science Archives

November 4, 2021November 3, 2021

Anole Lizards Can Breathe Underwater

Researchers from the University of Toronto wanted to know how anole lizards could stay underwater for up to 18 minutes. To study them, the scientists went to Costa Rica and captured lizards in 32 species of the Anolis genus. They found that anole lizards can breathe underwater.

Their study showed that all species of anole lizards breathe air trapped around their snouts while submerged. The skin of these lizards is hydrophobic (water repellent) and traps a thin film of air between the water and the skin. Because of the lizard’s design, the trapped air ends up in a bubble over its nose. When the lizard inhales, the air bubble deflates. When the lizard exhales, the film traps the air around its nose until the anole breathes in again. You could say the lizard has a built-in “scuba-diving” system allowing it to breathe underwater.

This is another example of very specialized equipment built into living things allowing life to exist in challenging environments. The more we learn about the creation, the more we see specialized systems that enable planet Earth to support an incredible variety of life.

Anole lizards can breathe underwater, and the various species share this survival design. The researchers call it “macroevolutionary convergence.” We call it a shared body design for survival with a built-in design for knowing how to use it. Specialized equipment and behavior show evidence of intelligence in the design of the different varieties of life we see around us. As Romans 1:20 says, “We can know there is a God through the things He has made.”

Reference: American Scientist, November/December 2021, page 336. The scientific article is published in the journal Current Biology.

November 3, 2021November 2, 2021

Human Evolution from Lower Life Forms

According to new research, a majority of Americans accept human evolution from lower life forms. Researchers asked people whether they believed that “human beings as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.” The result was that 52% of the people questioned said yes, 36% said no, and 12% said they didn’t know.

The data also shows that only 34% of Republicans accepted human evolution as opposed to 83% of Democrats. The study’s authors say that “religious fundamentalism” is the primary factor obstructing belief in human evolution from lower life forms. They went on to qualify who is a religious fundamentalist by five criteria. They include whether a person believes in a personal God and accepts a literal reading of the Bible. It was also based on how often they attended religious services in a typical week and how frequently they prayed. Finally, the definition involved whether they agreed with this statement: “We depend too much on science and not enough on faith.” Obviously, this is broader than the typical definition of “fundamentalist.”

It would be interesting to see someone study how these numbers correlate with moral conduct, cases of abuse, and other social ills that are increasing in our culture. The survey supposedly used “a representative national sample,” but any study like this would likely have difficulty finding a truly representative sample. For example, data from the Bible Belt would be different from New England, and the nature of the people doing the sampling can skew the data.

As a majority of Americans accept human evolution from lower life forms, we see the educational programs and materials from DOES GOD EXIST? becoming increasingly important. With our culture becoming more polarized, extremists on both sides make progress increasingly difficult.

Reference: This study was reported by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. The journal Public Understanding of Science published the research.

November 2, 2021November 1, 2021

Ducklings Swimming in Single-File – It’s Because of Fluid Dynamics

We live on the riverbank, and many geese, ducks, and swans swim by our house daily. I have always been curious about why waterfowl tend to swim in a line each time I see ducklings swimming in single-file behind their mother. Researchers at the University of Strathclyde in the U.K. have applied a mathematical and numerical model to find an explanation.

For example, the swimming of the mother duck sets up an interference pattern reducing the wave-drag and propelling the trailing duckling forward as it surfs the wave. In this way, the lead duckling swims in the “sweet spot” behind its mother. With the rest of the ducklings swimming in single-file, the “wave-riding” benefit carries further. After the third duckling in line, a “delicate dynamic equilibrium” is reached in which each duckling acts as a “wave passer,” passing on wave energy to the next one behind without loss of energy.

The lead author of the study is Zhiming Yuan, and he gave the researcher’s description of this design by saying, “It’s so beautiful.” He thinks that there could be applications for maritime technology with shipping firms designing their vessels so they can travel like ducks in a row to reduce fuel consumption.

It seems that evolutionary natural selection would have terminated this arrangement. An eagle wanting a duck or goose meal would have little trouble picking off ducklings swimming in single-file behind their mother. If the birds were moving in random arrangement around their mother, it should be far more difficult to focus on and pick off one of them. Survival of the fittest doesn’t seem to apply to the behavior of the birds that use a single file approach to travel.

We see that this design is built into the DNA of these birds to provide conservation of energy which is critical to their survival. When you look anywhere in the natural world, you will see extraordinary design to allow living things to exist and thrive.

