The painted lady butterfly gets its name from the beautiful design in orange, black and white on its wings, which average about two and a half inches in full span. Every year, millions of these little creatures are seen in full migration.
The painted lady is the most widespread of all species of butterfly. It is found in Asia, Africa and South America. The species familiar to North Americans migrates from Mexico all the way to Canada. This is a one-way trip because the female butterfly lays her eggs in Mexico, then migrates to Canada, where she eventually dies. In some way the following year, each newly hatched butterfly in Mexico knows exactly when and where to migrate, but this is one of the great mysteries of migration.
Some years there are more painted lady butterflies than others, and Dennis Murphy, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University, has pointed out that the migrating population can be a thousand times greater in an exceptional year compared to normal years. Dr. Murphy believes that these unusually large populations are the result of drought conditions that also produce a greater crop of weedy thistles. The painted lady butterflies live on these thistles and never threaten any other crop.
God’s design of the painted lady butterfly bears witness to His work as an artistic Creator who paints the landscape for thousands of miles with these beautiful creatures and a logical Creator who maintains the balance of nature.
1 Peter 3:3-4
“Whose adorning let it not be that outward [adorning] of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But [let it be] the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, [even the ornament] of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”
Prayer: I thank You, Lord, for the lavish beauty You have created and shared so generously with all, rich or poor. Help me to be better able to share the beauty of Your salvation with those whose lives I touch. Amen.
Photo: Painted lady butterfly, Envato.
The Miracle of Hearing
December 20, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Your high school biology textbook may have given you the idea that modern science understands how hearing works. While science understands the general principles, researchers are still trying to understand the details.
Hearing starts with the skin and cartilage on the outside of our heads that we call the ear. This tissue is carefully designed to collect sound waves and focus them into the hole in the lower center part of the external ear. That hole is a tube that runs for about an inch to the eardrum. As the eardrum vibrates with the incoming sound, tiny specialized bones pick up the vibrations. One of these bones changes the vibrations into hydraulic pressure.
The sound, now converted to hydraulic pressure, is sent to the cochlea. This coiled, bony canal is lined with tissue that has four long rows of hair cells. A vibration as small as the width of an atom will move these hairs. Each movement of the hair causes a change in the electrical potential of the hair cell’s membrane. This change triggers a current that is fed to the auditory nerve and interpreted as sound by the brain. Each of the hairs in the ear responds best to a specific frequency.
The ability to hear could have been engineered using a much less complex design. Such a design, however, would leave us unable to hear the subtleties of an orchestra or a bird’s song. Our Creator is not only capable of excellent workmanship, but also generous in His creation.
2 Samuel 22:50
“Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.”
Prayer: I thank You, dear Father, for the richness of the sounds in Your creation. Let my voice praise You and tell others of Your wondrous works, especially the salvation You have prepared through the forgiveness of sins through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Photo: Doctor with human Ear anatomy model, Envato.
A Star Takes a Swan Dive
December 19, 2024 • Ian Taylor
The life cycle of a star is supposed to be millions of years; thus, human observers should not be able to see the birth and death of an individual star. Now a star that first became visible in the year 1600 is causing some astronomers to rethink their theories about the time it takes for stars to evolve.
According to the evolutionary way of dating things, some stars – like our sun – have been burning for billions of years. Astronomers say that stars go through different stages in their lifetimes. As a result, they can tell by color and brightness just how old a star is. The Bible says, of course, that the stars were created by God in the much more recent past.
In the year 1600, a star in the constellation of Cygnus, the swan, suddenly became bright enough to see from earth. Astronomers report that the star, called P Cygni, has gotten gradually brighter and is half again as bright today as it was in 1700. This brightening is expected in the normal lifetime of a star. The problem is, at this rate the star is aging too fast, even for a large star. One scientist noted that the time scale for star aging can be measured in centuries rather than hundreds of centuries. In other words, so-called “old stars” can be much younger than expected. That being the case, God’s universe itself is seen to be much younger than expected – perhaps only thousands and not billions of years old.
Romans 8:20-21
“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected [the same] in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
Prayer: Dear Father, as I am reminded that the entire creation is growing old and wearing out because of sin, cheer me again with the sure knowledge of the forgiveness of sin won for me by Your Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. In His Name. Amen.
Photo: Constellations, Johannes Hevelius, Scanned by Torsten Bronger, PD, Wikicommons, changes made.
Crunchy Medicine
December 18, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Celery is an old Asian folk remedy for mild cases of high blood pressure. In one unscientific test, the father of a University of Chicago medical student lowered his mild hypertension simply by adding a quarter pound of celery to his diet every day for a week.
Now his son, a doctor named Quang T. Le, believes he has discovered how celery lowers blood pressure. His discovery could change the way high blood pressure is treated. Hypertension is caused when the smooth muscle lining of the blood vessels tightens. This makes vessels narrower, making it more difficult for blood to get through. Stress hormones in the blood cause the muscles to tighten.
