrils to reduce the thickness of the walls of their trunks, increasing the space inside the trunk by 60%. High-speed video and computer modeling show that the elephants can suction air at nearly 500 feet per second and inhale a gallon of water every 1.5 seconds.

As with previous studies of elephant trunks, this new data makes the elephant even more amazing. As scientists understand specialized equipment, it becomes more and more difficult to suggest that this specialization can be the product of chance. Many species of elephants have inhabited our planet, and their trunks all show specialization, even though the environments they live in vary enormously.

Every living thing on Earth has something to teach us. Therefore, we must take care of our planet and the animals we share it with so we will not lose this information. From studies of ants to studies of elephant trunks, an abundance of life demonstrates the wisdom and design of the Creator.

References: National Wildlife magazine and Journal of the Royal Society Interface

February 1, 2022January 31, 2022

Vulture Bees and Evolution

One of the interesting design features that we see in the biological world is how waste material is recycled into the environment. When something dies, all of its body must return to the bio-system. Otherwise, the bodies of dead animals and plants would cover Earth’s surface. Vultures and hyenas play an essential role in recycling dead bodies. In past columns, we have written about birds that eat bones. Vulture bees are another agent that takes a dead carcass and reduces it to the elemental constituents.

We are all familiar with bees that flit from flower to flower, searching for nectar. Vulture or carrion bees are three species of stingless bees in the genus Trigona, living in the jungles of Central and South America. To prevent them from getting sick on rotting meat, they have the same gut bacteria as vultures and hyenas.

The jungle poses a different environment from open terrain. A dead animal carcass can quickly turn slimy and stinky in the warm and humid jungle environment. However, vulture bees have a digestive system that can handle any dead animal, even lizards and snakes.

Studies of the vulture bees show that they have one-third more acid-producing gut bacteria and some microbes not found in other bees. Vulture bees regurgitate some of the meat they eat into their nests, where it serves as food for young bees, and their gut bacteria prevent further decay of the meat to protect the colony.

Researchers trying to give an evolutionary explanation to the existence of these bees face a problem. According to Science News, entomologist Jessica Maccaro of the University of California expressed it well: “It’s hard to know which evolved first – the gut bacteria or the bees’ ability to eat meat. But bees probably first turned to meat because there was so much competition for nectar for food.”

It is hard to imagine a bee choosing to eat meat to reduce competition for food. It seems more plausible that vulture bees are part of God’s designed system to recycle nutrients from dead material to protect the environment.

Reference: Science News January 29, 2022, page 4 and the American Society for Microbiology

January 31, 2022January 29, 2022

The Burden of Alzheimer’s Disease

One of the great scourges today is Alzheimer’s. At present, over six million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. That is 1 in 9 people age 65 and older and 11.3% of the senior population. Since 2000, deaths from Alzheimer’s have increased by 145%. The burden of Alzheimer’s disease affects many of us in various ways – financially, emotionally, and spiritually.

Medical science is still looking for the causes of Alzheimer’s. There is a genetic connection, and Alzheimer’s also seems to be a product of environmental factors. God does not cause it, and so far, it appears to be untreatable. One of the blessings of Alzheimer’s is that the afflicted person is not aware of what is happening to them. In most cases, they do not recognize family or friends or what has taken place, good or bad, in the past.

I have seen that when we apply Christian principles, people with Alzheimer’s respond positively. First Thessalonians 5: 14 tells us to “comfort the feebleminded, support the weak and be patient with all men.” Alzheimer’s patients respond to kindness and love. As Christians, we have the unique perspective of putting the past behind us and accepting people where they are – not where they were 25 years ago.

If your view of life is “survival of the fittest,” you will have very little empathy for someone living with Alzheimer’s. That person is no longer among the fittest and may be a burden. On the other hand, if your view is that all humans have value and God will bless us for serving those in need, the burden of Alzheimer’s disease becomes an opportunity.

Matthew 25:21-40 finds Jesus talking about the blessing of serving others. Verse 36 speaks of Christians reaching out to help someone who is sick or in prison. Alzheimer’s is a kind of prison and is certainly a sickness. The need for us to bring love, care, and relief applies as much to an Alzheimer’s patient as to anyone else.

Data from Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) 1-800-272-3900.

January 26, 2022January 29, 2022

Food Sources God Has Given Us

One of the significant challenges today is controlling the collateral damage from growing enough food for our world’s population. This issue is especially true with livestock which create a large carbon footprint and require two-thirds of land devoted to agriculture in the United States. That includes the land dedicated to raising feed for the livestock, which requires massive amounts of water and creates water contamination by polluted runoff and soil erosion. We need to make better use of the food sources God has given us.

A National Science Foundation research program in Yellowstone National Park led to the discovery of a fungus named Fusarium flavolapis, which has amazing abilities. It can ferment sugar to produce a protein that mimics the taste and texture of meat and dairy products. A company called Nature’s Fynd is already making meatless breakfast patties and dairy-free cream cheese and marketing it in California, New York City, and Chicago. They grow this product in trays without soil or sunlight using just sugar, water, and nutrients.

Another food of the future is mycelium, which is the root structure of mushrooms. It grows incredibly fast and has fibers that mimic chicken or steak. A startup company called Meati Foods is now growing enough mycelium in a small facility to equal the meat of a cow in about four days. They are building a much larger plant in Colorado, with expected production to start there in 2022.