Reference: The Week, November 5, 2021 page 21. You can find the original scientific report HERE.

November 1, 2021October 31, 2021

The Overview Effect and What It Can Do

The International Space Station (ISS) has now been actively supporting humans in space for 21 years. Since November 2, 2000, people have continuously resided in that small laboratory looking down on the rest of us, watching sunrises and sunsets sixteen times a day from a different perspective. The experience can be a reminder of how small we are. Astronauts have described a feeling that has been called “the overview effect.”

The overview effect is a change in perspective that many people experience when looking down on Earth from space. We are accustomed to seeing a limited view of our surroundings. However, when a person’s horizon opens to see the circle of the Earth (Isaiah 40:22) hanging on nothing (Job 26:7) surrounded by an extremely thin and fragile atmospheric layer (Job 26:10), the experience can be mind-changing if not life-changing.

The ISS orbits a little over 200 miles (322 km) above Earth’s surface. The Kármán Line at 100 km (62 miles) is the internationally-recognized boundary of space. Recently, commercial space companies have taken private individuals beyond that boundary to view Earth from space and briefly experience microgravity described as weightlessness. Perhaps the most notable was 90-year-old actor William Shatner who played Captain Kirk on the TV series Star Trek. In a tweet he wrote before the flight, he described himself as “a boy playing on the seashore…whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

Shatner’s reaction after he returned to Earth’s surface is very interesting. He shed emotional tears, and here is some of what he said:

“I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened. It’s extraordinary, extraordinary. It’s so much larger than me and life… It has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the suddenness of life and death… To see the blue color whip by you, and now you’re staring into backness…everybody in the world needs to do this. Everybody in the world needs to see this.”

I think Shatner is correct that it would be beneficial for each of us to see Earth from that perspective just once in our lifetime. The overview effect could change our attitude toward many things, including life and death. In addition, it would help us realize just how small we are and how amazing it is that God cares about us. (See Matthew 6:25-34.)

October 29, 2021October 28, 2021

What the Brain Allows Us to Do

Of all of the parts of your body that radiate design and complex structure, the brain is probably the most amazing. When we compare what the brain allows us to do and human efforts to build a computer to duplicate those things, we realize the incredible nature of the brain’s creation. No computer can do everything your brain does and probably never will.

A big question in understanding the brain is what controls intelligence. For example, a blue whale has a giant brain, almost five times as big as ours, but there is no evidence that they have superior intelligence. However, brain size is a factor in how much energy it uses. Our brain is about 2% of our body weight, but it consumes 20% of our energy.

Studies have shown large variations in brain size within the bird family. For example, ravens have bigger brains than the much larger ostriches, and they also demonstrate greater intelligence. On the other hand, some fish have tiny brains. For instance, bony-eared assfish have the smallest brain-to-body mass ratio of any vertebrate, but they require only a few simple functions to survive in their deep ocean environment.

Research has shown that different parts of animal brains are different sizes depending on the animal’s needs. For example, owls have a more extensive section of their brains related to sight than other birds that don’t hunt at night. Crows and parrots have the largest brain size compared to the bodyweight of all birds. They are also considered to be the most intelligent of all birds. It is quite clear, however, that brain size is not a primary factor in intelligence. On average, male human brains are larger than female brains, and no one would suggest that males are more intelligent.

The bottom line is that brains are tailor-made to fit what the individual needs to survive. Also, the critical factor isn’t the size of the brain but the size of the brain section the animal requires for survival. In humans, the ability to create art and music does not seem to be related to the brain. Mentally challenged humans frequently create marvelous works of art and compose beautiful music. The human capacity to worship and to believe there is more to existence than this life do not seem to be related to any brain response.

What the brain allows us to do is an incredible demonstration of God’s wisdom and design. However, it is not our brains but our spiritual make-up that makes humans different from other living things. We are created in the image of God, allowing us to do things and understand things that are beyond all other life on Earth.

Reference: American Scientist, November/December 2021 pages 352-359.

October 27, 2021October 26, 2021

Check the Credentials of Online Teachers

It is essential to check the credentials of online teachers in science or religion. Some people can lead you astray with false teaching in areas they don’t really understand.