Dr. Le discovered that celery contains a chemical that relaxes the smooth muscle tissue of the vessels. It does this by getting to the root of the problem. Stress hormones are made by the body using a specific enzyme. The natural chemical in celery prevents the enzyme from forming into stress hormones, thus preventing the chemistry that creates high blood pressure. The researchers hope that the chemical will lead to a more effective treatment for high blood pressure. They also recommend against eating celery to lower blood pressure since it contains sodium and other chemicals that can be harmful to some people when taken in high dosages.
How did the ancient Asians learn about this natural solution to hypertension? Clearly, so-called ancient man had a great deal of knowledge about the creation that we are only just learning.
1 Corinthians 15:49
“And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”
Prayer: Lord, when people today talk about previous generations as simple and primitive, they are demeaning Your workmanship, for man was made in Your image. Through the forgiveness of my sins, help me live in Your image today. Amen.
Photo: Man holding celery produce from farm, Envato.
Miracle Bugs
December 17, 2024 • Ian Taylor
God designed and made the universe from nothing.
That’s creation. Man takes what God has made and simply rearranges it to make things that help him. That’s building. The wonderful abilities that God built into plants and animals come from the genetic information that God built into them. Man has now started to use the genetic information created by God to build harmless creatures that better serve our needs.
For example, the silk of the golden orb spider is five times stronger than steel, yet more elastic than any similar material we could manufacture. It could be used to make light and comfortable bulletproof vests and helmets. The problem is, it takes over half a million spiders to make a pound of silk. So scientists have taken the spider gene that makes the silk and put it into a harmless bacterium. When that bacterium divides, it makes more bacteria, complete with the gene. Today there are millions of bacteria making usable amounts of spider silk.
This technology has resulted in what has been called the greatest revolution since industrialization. Bacteria are now making insulin, vaccines and even chocolate. Today, bacteria are mainly used to manufacture medicines.
Man has learned a great deal about how to make use of the creation. However, the genetic information that makes this all possible in the first place is a product of the genius of our Creator.
Job 15:8
“Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?”
Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that You have given us the ability to learn how to make productive use of what You have created. I pray that man will not misuse this technology. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Notes: Doug Stewart. “These Germs Work Wonders.” Readers Digest. Photo: Golden orb spider, Envato.
Insulated Blackbirds
December 16, 2024 • Ian Taylor
European blackbirds love southern Germany so much that many of them stay for the winter. Some of the blackbirds migrate to North Africa, Spain or southern France to escape the cold. Like the robin in North America, however, some European blackbirds don’t migrate.
European blackbirds are able to live through the cold German winter because they are designed with several features that use sophisticated principles from biochemistry and physics. To cope with the winter cold, the birds fluff up their feathers. This creates more insulating dead air spaces between their warm bodies and the cold. Then they tuck their head inside the feathers, making their body into a ball. A round ball is the most heat-conserving shape possible for any object. The ball also protects poorly insulated parts of their bodies – like feet, legs and beak.
Food is also more scarce in the winter. On top of that, the birds’ need for energy is five times higher at 20 degrees below zero (F) than it is during the summer. The blackbirds reduce their energy needs by lowering their body temperature at night when they are curled into a ball. Scientists have found that, as a result, European blackbirds are in no danger of freezing, even at 20 degrees below zero, as long as they can get enough food!
The intelligent special designs found in the European blackbird reflect a sophisticated knowledge of biochemistry and physics. By its very existence, the European blackbird glorifies our Creator God.
Job 12:7, 9-10
“But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand [is] the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.”
Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that You have designed Your creation not only for the benefit of Your creatures, but also so that it is nearly impossible to attribute Your handiwork to someone or something else. Amen.
Notes: “Stay-at-home blackbirds cope with cold.” Science News. Photo: Blackbird in snow, Envato.
The Problem of Genius
December 13, 2024 • Ian Taylor
We have for so long been led to believe that early man evolved from the animal kingdom and, thus, began with little intelligence. But is our mental capacity today really the result of evolution from brute beginnings?
From time to time, individuals display a mental capacity that far exceeds their need of it. This anomaly presents a serious challenge to the theory of evolution. Consider the example of George Koltanowski, International Chess Grandmaster. In 1960 he played against 56 other chessmasters simultaneously, winning 50 games and tying 6. He took about 10 seconds per move and was blindfolded throughout the entire nine-hour marathon! This is an incredible achievement of the human memory. Evolution is said to depend upon chance mutations that give the individual a survival advantage, but it is difficult to see how this would explain George Koltanowski’s extraordinary memory capacity.