Imagine a future where we can grow food in controlled conditions inside a building and where there is no need for massive amounts of water or large areas of land. Also, pesticides or herbicides would not be needed. As a result, hunger could be eliminated from planet Earth, and there would be no shortage of water or release of greenhouse gases.

These products are not a fantasy but another case where humans are finally using food sources God has given us. Fusarium flavolapis grows in hot water springs in the natural world. Growing mushrooms produce mycelium. The big issue is getting people to accept these products in their diet, replacing the ones they have been accustomed to.

Reference: National Science Foundation website

January 24, 2022January 23, 2022

The Whole Earth Sings

One of the fun units in physics is the study of vibrations and resonance. A simple demonstration of sympathetic vibration is an apparatus that consists of a tuning fork mounted on a wooden box. If you place near it a second box with a tuning fork of the same frequency, you can hear the effect called “resonance” or “sympathetic vibration.” Striking the tuning fork on one box will cause the tuning fork on the second box to start “singing” without being touched. A second tuning fork with a different vibration frequency will not respond. The amazing thing is that the whole earth sings.

When building a guitar or violin, a craftsman has to be very careful not to allow any part of the instrument’s box to naturally vibrate at the same frequency as the strings. If it does, that frequency will be louder than all other frequencies, and the sound will be distorted.

This effect is not confined to tuning forks and musical instruments. Resonance is all around us and in us. For example, your inner ear has hairs of varying lengths and thicknesses, resulting in specific vibration frequencies. If a sound at that frequency reaches your ear, the hair will vibrate and signal the brain to identify the pitch. Not having some of those hairs produces tone-deafness.

Taking a fine glass goblet and running a moistened finger around the edge will produce a tone at a specific frequency. That is the natural frequency of the goblet. You can produce a sound at the resonant frequency of a glass that will cause it to shatter, but probably not with any human voice.

Amazingly, researchers have found that everything in the natural world has a resonant frequency. For example, recent research on the Matterhorn near Zermatt, Switzerland, shows that it vibrates with a resonant frequency. The mountain actually vibrates about once every two seconds (.42 cycles per second.). Our ears hear sound frequencies between about 20 and 20,000 cycles per second, so we need instruments to detect the Matterhorn’s frequency.

You could say that the whole earth sings. Interestingly, the Bible refers to mountains, and even stars, singing. (See Isaiah 44:23, 49:13 and Job 38:7). Isaiah and Job certainly didn’t understand their statements to refer to mountain resonance. However, our understanding of what happens in nature gives new meaning to this poetry describing how the whole earth sings praise to God.

Reference: National Science Foundation research report for January 19, 2022

January 21, 2022January 20, 2022

Hudsonian Godwit Migrations

One of the great mysteries of the natural world is the way various shorebirds make their incredible migrations. One of the most studied shorebirds gets part of its name from Canada’s Hudson Bay, where it was first identified. The second part of its name comes from its two-syllable cry of “god-wiiit.” The Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica) is a bird with remarkable migrations.

Hudsonian godwits lay their eggs in Alaska and northern Canada in the spring. Then, in June or July, they leave their hatchlings to fly 4000 miles to the northern Amazon. After that, they make another 2000 mile flight to Chiloé Island off the coast of Chile. Then, the following spring, they fly 6000 miles from Chile to the northern areas where they lay their eggs and repeat the cycle.

A mystery is how the young Hudsonian godwits make their journey without adult instruction about where to go. Since these birds live ten to twelve years, they will make the journey as many as 24 times. Hudsonian godwits weigh less than an ounce when they hatch, but in a couple of hours, they are running around catching mosquitoes and flies. Then, before starting their journey south, they bulk themselves up to more than 12 times their original weight.

Another mystery about the birds is their anatomical preparation for the flights. A typical Hudsonian godwit will have blood sugar concentrations that would be in the diabetic range for humans. Before their migration, the birds’ pectoral muscles double or triple in size, as do their hearts and lungs. To balance this increase, their gizzards, livers, and kidneys shrink. When they arrive at their destination, all of their organs readjust to the normal range.

As the birds fly their long journeys, one side of their brain will sleep while the other side stays awake and alert, and later the sides will switch. It is called uni-hemispheric slow-wave sleep, and it allows them to fly day and night. In addition, their respiratory systems are highly efficient, allowing flight at high altitudes with less oxygen. That is essential since they fly over the Andes Mountains.

Also mysterious is the ability of Hudsonian godwits to navigate their journey. Researchers say the birds know and understand weather systems, including wind and rain. They navigate with their vision using stars and landforms, and even smells seem to guide them. But that still does not explain it all. They also sense Earth’s magnetism, but scientists are not sure how. One hypothesis is that their vision is linked to Earth’s magnetic lines of force by “quantum entanglement,” a phenomenon Einstein called “spooky action at a distance.”

The journey of Hudsonian godwits allows them to secure food at random locations, and their diet of mosquitoes, insects, and worms benefits the environment as much as the birds. The design of Hudsonian godwits speaks of wisdom, planning, and highly sophisticated applications of physics. It would seem that understanding these birds should inspire wonder in a thinking person about the source of such abilities. Truly “we can know there is a God through the things He has made (Romans 1:20.)

Reference: “The Wonder Bird” in Smithsonian magazine January/February 2022.