Your Sixth Sense

Creation Moments

Your Sixth Sense

November 28, 2024 • Ian Taylor

“Name the five senses.” Every school child is asked that question. However, now the question is outdated because a sixth sense has been discovered.

Years ago, University of Utah anatomist David L. Berliner noticed a strange reaction among coworkers. Normally his coworkers did not get along well. However, when he was working with open vials of extracts from human skin, there was a noticeable rise in friendliness. A few months later, when he sealed the extracts, coworkers were again unable to get along with each other.

That experience led Berliner, thirty years later, to discover the purpose of the vomeronasal organ – VNO for short. In animals, the VNO detects odorless pheromones – chemicals used to communicate readiness to mate and similar messages. Evolutionists thought that the human VNO was a useless vestigial organ left over from our evolution. Berliner discovered that the centimeter-long organ in our nose detects odorless human pheromones. It uses a system completely different from your nose. The VNO sends its messages to the hypothalamus while the nose is wired to other sections of the brain. The hypothalamus controls basic drives and emotions.

Scientists long ago thought that they had identified all the senses. The discovery of the VNO shows that science still has very much to learn about the material creation. That places science in a poor position to pass judgments on biblical truth.

1 Corinthians 8:1b

“…we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.”

Prayer: Father in heaven, I praise You that You have so wondrously made us. There is much to praise You for that we still don’t know about. Help me not to be puffed up with false knowledge, but to humbly place my trust in Christ. Amen.

Notes: Gene Bylinsky. 1992. “A Sixth Sense That Affects How You Feel.” Fortune, Jan. 27, p. 99. Illustration: Frontal section of human embryo's nasal cavity, Henry Vandyke Carter, PD.

Smart Bacteria

December 4, 2024 • Ian Taylor

How smart do bacteria need to be? You might be surprised. Scientists were. Some bacteria swim toward things that they like and away from things they don’t like. That may seem simple enough to us, but it’s not that simple for a bacterium. E. coli swim through liquids using whip-like hairs called flagella. However, because they are so tiny, their movement through water is like a human trying to swim through molasses. They only move when they rotate their flagella. When rotated counterclockwise, their six or eight flagella wind together, forming a propeller that rotates at 140 revolutions per second! This moves the bacterium along in a straight line. However, periodically the bacterium will reverse its propeller, causing the flagella to unwrap and spinning the bacterium into a tumble. This led scientists to wonder how a bacterium ever got where it wanted to go. Scientists also realized that for a bacterium to get to something that attracts it, it must have sensors and a memory. A bacterium must be able to say to itself, “It smells better here than where I was a moment ago. I’ll keep moving in this direction.” In other words, scientists are trying to figure out what makes bacteria so smart and gives them so many unexpected abilities. The intelligence and abilities of bacteria are no mystery to those who know that we have an intelligent Creator. We would expect everything He made to reflect His great abilities. Proverbs 10:14 “Wise [men] lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish [is] near destruction.” Prayer: Father in heaven, for Jesus’ sake forgive me for not reflecting the intelligence You have given me. Help me to make better use of my intellect for You and for others. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Image: 3d illustration of bacteria, Envato.

A Matter of Life or Death

December 3, 2024 • Ian Taylor

According to the Bible, God created the heavens and the earth in a perfect condition – without disease or death. However, when man did his own will instead of God’s will, death became a reality, just as God had warned. On the other hand, evolution says that death has nothing to do with man’s disobedience to his Creator. Evolution also says that our genetic information has developed over the years to help us survive. Can these opposite claims be tested? Biologists have discovered that living cells have a built-in suicide gene. The suicide gene remains dormant until it is necessary for the cell to die. For example, as a tadpole turns into a toad, its tail is no longer needed. As a result, the suicide genes in the tail cells instruct them to die. In other words, living cells have a gene in them that prevents the death of the cell until its appointed time. So in a sense, we can test the Bible’s and evolution’s conflicting claims about life and death. Why would evolution develop genes that order death? By definition, such a gene would not aid survival. However, God told our first parents that the day that they sinned, they would die. It was obviously the curse of sin that created the genetic instructions for cell death, on the very day that they sinned. What biologists are learning about the cell’s workings fits much better with Scripture than with evolutionary claims. Genesis 3:2-3 “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Prayer: I thank You, dear Father, that You have provided a remedy and cure for my death through the forgiveness of my sins in Jesus Christ. By Your Holy Spirit, help me to live the new life You have given me to Your glory. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Photo: Tadpole of pelophylax frog, Envato.

Riders on the Wind

December 2, 2024 • Ian Taylor

The tiny insect called ice plant scale has no wings. That’s why scientists were surprised to learn that the creature uses sophisticated preflight and flight strategies to move from one ice plant to the next. Ice plant scale infects ice plants, which are plants used in landscaping. To study the insect, scientists had to observe ice plant scale hatchlings under the microscope because they are only one-fiftieth of an inch long. It was in this setting that scientists saw an unexpected insect ballet. Sensing a wind of ten miles per hour or more, a scale would determine the wind direction with its antennae and turn its back to the breeze. It then reared back on its hind legs and extended its antennae and legs. This doubles the insect’s surface area and makes it possible for the insect to be lifted and carried by the wind. By extending its legs and antennae, the insect slows the rate of fall so that it can be carried further by the wind. Scientists noted that even insects that are one day old are knowledgeable about flight and ready to migrate. These actions are designed to allow the wingless insect to take every advantage of the principles of flight. The only scientific conclusion that makes sense is that this knowledge was wired into the insect by its Creator, God Himself. Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive [them], and ye shall have [them].” Prayer: Lord, I am amazed when I see the care and detail You have given to everything in the creation. Forgive me for the times I have treated You as though You were distant and I had been left here on my own. Amen. Notes: “Blown Away: Riders on the Wind.” Science News, Vol 125, #13, Mar. 31, p. 201. Photo: Iceplant scales, Mary K. Hanson, CC-BY, via iNaturalist.