We have pointed out many times that there is a difference between factual evolution and various theories of evolution. Many evolution theories have to do with humans evolving from lower life forms. However, the facts of evolution are what drive modern agriculture. Scientists have developed cattle that grow faster, get bigger, and have less fat. They have developed new strains of corn with higher protein content. We have a vast variety of roses that growers have developed. Evolution is change over time, and it can be natural or human-caused. For example, we all know today that viruses can mutate naturally as well as by human manipulation.

Some have quoted Sir Johnson Anane of Ghana as a source of proof that evolution is not true. However, when referring to evolution, Johnson Anane makes no distinction in what he means. Furthermore, he claims that the teaching of evolutionary theory has been banned in five states in the United States (which isn’t true). Recently, he filed an unsuccessful lawsuit with the Supreme Court of Ghana to ban the teaching of evolution in the public schools of that country.

When we say to check the credentials of online teachers, that applies to Anane. He claims to be a college professor but is actually an assistant lecturer at Sunyani Technical University with a bachelor of science degree in wood technology and management. He also teaches that the Earth is flat, doesn’t move in space, doesn’t rotate on its axis, and is not a planet.

Johnson Anane is not the only false teacher getting attention from people writing in religious journals. Before you buy into any claim, check the person making the statement. Just as it is easy to find false teachings on the internet, the internet also makes it easy to check the credentials of online teachers. The Bible tells us, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)

References: You can find many references to Johnson Anane on the web.

October 25, 2021October 24, 2021

Truth Does Not Grow Old

Truth Does Not Grow Old – by Thayer Salisbury
It has been over 120 years since Spurgeon put these words in print, but they are as true and relevant as this morning’s newspaper. In fact, there may be more truth in this one paragraph than in many full broadsheet newspapers (to say nothing of the tabloids).

“Fontenelle used to say that, if he could only get six philosophers to write in its favour, people could be made to believe that the sun is not the source of light and heat; and I think there is a great deal of truth in the remark. We are told, ‘Well, he is a very learned man, he is a Fellow of Brazenface College, and he has written a book in which he upsets the old dogmas.’ If a learned man writes any nonsense, of course it will have a run, and there is no opinion so insane but, if it has the patronage of so-called scientific men, it will be believed in certain quarters.” –Charles Spurgeon

A whippersnapper told me the other day that a well-established and proven fact could not be true because “that is what people believed in the 1980s.” He offered no evidence that the fact was not a fact. He simply denied it on the basis of its age.

I suppose that fellow does not believe in gravity because it was described and explained in the 1600s. And he must refuse to ride in a car because cars use wheels, and somebody invented the wheel longer ago than anyone can document.

Truth does not grow old. A fact is a fact, even if we do not like it and even if it has been around for centuries. Sadly, falsehood just needs a well-known sponsor or two, and it spreads like wildfire. Stupidity only needs a few to shout it in the popular media, and masses will rush to accept it.

Thayer Salisbury © 2021

We want to thank Thayer Salisbury for allowing us to share this thought with you. Today, many say that faith in God is an old idea, but the new truth is that science explains everything. However, science does not explain the origin of the universe from nothing or the origin of life from non-living matter. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (Romans 1:20). Truth does not grow old.

Reference: https://archive.spurgeon.org/misc/aarm05.php

October 23, 2021October 22, 2021

Shrimp with a Powerful Punch

The peacock mantis is a colorful shrimp with a powerful punch. These crustaceans have front appendages they use as clubs to cripple their prey or defend themselves from predators. Their punch is so quick that researchers studying it had to use a high-resolution camera shooting 20,000 frames per second.

Biologists have been wrestling with whether this is a learned behavior or if it is innate and designed into the shrimp’s genetic makeup. A new study by Duke University researchers has found the answer. Using peacock mantis shrimp captured in the Philippines and the high-speed camera, they studied the shrimp’s larvae. These larvae are about the size of a grain of rice and have transparent exoskeletons. Unlike the opaque exoskeleton of an adult mantis shrimp, researchers could see the internal working of the larvae.

The scientists found that the shrimp larvae began practicing their punches only nine days after hatching and without adult shrimp contact. They determined that the shrimp’s behavior is innate, not learned. That means the design of the genome of the peacock mantis shrimp contains addresses that produce not only the club-like appendage but also the behavioral instructions on how to use it. In other words, these shrimp with a powerful punch were designed that way.

The more you study the specialized abilities of animals, the more you see that very little of their behavior is learned. Most living things are designed with the equipment they need to survive and the skills that allow them to use that equipment. From the monarch butterfly to the whales to tiny crustaceans, the world is full of incredible life forms equipped for survival and designed with built-in instructions for using that equipment. Everywhere we look, we see evidence of God’s design.

