Scientists describe the creatures as mean, greedy and anti-social. They are also impressive chemists. That’s some reputation for a creature whose lifespan is only four hours. The short form of this microscopic creature’s name is simply bdella.
Bdellas are predatory bacteria that live in fresh and salt water as well as in sewage. In the first stage of its life cycle, it swims freely, using large, whip-like flagella. The favorite food of the bdella is E. coli bacteria and, swimming ten times faster, the bdella rams the bacteria, punching a hole in its outer membrane and injecting six different enzymes. Then the bdella drops its flagellum and enters its prey, where it starts the second stage of its existence.
Over the next two or three hours, the bdella consumes the bacteria and reproduces. The new bdellas rupture the membrane and swim free to start the cycle all over. Scientists believe that the fact that bdellas eat so many different kinds of bacteria means that their purpose is to control the bacteria population.
It is interesting that even though many scientists reject the Creator, when confronted with an amazing creature like bdellas, they look for purpose. Truly the whole creation glorifies our Creator.
Matthew 10:29
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.”
Prayer: Father, I thank You that You are the Author of design and purpose. Forgive me for the times when I have talked about “luck” and “chance,” and thus failed to give a good witness to Your love and personal care. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Notes: Martha Wolfe, “Pee Wee Predator.” Science News, Vol. 125, Jan. 28, pp. 60-61. Illustration: Bdellovibrio life cycle, Estevezj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, changes made.
Magic Mirror
November 21, 2024 • Ian Taylor
It’s a widely accepted modern myth in our computer-driven, technological age that people today are in some way more advanced than people of thousands of years ago.
The biblical picture is that man has always been man. He has the same emotions, cares and needs today that he has always had. He has always been as curious about his world as he is today. The biblical measure of man is not technological, but moral.
Most of these points are difficult to prove. However, occasionally modern man discovers ancient evidence that reveals amazing technology and inventiveness. The makyo, or magic mirror, was invented in China centuries ago. It’s a mirror made of polished bronze that has a design cast into the back. When the mirror is used to reflect light onto a screen, the image on the back of the mirror appears on the screen. Why does the makyo do that? The first scientific paper on the subject was published in 1877. Modern scientists have studied the mirrors using the most sophisticated metal analysis methods known. Yet, they have not been able to figure out the mirror’s secret. That nameless Chinese inventor who designed the makyo centuries ago was a genius, indeed.
Man is ever curious and inventive. However, the true measure for each of us centers on the forgiveness of sins that has been won for us by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.
1 Corinthians 13:12
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
Prayer: Father in heaven, forgive me for those times when I have forgotten that we are measured in terms of our sin and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, not in terms of our cleverness. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Notes: Dietrick E. Thompson. “Inscrutable.” Science News, vol. 125, Jan. 14, pp. 30-31. Photo: Makyo mirror, Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Purpose? To Glorify God!
November 20, 2024 • Ian Taylor
God has created us with a strong desire to know the purpose of things. Evolutionists generally believe that if a feature doesn’t serve a purpose, it should not have evolved. On the other hand, the Bible tells us that purpose is given by God. He gives the woodpecker its incredible tongue because it helps the woodpecker to make its living. In addition, this wondrous design glorifies its Creator. At other times it seems that the Creator has produced some living thing for which there is no apparent purpose other than to glorify Himself. These are the features that give evolutionists the most difficulty.
Male antelopes show a vast array in the designs of their horns. Males may have spears, spirals, curves, twists or simply short daggers. These differences in design suggest that differences in purpose caused the horns to evolve, but that doesn’t make sense. Even stranger is the fact that female antelopes generally have smaller horns that are much more like daggers. Evolutionists are stumped about why female antelopes would evolve short horns while males evolved such a variety.
As Bible-believing Christians, we have no difficulty accepting that the variety of designs in male horns, and the similarity in design of female horns, all serve to glorify the Creator and show that evolutionary explanations don’t really explain anything.
Psalm 115:1
“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, [and] for thy truth's sake.”
Prayer: I thank You, dear Father, for the variety and beauty You have created in the living world. I also thank You that these features glorify You in so many ways. Help my life and words glorify You and bear clear witness to the salvation You have provided for us in the forgiveness of sins through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Photo: Impala antelope, Envato.
Unscientific Source?