It is sometimes suggested that most of us only use part of our brain capacity, while a genius uses almost all of it. But why would an evolutionary process have given us all this capacity in the first place? A far more reasonable argument is that today’s genius is simply an unusual retention of ancestral brain capacity that reminds us that God created man in His own image.
Genesis 5:1
“This [is] the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him.”
Prayer: Dear Lord, please help us to recognize that You created us in the beginning in Your perfect image. Sin has caused us to fall a long way from that perfection, but You have provided a way through Jesus to make us whole again. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Notes: Hooper, J.R. & A. Whyld. The Oxford Companion to Chess. Oxford University Press, p. 206. Photo: George Koltanowski playing many games of chess simultaneously, doe-oakridge, PD.
Octopus School
December 12, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Can an octopus be as smart as a dolphin or even a human? The octopus is thought by those who believe in evolution to be an early, primitive form of life. They certainly look primitive, but that’s a subjective opinion based upon the many imaginative illustrations we have all seen in books and films. And we might also say that they do not appear to be very intelligent, but again, do we really know for sure?
In some recent work, researchers had two tanks of octopi and placed a red ball in one and a white ball in the other. The octopi in each tank were trained to attack the balls in their tank. They then placed another tank of untrained octopi close by where they could watch their trained companions. A red and a white ball were then dropped into their tank and, sure enough, those who had watched a red ball being attacked did the same thing but ignored the white ball. Not only did the untrained octopi attack the same color they had watched being attacked, but they learned the lesson much faster than the first group.
This discovery about the intelligence of the octopus is even more surprising because they’re not social creatures. Social vertebrates tend to appear more intelligent because they learn from one another. In a similar way, the Creator of this universe became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ so that we could learn by watching and listening to Him.
Philippians 2:5-7
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”
Prayer: I thank You, Lord Jesus, for becoming like us so that we could more easily understand Your message for us. I especially thank You that You endured the suffering of the cross so that my sins might be forgiven and I might be restored to God. Amen.
Notes: M. Stron. “In the lab, it’s octopus see, octopus do.” Science News, Vol. 141, p.262. Photo: Octopus in tank, Envato.
A Fish Story
December 11, 2024 • Ian Taylor
School biology textbooks offer students good facts but often bad interpretation of those facts. For example, when explaining how fish evolved into air-breathing land animals, students are usually offered a great deal of misinformation about living and extinct fish.
It is not true that lungfish are an odd class of fish and that no other fish have lungs – many do, and some have lungs as well as gills. The textbook explanation says that all early fish had air-filled swim bladders, as most fish do today. The textbooks go on to say that the bladders in some of these fish eventually evolved into lungs. Then, as these fish spent more time on land, some of them gradually lost their gills and developed from amphibians into reptiles. The facts are shown in the fossil record where, according to evolutionists’ own inflated system of dating, lungs actually appeared in fish before swim bladders! A logical evolutionist would have to conclude that the fish’s air bladder evolved from lungs. The problem for evolutionists is that this is precisely opposite of what they need for the theory. If we telescope the evolutionary years into historical years, however, the fossil record agrees with Scripture. In other words, fish with lungs and fish with swim-bladders both appeared on day five of creation.
The lesson for us here is that when science tells the truth, it actually confirms those seemingly simple statements found in the Bible.
Genesis 1:20
“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.”
Prayer: Dear Lord, I thank You that among the din of man’s mistaken opinions, I have trustworthy knowledge available in Your Word. Increase my resolve to learn and apply Your Word so that I am not so easily misled by man’s mistaken opinions. Amen.
Notes: Joachim Vetter. “Something fishy about lungs.” Creation ExNihilo, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 46-47. Photo: Fossil of fish, Envato.
Jungle Fungus Fighter
December 10, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Throughout the open markets of Kenya, shopkeepers sell leaves and strips of bark from the warburgia bush. The leaves and bark are used to relieve toothaches, fevers, constipation, and the taste of meat gone slightly sour. Medical researchers have been examining extracts from the bush for use with antibiotics.
The immune system of a healthy person will keep fungal infections under control quite easily. When the immune system has been weakened by illness, however, heavy doses of antibiotics, chemotherapy are needed because fungal infections can be life-threatening.
Researchers discovered that two extracts from the warburgia bush can boost the effects of antibiotics. One of the extracts, coupled with an antibiotic used against yeast cells, resulted in a treatment that was 16 times more powerful than the antibiotic alone. Warburgia extracts also boosted antibiotics’ effects against various fungal infections, including the fungus that causes athlete’s foot.
How many medicines has our Creator hidden in the plants of the earth for us to discover? We can thank Him that, in His mercy, He has provided so many earthly remedies for the disease that has resulted because of sin. What is more important, however, is that we can thank Him for the forgiveness of sins that was won by Christ for us in His suffering and death.
