THOSE GIFTED RED KNOTS
Psalm 145:15
The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season.
Shore birds like the oystercatcher search for buried mollusks by touch. They poke around in the sand, hoping to find a hard-shelled mollusk. But if you have ever tried to find something that was hiding where you couldn't see it, you know that this method of looking for something is not very efficient. But another shore bird, the red knot, seems to know just where to find its hidden food.
Scientists observed that the red knot, a type of sandpiper, was seven to eight times more efficient at finding buried food than it would be if it were randomly searching. Red knots, who also search for food by pushing their bills into the sand, did better than those birds who search by touch. The answer didn't come until scientists looked at the red knot's bill under the microscope. On the top of the bill they found tiny pits. Inside the pits they found cells called Herbst corpuscles. Scientists knew that other shorebirds have organs similar to these corpuscles that are used to feel vibrations from wriggling prey. They theorized that the red knot's Herbst corpuscles sense pressure changes in the displaced water under the sand when a mollusk obstructs the water's flow. Next they tested captive birds who were trained to find mollusks in pails of sand. Scientists found that if the sand was dry, the red knots did not do very well. But when the sand was wet, the red knots could indeed find the hidden mollusks.
God's creative nature and divine wisdom has provided His living creatures with a beautiful variety of ways of making their living.
I praise You, dear Father, for the variety You have given us. Amen.
S.M., New hunting trick explains bird luck, Science News, v.154, p.107. Photo: Red knot. Courtesy of Jan van de Kam. (CC BY 2.5)
Psalm 145:15
The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season.
Shore birds like the oystercatcher search for buried mollusks by touch. They poke around in the sand, hoping to find a hard-shelled mollusk. But if you have ever tried to find something that was hiding where you couldn't see it, you know that this method of looking for something is not very efficient. But another shore bird, the red knot, seems to know just where to find its hidden food.
Scientists observed that the red knot, a type of sandpiper, was seven to eight times more efficient at finding buried food than it would be if it were randomly searching. Red knots, who also search for food by pushing their bills into the sand, did better than those birds who search by touch. The answer didn't come until scientists looked at the red knot's bill under the microscope. On the top of the bill they found tiny pits. Inside the pits they found cells called Herbst corpuscles. Scientists knew that other shorebirds have organs similar to these corpuscles that are used to feel vibrations from wriggling prey. They theorized that the red knot's Herbst corpuscles sense pressure changes in the displaced water under the sand when a mollusk obstructs the water's flow. Next they tested captive birds who were trained to find mollusks in pails of sand. Scientists found that if the sand was dry, the red knots did not do very well. But when the sand was wet, the red knots could indeed find the hidden mollusks.
God's creative nature and divine wisdom has provided His living creatures with a beautiful variety of ways of making their living.
I praise You, dear Father, for the variety You have given us. Amen.
S.M., New hunting trick explains bird luck, Science News, v.154, p.107. Photo: Red knot. Courtesy of Jan van de Kam. (CC BY 2.5)
AIRPLANE FINGERS
Genesis 1:20
Then God said, 'Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.'
Aerodynamics, the science of flight, is a highly complex science. This is because many complex forces are acting on anything in flight. These forces include the power available for flight and drag produced by the flying object. Each of these categories include many additional forces that depend on the shape of the flying object, the shape and length of the wings, the speed and the altitude. This is why, for example, high altitude planes have very long wings.
One critical force that has been under recent study is the turbulence that forms at the tips of the wings. The shorter the wing, the more energy consuming turbulence forms at the tip of the wing. Different wing designs have been tried to decrease this turbulence. Engineers have had some success reducing this turbulence with winglets. You may have seen these small vertical wings on the wingtips of some airplanes. Swiss researchers have been studying vultures with the hope of finding a better solution to this problem because vultures have a relatively short wing span that has proven to be surprisingly efficient. They discovered that this is because the feathers at the vultures' wing tips spread out. They then tested a wing with a finger-like cascade of blades at the end. Their new wing was more than four times more efficient than the average wing design in use today! It takes a great deal of faith in evolution to think that natural selection possesses such knowledge of aerodynamics. Clearly the vulture was designed by an intelligent Creator Who understands aerodynamics even better than we do!
