science Archives

November 2, 2022November 1, 2022

Marvels of Engineering in Nature

In the creation, we see many patterns that are marvels of engineering. You might not think that shape of a structure is vital to the survival of living things, but it is. As we look more and more carefully at the design of natural things, the evidence shows us that they are not products of blind chance but designed for a purpose.

Considering materials science, the honeycomb design is an excellent place to start. The magnificent honeycomb design uses hexagons stacked into a lattice. Does that make a difference? The answer is a very strong “yes.” The honeycomb must hold a very heavy and dense liquid requiring careful weight distribution. If you designed a honeycomb in a rectangle or triangle pattern, the weight would be on the bottom of the holder, causing it to collapse. In the hexagon design, the weight is distributed in three directions, reducing stress on the bottom.

We see this hexagonal pattern in many areas in the natural world, such as columnar basalt in the structure called Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. As the original molten mass cooled, it contracted, and the structure’s shape relieved the gravity forces.

Using a scanning electron microscope, scientists studied common sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus). They found that the point where their spines attach, called tubercules, have a mathematical pattern of polygons called a Voronoi pattern. The tubercules must withstand strong forces, and the Voronoi pattern provides strength in a lightweight skeletal structure. This pattern gives maximum strength to organic structures that must withstand significant stresses.

Researchers say this design allows sea urchins to withstand predator attacks and environmental stresses. Besides bees and sea urchins, dragonflies also benefit from Voronoi patterns. The scientists studying these marvels of engineering hope that they will “inspire new developments in materials science, aerospace, architecture, and construction.” We can learn much by studying the designs God has used in creation.

References: Science News for September 10, 2022, page 32, and Journal of the Royal Society Interface

November 1, 2022October 31, 2022

Ants Are Essential for Life on Earth

“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise.” That biblical injunction from Proverbs 6:6 was written to motivate the lazy and idle person to get busy. The fact is that ants are among the most important life forms God created, and scientists are finding more evidence that ants are essential for life on Earth.

Over 20 quadrillion ants are living on this planet. That’s 20, followed by 15 zeroes. When you add up the total weight of the carbon in those 20 quadrillion ants, you get about 12 million tons. That is more than the combined mass of wild birds and mammals, or about 20% of the total weight of all humans.

Scientists have studied and named more than 15,700 species and subspecies of ants, and their research is adding more to that number each year. Ant chemistry is vital to the existence of all kinds of life. For example, in my army survival training, they taught us to eat ants.

Many people think of ants as pests that serve no purpose but to irritate us and bring problems into our homes. By contrast, research has shown that ants provide a massive service to humans, and we could not survive on planet Earth without them. For example, consider these roles that ants play:

Ants aerate the soil, disperse the seeds of many plants, and break down organic material, enriching the soil and enhancing plant growth.
Ants create a habitat for other animals and provide an essential part of the food chain for mammals and birds. Also, many birds rely on ants to flush out their prey.
Ants are predators that keep populations of other insects in check. They are more effective than pesticides in helping farmers produce food. Ants eat many worms, caterpillars, and insects that eat our crops and leave no destructive chemicals as pesticides do.

Like much of what God created for our benefit, ants help us in many ways we overlook. Managing God’s gifts requires protecting life forms, including ants. Ants are essential for life on Earth. Remembering the verse from Proverbs, we need to “consider the ant” in more ways than one.

Our thanks to David Harrington who brought us this research report from “The Conversation”

October 31, 2022October 26, 2022

Cannibalism in Animals and Human Cannibalism

Many things separate humans from all other animal life on Earth. One difference involves cannibalism. Scientific research has shown the extent of cannibalism in animals. In the wild, there are countless examples of animals eating their own offspring, the offspring of others, or even a mate. Cannibalism is an easy way to get food, and among predators, nearly all animals who are carnivores sometimes practice cannibalism.

Population density is a significant factor leading to cannibalism in animals. Also, a sick animal unable to get food in the usual way will frequently resort to cannibalism. Some animals will eat other animals’ young to avoid their offspring having to compete for food. Animals such as bears and lions will kill and eat their offspring to stimulate the females into early estrus. Many reproductive issues are involved in animal cannibalism.

Why do some tribal groups practice human cannibalism? The answer is almost never because of food shortages which often lead to cannibalism in animals. However, there is one biblical case where hunger led to cannibalism. Second Kings 6:24-29 tells about a war that caused famine in Samaria, leading two women to agree that they would boil their two sons and eat them. The first woman’s son was cooked and eaten, but the second woman hid her son. The response of the King when he hears of this shows that it was not an accepted practice.