November 19, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Most Christians have been told, “Creation isn’t scientific because it comes from the Bible!” Does the source of an idea make the idea unworthy of science?
Many believe that the only truly scientific ideas come to people dressed in white smocks working in laboratories. Experience shows, however, that scientific discoveries can come in the most unusual ways. Friedrich Kekule discovered the theory of atomic valency in a vision while traveling on the top deck of a London bus.
A new, natural insecticide was also discovered in what might be considered an unscientific fashion. Mechanics working at a University of Georgia field research station used a soap called Dirt Squad. Dirt Squad is a grease cutter made from orange peels. The mechanics had dumped some of the cleaner on a fire ant hill. Listeners who are familiar with fire ants know that these nasty members of the insect kingdom are hard to kill. However, the cleaner killed all the ants. Hearing this, one of the scientists used the cleaner on his cat, who had fleas. The soap killed all the fleas. This led scientists at the research station to investigate the oils in citrus peels. They discovered a natural chemical in citric oil that is harmless to vertebrates but deadly to insects.
Any idea, from any source, including the Bible, needs to be considered before it can be accepted or rejected as scientific.
Psalm 119:140
“Thy word [is] very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.”
Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that Your Word is worthy and true. I also thank You that the Bible tells us about much more than can be tested by our experience and science. And I thank You for those who are showing that where the Bible talks about things that can be studied by science, Your Word stands true! Amen.
Photo: Citrus fruit display, Envato.
The Parting of the Red Sea
November 18, 2024 • Ian Taylor
The parting of the Red Sea as the Israelites escaped Egypt is one of the most attacked miracles in the Bible. Much of scholarly opinion says that the Israelites didn’t really escape through the sea. They simply went through a nearby marsh, called the Reed Sea. In the first place, how could the Israelites, loaded down with their own possessions plus the spoils of Egypt, have traveled through a marsh? Second, how could an entire army drown in a swamp?
An article in the bulletin of the American Meteorological Society shows that the Red Sea could have parted just as the Bible describes. In making their case, meteorologists used sophisticated computer simulations and the Bible’s description of the event. Because the extension of the Gulf where the Israelites crossed is so long and shallow, the strong east wind described in Exodus 14, could have lowered the water level by ten feet. The Israelites could then cross on an underwater ridge, with water on both sides of them. The water backed up into the wider portion of the Red Sea could return within a matter of minutes after the wind stopped, drowning pharaoh and his army.
So many of the miraculous events described in the Bible have been explained away by science as natural events and this may just be another case. But all this means is that God can use natural events and that He is in control of when and where they occur.
Exodus 14:21
“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go [back] by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry [land], and the waters were divided.”
Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I thank You for those dedicated scientists who take Your Word seriously and use their talents to glorify You. Let their witness be heard, and move more of our Christian young people to study for the sciences. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Photo: Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Mistletoe Mimicry
November 15, 2024 • Ian Taylor
We usually identify plants by their appearance. Palm trees can be identified because the many different kinds of palms have some common identifying characteristics. Pine trees, likewise, have common features that help us identify them. However, one plant has become a master at looking like many other plants. It has a good reason for doing this.
Mistletoe is a parasite that’s commonly found in Europe, North America and Australia. While it uses its green leaves to make its own food, it gets its water and minerals through roots attached to a host. It’s relatively easy to see the difference between American and European mistletoe and its host. However, many species of Australian mistletoe mimic the host on which they grow.
The drooping mistletoe is so named because its leaves look like those of its host, the eucalyptus tree. The box mistletoe and the pendulous mistletoe both have hard, sickle-shaped leaves that make them look much like other eucalyptus trees on which they grow. Botanists who believe in evolution are divided on how to explain this mimicry. Mistletoe can neither see its host, nor change form like an amoeba.
There’s no problem, however, if we understand that our unlimited Creator also cares about the living things He made. Mistletoe that looks almost identical to its host can make its living without attracting attention to itself.
1 Peter 5:6-7
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
Prayer: Father, I am filled with wonder and I thank You that Your creativity and love are so evident in the creation. You generously provide for all Your creatures. I especially thank You that You have provided for my greatest need, the forgiveness of sins, in the life and death of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Illustration: Box Mistletoe by Adam Forster, PD.