Reference: NATIONAL WILDLIFE magazine for October/November 2021, (page 8).

We have previously written about the peacock mantis shrimp’s powerful punch HERE.

We have also written about this shrimp’s amazing eyesight HERE and HERE.

October 20, 2021October 19, 2021

Zebra Finch Memory Mapping Skills

Researchers at the University of California – Berkeley have been studying the ability of birds to use a language skill called “fast mapping.” Until now, only humans have shown this ability. However, scientists are discovering zebra finch memory mapping skills.

The researchers examined 20 birds to see what they could remember and how they used the retained information. The researchers found that the finches could identify their mates’ calls 100% of the time. Furthermore, they could identify the calls of every member of their flock for more than a month. They could even do this when they heard the calls of the other finches as few as five times. Even more interesting is that they demonstrated these skills even with changing calls.

It doesn’t take a lot of thinking to see how valuable this memory ability is. For example, birds that flock together need to be able to recognize every member of their flock. Scientists are using this information to study other animals.

Memory is not dependent on the size of the brain. The zebra finch is a very small bird, and some large animals do not seem to have the memory ability that these finches demonstrate.

Human memory is a subject of intense study, with dementia and Alzheimer’s increasingly becoming a problem that affects us all. Understanding the brain’s design that allows memory storage is essential to improving our ability to store and recall information. Perhaps the zebra finch memory mapping skills can help us understand more of how God designed brains to work.

Reference: National Wildlife magazine, October/November 2021, page 8.

October 19, 2021October 18, 2021

Visiting the Galapagos Islands

In 2013, we had the blessing of visiting the Galapagos Islands, and we spent some time at the Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora. When Charles Darwin studied the living creatures on the Galapagos, what he saw precipitated his understanding of how God’s design in nature works. At the time of Darwin, organized religion taught that every living thing on Earth was created independently by God, and Darwin had been indoctrinated with that belief. However, the Bible does not say that.

While visiting the Galapagos Islands, Darwin examined the tortoises, iguanas, penguins, finches, sea lions, and other life forms. It made him realize that each creature had characteristics that enabled them to survive on each island’s habitat. The variations were minor, but they ensured survival, and it was clear that not all of the islands were of the same age. This led, 1859, to the publication of his book On The Origin of Species and to what Darwin called “evolution by natural selection.”

Darwin did not view his studies as contradicting the Bible. Furthermore, neither did anyone I talked with at Darwin Station or any other research facility in the Galapagos. In I Corinthians 15:39, Paul defines the various forms of life as the flesh of fish, the flesh of birds, the flesh of beasts, and the flesh of man. He did not say flesh of bluebird, the flesh of robin, the flesh of crow, the flesh of hawk, etc. It was not Darwin’s research but speculations that grew out of Darwin’s work that put human guesses at odds with the Bible.

Since 2013, genetic studies have shown that the animals in the Galapagos came from somewhere else. DNA sequencing has shown that the giant Galapagos tortoises have relatives living on the west coast of South America. The DNA sequences are over 90% identical. Because of the modifications, the tortoises can live in the Galapagos, where conditions are very different from South America. The Galapagos sea lion is almost identical to the California sea lion. The marine iguanas in the Galapagos are basically the same as the land lizards in Mexico and Central America. The Galapagos penguin is a virtual twin to the banded penguins of Peru. The DNA sequences give a clear picture of how the volcanic islands of the Galapagos became inhabited.

Visiting the Galapagos Islands in 1831-1836, Darwin didn’t have any way of knowing the genomes of these creatures, but he saw the similarities. We know that animals can be transported long distances by hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, and floating debris. The animals that migrated to the Galapagos adapted to what they found. For example, Iguanas adapted to eating marine algae, and they multiplied in the Galapagos.

We are now using the design that God built into life and what we learned in the Galapagos to produce plants and animals that can provide more food and more nutritious food. The study of genetics is opening doors to our understanding of how to “take care of the garden (planet earth)” that God has placed in our care (Genesis 2:15). Let us do that wisely.

You can learn more about our visit to the Galapagos Islands from the Does God Exist? Journal for May/June 2013. It is available to read on the doesgodexist.org website at THIS LINK. Another reference used in this post is the Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Indiana, for October 9, 2021, page B5.