There are cases where people in extreme duress have eaten human flesh. However, human cannibalism practiced in jungle civilizations involves religious reasons, not the desire for humans as food. Instead, they would eat an enemy’s brain to gain their knowledge or their body to gain their strength.

It isn’t just our culture that finds human cannibalism repulsive. Christianity teaches that the human body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Our Christian heritage has taught us that human life and the temple in which it resides are special and sacred.

Jesus told His followers to love their enemies. The Greek word “love” here is “agape,” which means “to consider of enormous value.” Our enemies are still unique with eternal souls, making them of incredible worth. This is far from the atheist philosophy of “survival of the fittest.” Killing a human is contrary to all that Jesus uniquely taught. As society drifts away from Christ and His teachings, spiritual cannibalism takes over, leading to war, suffering, and perhaps even physical cannibalism.

Reference: Scientific American November 2022, page 19

October 26, 2022October 25, 2022

Should We Treat an Aborted Fetus as a Deceased Person?

In 2016, when Mike Pence was governor, the state of Indiana passed a law requiring “the burial or cremation of any fetus.” The question at hand is should we treat an aborted fetus as a deceased person? Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit against the state, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Finally, in 2019, the court ruled that Indiana law had a legitimate interest in disposing of fetal remains.

In 2020, a group of women who had abortions in Indiana, along with abortion providers and an abortion clinic, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. They said that the requirements caused abortion and miscarriage patients “shame, stigma, anguish, and anger” because they “send the unmistakable message that someone who has had an abortion or miscarriage is responsible for the death of a person.”

In September of 2022, U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young ruled that the law violated the U.S. Constitution because it infringes upon the religious and free speech rights of people who don’t believe that aborted fetuses have any rights.

Whether we should treat an aborted fetus as a deceased person highlights the real issue in the abortion question. That is, whether or not a baby is a human before birth. Those who argue for abortion do not have scientific support for their position. The unborn child is not “an extension of the mother’s body.” Every medical attempt to define when a baby is a human fails because of the criteria used. Using brain waves, the ability to live outside the womb, the heartbeat, or when the fetus responds to outside stimuli are all arbitrary and change as technology advances.

In today’s world, having an abortion is safer than natural childbirth. The number of women who die in childbirth worldwide is vast, and even in the United States, there is a risk in giving birth. When you look at the arguments for abortion, consider how they can be applied to euthanasia for a person with age or mental issues. Some people want to use similar arguments to eliminate the cost and personal inconvenience of people at the other end of life’s journey. Ethics proponents like Dr. Peter Singer use them to justify euthanizing the mentally ill and the severely physically disabled.

Should we treat an aborted fetus as a deceased person? As our civilization embraces atheism, naturalism, and humanism, will it embrace a 100% materialistic view of human value? The recent ruling in Indiana seems to indicate that is the case.

Reference: Indianapolis Star and USA Today Network for September 30, 2022.

October 21, 2022October 18, 2022

Numbers, Chance, and Design

It’s an interesting case of numbers, chance, and design. We often get letters and emails from atheists who want to argue about the things we post. Interestingly, they usually do the opposite of what the writer expects. For example, we recently received a challenge to our argument for God based on the design we see throughout the cosmos. Our atheist friend claimed that numbers are a matter of chance, and therefore they refute any suggestion of design.

In reality, the opposite is true. I was familiar with the example my atheist friend gave. It involves the fact that multiplying 111,111,111 by itself gives a sequence that my atheist friend says “might look like design but clearly isn’t.” You can do this yourself. Multiply 111,111,111 by 111,111,111 and see what you get. If you do it correctly, the answer 12,345,678,987,654,321. Try it and see. Is this a product of chance or a product of design?

This works in a numerical system based on 10, which we use in the western world. However, we are in the midst of switching to a binary system because our computers work on 1 and 0 (or + and -), and much of our world today runs on computers. When mathematicians developed these systems, they had to choose a numerical sequence that worked well for the time and the culture in which they functioned. Since we have ten fingers, base ten was a good choice. I had a math professor who told us that if the early scholars had been barefooted, we would have been using a base twenty system.

What does that tell us about numbers, chance, and design? The point is that the reason 111,111,111 times 111,111,111 gives the pattern that it does is because intelligence designed the system. Intelligent minds made the choices that produced the number pattern. This is an argument for the validity of design in the creation, and design demands a Designer.