Monkey Medicine
November 14, 2024 • Ian Taylor
More than a quarter of our drugs come from wild plants. Traditionally, researchers in search of new drugs would ask local folk healers about plants that might be helpful. However, that isn’t always the best approach. In some societies, plants are thought to have healing powers simply because they look like a disease.
Researchers are now learning to follow animals around. Monkeys have led medical researchers to several potentially new medicines. Chimps in Tanzania were seen swallowing the unchewed leaves of a tree. Studies of the leaves and the droppings showed that the leaves were not digested. However, the chimps’ digestive system had removed chemicals from the surface of the leaves that kill intestinal parasites.
The female of a rare species of woolly spider monkey in Brazil does not ovulate for about six months after she gives birth. This gives her time to raise her offspring. About six months after giving birth, the female will travel outside its usual area to gorge on the fruit of a specific tree. Researchers found that its fruit is rich in a chemical that causes the female to produce a hormone that re-starts ovulation.
As in other cases of this type, we have to ask the question: Do these animals really have innate medical knowledge or is it that God cares for them when they are sick and leads them to the right medicinal plant?
Matthew 6:28-29
“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Prayer: Father, I thank You that there is no limit to Your goodness and generosity to all Your creatures. Help me to remember Your love and Your generosity when I am tempted to worry about the future. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Notes: Photo: Bonobo chimpanzee, Envato.
Stone-Making Plants
November 13, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Have you ever wondered how you could get cut by a blade of grass or the edge of a palm leaf? Plants have a nasty secret. They absorb silica, the same stuff of which glass is made, and store it in their cells.
Some plants, like corn, store large mounts of silica on their leaves, making the edges of the leaves sharp and strong enough to give you a nasty slash. And yes, they do this largely to protect themselves. Insects that like to eat plant leaves find that when they chew on plants with lots of silica, their mouth parts wear out faster. Plants also store silica between their cells, giving them a strong, stony skeleton.
These silica particles made by plants are called phytoliths, which literally means “plant stones.” Chemically they are colorless and transparent opals. They can range in size from a thousandth of a millimeter to a millimeter. Each plant forms phytoliths that are unique in shape, and some plants make up to a dozen different types. After the plant has died and decayed, the phytoliths and their unique shapes remain in the soil. This means that with a microscope and a good knowledge of which plants make which phytoliths, you could examine the soil and tell which plants have grown there in the past. This is how scientists learned that the Indians were growing corn in South America 2,500 years before the birth of Christ!
God’s creation is filled with wonderful surprises. And every one of them glorifies Him!
Psalm 30:12
“To the end that [my] glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.”
Prayer: I give You thanks, Lord, for Your wonderful creation. Forgive me for those times I am slow to thank You or when I take Your wonderful works for granted. Help me see more of the wonders You have made. Amen.
Notes: Ivars Peterson. “Plant Stones.” Science News, Vol. 124. Aug. 6, pp. 88-94. Photo: Cornfield, Envato.
A Real Sea Dragon
November 11, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Because the vast open seas were largely unknown to so many in the ancient world, early explorers were filled with great fear about monsters that might live in unknown regions. After centuries of exploration on and under the sea, we have learned that the seas hold far more beauty than beasts.
One of the most beautiful and unusual creatures in the sea is the sea dragon. Sea dragons are not monsters; the largest members of their family reach a length of only 18 inches. They belong to a family that includes more than 200 types of sea horses and pipefish. Yet, they look completely unlike any other fish. Most of them look like seaweed with eyes and a snout, something like a sea horses', on one end.
The shapes of sea dragons are the most varied and unusual in the animal world, and their colors are among the brightest. Unlike other fish, they have no scales. They draw tiny marine organisms into their mouths through a trap door jaw that opens and closes more rapidly than the human eye can follow. The eyes of the sea dragon move independently of each other. And when it's time to start a family, it is the father sea dragon who incubates the fertilized eggs in a pouch in his tail.
Like some other creatures we have talked about on "Creation Moments," the sea dragon is such a unique creature that evolutionists admit they have no idea how it evolved. These are the very creatures we'd expect to find if all things were created by God!
Genesis 1:21
"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good."
Prayer: Dear Lord, as I look about the creation, I can see that You love beauty. I thank You for all the beauty and wonder You have created, and I ask that You would help me to make my life a beautiful offering to You. Amen.
Photo: Sea dragon, Envato.