Matthew 16:26
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Prayer: Thank You, Father, for Your generous gifts that have helped us reverse some of the earthly effects of sin. Bless our researchers as they continue to search for more medicines. However, help me always remember to look to Christ for the ultimate, permanent solution to my sin. In His Name. Amen.
Notes: Photo: Streets of Africa, Envato.
Moth Talk
December 9, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Scientists are learning that there is much more going on among those moths that flutter around your yard light than they ever expected.
Scientists have long known that moths communicate with each other, using hormones called pheromones. A female moth who is ready to mate will send a pheromone into the air. Males who sense the pheromone will seek out the female. Research now shows that the moths’ system is much more elegant than this.
The female who wants to contact a male doesn’t simply send out a scented invitation. Rather, she releases her pheromones in a series of pulses. These pulses are released at the rate of from one to more than two pulses per second. Scientists used powder to study the pulses. To their surprise, they discovered that the pulses can be propelled for up to a meter. That’s equivalent to you being able to blow out a candle from 60 feet away! These pulses had researchers puzzled. Then they realized that the pulses would help male moths locate a female as they were drawn near by the scent of the pheromone. This seems to be confirmed by the fact that the male’s antennae send a signal to its brain that has the same frequency as the female’s pulses.
The creation shows much more than design. Each of the details of the creation have the elegant intricacy of a master Designer. This is, in part, what St. Paul refers to when he writes that the very Godhead of the Creator can be seen in the creation.
1 Corinthians 15:28
“And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”
Prayer: Father in heaven, I admire and thank You for the excellence of Your workmanship in the creation. As I do my daily tasks, help me to take care to put the best workmanship into my work so that You will be glorified in everything I do. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Notes: “Smoke Puffs for Sexual Communication.” Science News, Vol 25, #25, June 23, p. 393. Photo: Eyed hawk moth, Envato.
Intelligent Artists
December 6, 2024 • Ian Taylor
The ancient, yet beautiful, paintings in the Lascaux cave in France were discovered more than 80 years ago. The paintings are thousands of years old and there seems to be no other record of the painters. In those 80 years, researchers studying the paintings have deepened their admiration for the intelligence and skill of the artists.
Researchers have found the scaffolding used by the artists as well as the stone lamps they used to light the work area. The palettes and even the pigments still on the palettes have also been found.
Using scanning electron microscopes and other high-tech equipment, researchers learned that the artists collected a range of local minerals. Mineral deposits within 15 kilometers of the cave were able to provide a full range of colors. The minerals were ground into fine powder and mixed to create pigmented paints that hold their color and beauty to this day.
As we look around the creation, we can clearly see that our Creator has a love for beauty. When He made us, He gave that appreciation for beauty to us as well. However, in our day we have also seen how man’s rebellion against God can twist art into ugliness and evil. Christians today need to face the question of what is art and what isn’t. As we do this, we can ask ourselves whether a given piece of art reflects our Creator’s love of beauty, or whether it reflects the ugliness of man’s sin and rebellion against his Creator.
Psalm 90:17
“And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”
Prayer: Lord, I thank You for the beauty that surrounds us in Your creation. Increase the appreciation for true art that reflects Your love of beauty among Your people, and deliver us from art that reflects the ugliness of man’s sin. Amen.
Notes: Ivars Peterson. “Pigment Processing for Cave Paintings.” Science News, Vol. 125, p. 348. Photo: Lascaux cave painting, EUX, PD.
Crystalline Silk
December 5, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Scientists have been studying the safety line used by the common garden spider to save itself when falling. This safety line is as strong as nylon and has twice as much stretch.
The drag line silk is only one of several kinds that the spider can make. Scientists report that the silk is made of sections that are crystalline and sections that are like rubber. This makes it both stretchy and strong. Amazed chemists note that usually when you make something stronger, you also make it more likely to break rather than stretch. Since spider silk is twice as strong as silkworm silk, why hasn’t it been used to make more things?
To harvest enough spider silk for study, scientists place a spider on a piece of cardboard. Then they bump the spider off the cardboard. As the spider makes the drag line silk, a scientist turns the cardboard to reel it in. One spider made half-a-mile of silk in ten minutes! This fact might give you a hint about why spider silk isn’t used to manufacture items. It’s too fine. In the early eighteenth century, an inventor did make gloves and stockings from spider silk. However, his experience showed that it would take more than half a million spiders to make a pound of silk!
The spider and its silk are engineering marvels that clearly show why we must rely on a Creator to explain the world in which we live.
2 Corinthians 4:7
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
Prayer: Lord, I thank You for the intricate wonders that surround me in Your creation. As I do my tasks, help me to put my best workmanship into them. Help me to do everything as my best offering to You. Amen.
Notes: J. A. Miller. “Spider Silk Stretch and Strength.” Science News, Vol 125, #25, June 23, p. 391. Photo: Yellow garden spider, Envato.
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.