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022

The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

When you hear the name “Grand Canyon,” you usually think of Arizona. I have been to the bottom of the Arizona canyon and taken several boat trips down the Colorado River. As a result, I have nothing but good memories of that majestic canyon. Recently I had a chance to visit Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.

As a person trained in geology and an admirer of Earth’s beauty and history, I was amazed at how much I could see in this canyon. It’s 1000 feet deep and stretches for 47 miles through northern Pennsylvania. Because it is an erosional formation, it mainly consists of sedimentary rocks. Glaciers went through that flat area and created a lake. Eventually, the natural dam holding back the lake eroded, and the water escaped, gradually forming the canyon. As a result, glacial erratics made of all kinds of rocks, some as big as a house, are scattered all around the area.

The rocks that make up the Allegheny Plateau tell a history of change. Limestone layers form when water is still, and minerals can come together to produce the rock. A flood never produces limestone, and many of the limestone rocks contain marine fossils. Rapidly moving water produces gravel which becomes a rock known as conglomerate. Shale is mud turned into rock, and sandstone can be a beach deposit left by moving water or blown by the wind. None of the sandstone in the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania is wind-blown.

The 1000-foot canyon has all of these rock types in various layers. It is evident that at times an ocean covered this area, and other times glaciers deposited boulders, cobbles, and gravel. In addition, the existence of a lake laid down some layers, and occasional coal seams tell us of ancient swamp conditions. Therefore, it is not surprising that the first oil well was produced near this area.

What do places like the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania tell us about God? God is not a magician and does not try to deceive us. Understanding how God made the land on which we live is a testimony to His wisdom and power and the fact that time is not an issue for God. The flood of Noah cannot explain the Grand Canyon of Arizona or the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We can see clear evidence of a gradual process and claiming that God miraculously zapped all of this into existence without a process over time puts God in the role of being a deliberate deceiver. Because most of these rocks are not flood deposits, neither a flood nor intentional deception is an acceptable explanation for these beautiful canyons. Science and faith are friends, and the scientific evidence of how canyons like this were formed gives evidence of the patience, design, and purposes of God.

October 14, 2022March 25, 2025

The Concept of Being Human

In my lifetime, the definition of the concept of being human has gone through many changes. When I was in high school, defining a human was based on the use of tools. Since then, people have observed crows, monkeys, and ants using primitive tools. Physical characteristics like brain size and erect posture fail on several fronts and, therefore, cannot be what distinguishes humans. Some have suggested that group dynamics are characteristic of humans, but bees, ants, and naked mole rats exhibit very complex group dynamics.

Scientists use the term “eusociality” for instances where colony members play various and separate roles to ensure the group’s survival. Now researchers have discovered plants that display eusociality. Dr. Kevin Burns at Victoria University of Wellington led a study of the staghorn fern Platycerium bifurcatum, an epiphytic plant. Epiphytic plants grow on other plants or trees and get their moisture and nutrients from the air. These staghorn ferns grow in colonies on trees in Australia.

Ferns reproduce by spores that originate on the fronds, which are the leaves of the ferns. The research team found that these ferns produce two types of fronds. Strap fronds are long and narrow and produce energy for the colony by photosynthesis. Some also produce spores for reproduction, but 40% do not. Nest fronds varied in size and shape and did not contribute to reproduction. Instead, they anchor the colony to the tree and provide for water and nutrient storage. In this colony of ferns, we see separate roles to ensure colony survival. With each of the roles contributing to the colony’s survival, this is an example of eusociality.

In the system of life on this planet, we see animals and even plants that do surprising things, showing design by an intelligent Creator. With that in mind, defining the concept of being human cannot be merely based on what we can do. The biblical definition of humans avoids that problem by describing humans as created in the image of God. Our spiritual makeup is what makes us unique. Our physical characteristics and what we can do physically cannot define what it means to be human. We are created in the Creator’s image, which sets us apart from the rest of the creation.

References: National Wildlife, October–November 2022, page 8, and Ecology.

October 13, 2022October 12, 2022

Infectious Diseases Can Spread from Animals to Humans

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us that three-quarters of “new or emerging infectious diseases” in humans originated in animals. Medical scientists call them zoonotic infections. Furthermore, six of every ten known infectious diseases can spread from animals to humans. Diseases that originated in animals include SARS, Zika, Ebola, West Nile, HIV, COVID, and Monkeypox. Some diseases, such as HIV, have jumped to humans because of sexual relationships between humans and animals.