A Surprise Platypus
November 8, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Europe was introduced to Australia's duckbill platypus in 1798. Because of the difficulties of travel in those days, scientists didn't send a live platypus from Australia to the British Museum in London. They sent only a platypus skin. Scientists in London looked at the duck bill, the beaver tail and the webbed feet of this egg laying mammal and immediately denounced the creature as a hoax.
Two hundred years later, the duckbill platypus continues to amaze scientists. Recently researchers discovered a surprising new ability the platypus uses to find food. It seems that the nerves in the platypus's skin, which relay the sense of touch, are also able to sense electricity. Every time we or any living creature use a muscle, a tiny electric current is generated. When the shrimp that the platypus eats flick their tails, they generate about 200 millionths to 1,000 millionths of a volt of electricity. That small amount of voltage is enough to enable the platypus to sense and locate lunch.
Modern biological research has also shown another mystery about the platypus. (At least it's a mystery for evolutionists.) While the platypus is classified as a mammal, it is genetically as different from all other mammals as mammals are from birds. Nor is the platypus genetically like the bird. This leaves the platypus with absolutely no evolutionary history, almost as if it had simply popped into existence.
And that's what the Bible says happened when God created the heavens and the Earth and everything in them during creation week!
Genesis 1:31
"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
Prayer: Father, Your wisdom is so far above even the wisest men that when we rely on our own understanding of even the simplest things, we are easily lost in confusion. This is yet another reason I thank You for the revelation of Your truth, love and wisdom in Holy Scripture. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Duck billed platypus, Envato.
Animal Talk
November 7, 2024 • Ian Taylor
We have often pointed out that the ability to communicate is not what separates humans from animals. In previous programs we have marveled at the range of animal communication and how it reflects the intelligence and genius of the Creator. Researchers in animal communication have been no less amazed as they have now begun to learn that many animals actually have languages and that they can invent new words to communicate new dangers to each other and to their young.
In 1914 a hunter in South Africa was commissioned to exterminate a herd of 140 elephants. He managed to kill all but 20. Those 20 became so skilled at avoiding him that he had to give up the hunt. Even though the park became a preserve in 1930 – with the elephants protected – elephants on the preserve today, four generations since the hunt ended, are unusually wary of humans. Even young elephants are quickly taught to avoid humans.
Ground squirrels have two distinct alarm calls, depending upon what is after them. If a ground squirrel hears the alarm call that warns of a bird of prey, he will dive for the nearest protection. But if the alarm signals a digging predator like a badger, ground squirrels will pass nearby burrows to hide in one that has a back door escape route.
The Bible tells us that all things were made through the Word – the Son of God. Therefore, we should not be surprised to learn that many creatures besides humans have the ability to communicate very specific messages to each other.
John 1:1-3
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I rejoice and praise You for Your act of creation as well as Your love for the creation and for me which moved You to win my forgiveness when man brought sin on the whole creation. Amen.
Notes: Gould, Carol Grant. "Out of the mouths of beasts." Science #83, Apr., p. 69. Photo: Elephants, Envato.
The Loving Lobster
November 6, 2024 • Ian Taylor
In many ways, lobster interaction seems almost human. Lobsters' mating ritual seems, by human standards, to be especially touching.
The ritual sequence begins when a female who is ready to mate lingers near the shelter of a male. The male responds by fanning his swimmerets, the four pairs of paddles beneath his tail. At this point communication is taking place through chemical signals each is releasing into the water. If he is a clawed lobster, he will show her his claws. After a couple of days of this, she enters his shelter, where more chemical signals are traded. This is followed by a sort of ritualized boxing sequence, where claws become boxing gloves. This goes on for several days as she spends increasingly more time in the male's shelter.
When she is ready to mate, she will lift her claws above the male's head in an action biologists call "knighting." Her body then shrinks as she sheds her shell. At first, the shell-less female's body is as soft as a jellyfish, and she cannot even stand up. Mating must take place very tenderly, for the male with his sharp shell could severely damage the unprotected female. After mating, the male will protect the female for up to a week until she grows a new shell.
We tend to recognize the tenderness and affection in the lobsters' mating ritual, despite the fact that these creatures are so different from us, because we both have the same Creator Who is Himself the source of all tenderness and affection.
Song of Songs 2:13
"The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines [with] the tender grape give a [good] smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."