As the human population grows, people have more contact with animals and use more animals for food. In addition, the pet trade has seen a massive increase, with a wider variety of animals being confined to homes and sharing everything from beds to meals with their human owners.

Those who blame God for the diseases that are such a serious problem should understand that God never intended for animals to replace humans as family members. A virus that may be of no consequence or even helpful to an animal can cause severe problems for humans. The Old Testament contains strict hygienic rules designed to minimize disease transmission when raising and using animals for food. The rules also forbid using blood as food and any sexual relationship with animals. (See Leviticus 17:12 and Deuteronomy 27:21.).

We may think the biblical instructions for using and managing animals were just for religious purposes. However, it is evident that God knew infectious diseases can spread from animals to humans, and He wanted to protect His people. This is one more example of the consequences of rejecting the Bible as a source of information on how we should live and what our priorities should be.

Reference: United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

October 10, 2022October 9, 2022

Remarkable Molas or Ocean Sunfish

The largest fish in the world weighs over two tons, is 14 feet tall, and has bones instead of cartilage like sharks and rays. It’s the mola or ocean sunfish. The remarkable molas live in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide.

A female mola can produce up to 300 million eggs at a time. When they hatch, these fish weigh less than a gram and are 2.5 mm (.098 inches) long. The hatchlings have a back fin that folds into itself, forming a rudder called a clavus. Molas get their name from the Latin word for “millstone” because of their circular shape. They are not good swimmers using large dorsal and anal fins to move while steering with their clavus. In spite of that, molas sometimes breach, jumping 10 feet into the air to shake off parasites. Small fish help them by eating the parasites. When they are on the ocean surface, molas even allow birds to clean away the parasites. As a result, most mola sightings occur when birds are cleaning them.

Why would God create such odd fish as the remarkable molas? The answer is that molas are significant jellyfish controllers. Jellyfish have very few enemies, and left uncontrolled, they would soon dominate the oceans and become a hazard to humans. Molas are designed to be unaffected by the stinging cells of jellyfish. They have small mouths with teeth fused into a beak-like structure. This boney beak enables them to eat any species of jellyfish without being injured by their stinging cells.

In recent years, we have seen numerous cases where humans eliminate predators, throwing nature out of balance. The result is that nature becomes overrun with species previously controlled by predators. For example, here in Michigan, eliminating wolves and bears has caused the deer population to skyrocket, creating big problems for humans.

People are the worst enemies of the remarkable molas. When we discard plastic bags, they often end up in the ocean, where molas mistake them for jellyfish and swallow them, resulting in suffocation. So once again, we must manage what God has given us more carefully. If we don’t, the result can be catastrophic.

Reference: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 182 (3) 631-658

October 7, 2022October 4, 2022

Legalizing Destructive Behavior

The world is in the process of legalizing destructive behavior by allowing the recreational use of drugs that cause incredible suffering to all people. Skeptics say we should allow the use of recreational drugs by pointing to the “failure” of prohibition, which banned the sale of alcoholic drinks in the United States. However, prohibition saw a significant reduction in murder, divorce, drunk driving, and abuse of all kinds. The fact that alcohol promoters used underhanded ways to make alcohol available does not change the fact that prohibition positively affected society in general.

Now we are seeing the legalization of recreational marijuana. California led the way in 2016, and other states are following. We are not talking about the controlled use of cannabis in medical applications or the treatment of mental illness. One of the arguments for legalizing marijuana was that it would put illegal sellers out of business. But, the Los Angeles Times reports that “the exact opposite is happening now.” The newspaper said, “It has spread crime into rural areas and turned local politics across the state into a morass of corruption.”

The paper reported that local politicians are demanding six-figure bribes for growing licenses as the use of marijuana has become more widespread. “Illegal and completely unregulated” growing operations have popped up across California, overwhelming law enforcement. “Heavily armed camps filled with violent armed men, often tied to cartels, now dot the countryside.” In addition, the paper said that the legal trade is threatened because cannabis prices from illegal sources have dropped so low.

Satan is alive and well on planet Earth. The result is always catastrophic when Christians sit back in complacency while states are legalizing destructive behavior that hurts others and goes against God’s instructions for how we should live.

Reference: The Week for September 30, 2022, page 12.