Prayer: Dear God, I know that You are love. But never let me think that Yours is a love that winks at sin. Rather, help me always to see that Your love's deepest expression is in the suffering and death of Your Son, Jesus Christ, in my place so that, forgiven through Him, I could be restored to You. Amen.
Photo: Lobster by E2OMedia, Pixabay.
How Are Humans Different from Animals?
November 5, 2024 • Ian Taylor
It is not unusual to hear humans being referred to as animals. Many people are insulted by that. But few people know what separates humans from animals.
At one time people thought humans were separated from the animals by their ability to make and use tools. But we now know that many animals make and use tools. Some people have suggested that our ability to communicate separates us from the animals. But if you spend much time with animals, or are familiar with studies in animal communication, you soon realize that many animals can communicate. Some can even communicate abstract ideas. Nor is the ability to form a culture and pass its knowledge down from generation to generation unique to humans.
As we learn more about the abilities God has given to animals, many people have supposed that these vanishing distinctions between humans and animals mean that humans really are just another member of the animal kingdom.
But there is one thing that sets humans apart from animals, something that science can never discover and or deny. What makes humans distinct from animals is that humans are morally accountable to God. Animals are not responsible for morality. It is for this reason that we are made differently from the animals. Yes, we have a material body as they do, but we also have a spiritual component to our beings like the angels. In this respect we have as much in common with the angels as we do with animals.
Genesis 1:26
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, though You made me because You want to love me, through my sin I have pushed You away. For Jesus' sake, forgive me, cleanse me in His blood, and give me the peace which can only come through an ongoing, healthy relationship with You. Amen.
Photo: Woman and alpacas, Envato.
Life in Rock
November 4, 2024 • Ian Taylor
Live things in Antarctica's Victoria Land arctic desert must be very special indeed. The 2,000 square mile arctic desert appears to be home to no living things. There is neither soil nor plants. All that seems to exist there is lifeless, windswept, glacier scoured rock.
On a warm day the desert may warm up to near freezing. During the perpetual darkness of winter, temperatures plunge to 158 degrees below zero. Yet, we know that there are very few places on Earth for which the Creator has not, in His unimagined wisdom, provided life. Scientists have now learned that there is indeed life in Antarctica's desert.
One tenth of an inch beneath the surface of the porous sandstone lives what biologists have called a miniature rainforest because of the various layers of life. A black zone made up mainly of fungi is closest to the surface of the rock. Just below that layer filaments of fungi and clusters of algae grow between the rock crystals. Several species of bacteria have also been found in this thin zone of life. They gain their food from the minerals in the rock as well as nitrogen released by the aurora australis, the southern lights. Together, these organisms provide a perfect ecological balance to continue life.
When the Creator decides that there shall be life no matter how hostile the conditions, He is able to create not just life but a complete, working ecological balance.
Jeremiah 32:17
"Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, [and] there is nothing too hard for thee…"
Prayer: Dear Father, there is nothing that is too hard for You. Teach me to rely totally on You for everything in my life so that I am not burdened and carried away from You by the cares of this life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Notes: Bartusiak, Marcia. "Living in rock and lichen it." Science #83. p. 74. Photo: Antarctica landscape, Envato.
Brain Talk
November 1, 2024 • Ian Taylor
There is a huge difference between computers and the human brain. While the computer transmits information using electricity, the brain communicates its information using powerful chemicals. Let's say that you accidentally touch a hot pan on the stove. In less than two tenths of a second, millions of reactions take place while your brain performs a huge number of operations. As a result, you pull your hand away from the hot pan – very quickly!
Depending on the need, your brain uses many different chemicals for communication within itself and with the nerves that connect your brain to the rest of your body. Over 50 such chemicals have so far been identified. And it has been learned that many of these chemicals work in combination with each other so that over 800 different messages are possible.
Nor does the brain have set paths for messages, like a computer. In fact, it has been compared to a chemical soup rather than the circuits of a computer. In addition, the information paths in your brain change based on experience. If we can use computer language for a moment, the brain writes its own programs, doing many complicated tasks of which you and I are never aware.
We know that the computer is the product of careful design, but to argue that the much more complex human brain is an accident of nature makes very little sense!
Psalms 119:100
"I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts."
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, more than any other thing which science can study, the human brain speaks most clearly of creation. Cause those who see this to desire to know more about You, and use me to help them find out about the saving gospel. Amen.
Photo: Envato.