I thank You, dear Father, that we can see Your wisdom in the creation. Amen.
Wingfingers, Flying/January 1999, p.108. Photo: Learjet 60 with winglets. Courtesy of Adrian Pingstone. (PD)
Genesis 1:20
Then God said, 'Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.'
Aerodynamics, the science of flight, is a highly complex science. This is because many complex forces are acting on anything in flight. These forces include the power available for flight and drag produced by the flying object. Each of these categories include many additional forces that depend on the shape of the flying object, the shape and length of the wings, the speed and the altitude. This is why, for example, high altitude planes have very long wings.
One critical force that has been under recent study is the turbulence that forms at the tips of the wings. The shorter the wing, the more energy consuming turbulence forms at the tip of the wing. Different wing designs have been tried to decrease this turbulence. Engineers have had some success reducing this turbulence with winglets. You may have seen these small vertical wings on the wingtips of some airplanes. Swiss researchers have been studying vultures with the hope of finding a better solution to this problem because vultures have a relatively short wing span that has proven to be surprisingly efficient. They discovered that this is because the feathers at the vultures' wing tips spread out. They then tested a wing with a finger-like cascade of blades at the end. Their new wing was more than four times more efficient than the average wing design in use today! It takes a great deal of faith in evolution to think that natural selection possesses such knowledge of aerodynamics. Clearly the vulture was designed by an intelligent Creator Who understands aerodynamics even better than we do!
I thank You, dear Father, that we can see Your wisdom in the creation. Amen.
Wingfingers, Flying/January 1999, p.108. Photo: Learjet 60 with winglets. Courtesy of Adrian Pingstone. (PD)
HUMAN SPEECH ITSELF GLORIFIES GOD
Proverbs 17:7
Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool, much less lying lips to a prince.
Several different animals communicate on a limited basis with one another. But human speech is unique, leaving those who believe in evolution perplexed. The very oldest human fossils show the bony structures needed to support speech. Evolutionists will admit, in a candid moment, that they have no idea how speech could have evolved. One modern researcher said they have only "inferences based on hunches."
Some scientists have observed that human beings come with the built-in ability to learn and speak. While this idea is not popular among evolutionists, it is supported by the unique structure of the human vocal tract. No other creature has anything like it. The human larynx is placed low in the throat. That placement creates a sound chamber that allows us to make language expressive. Moreover, the placement prevents us from breathing and eating or drinking at the same time. But we are not born that way. A newborn's larynx is placed higher up in the throat, allowing a baby to breathe and suckle at the same time. By the time a child is six,and has no need to suckle and breathe at the same time, but is learning language, the larynx has moved to its adult position.
This obviously designed arrangement in support of human speech presents only more problems for the evolutionist. But for those who believe in our Creator God, it is one more testimony of His wise handiwork.
Dear Father, I thank and praise You for the gift of speech. Amen.
Roger Lewin, Spreading the word, New Scientist, 5 December 1998, p. 46. Photo: Endoscopic image of an inflamed human larynx. Courtesy of MylesSG. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Proverbs 17:7
Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool, much less lying lips to a prince.
Several different animals communicate on a limited basis with one another. But human speech is unique, leaving those who believe in evolution perplexed. The very oldest human fossils show the bony structures needed to support speech. Evolutionists will admit, in a candid moment, that they have no idea how speech could have evolved. One modern researcher said they have only "inferences based on hunches."
Some scientists have observed that human beings come with the built-in ability to learn and speak. While this idea is not popular among evolutionists, it is supported by the unique structure of the human vocal tract. No other creature has anything like it. The human larynx is placed low in the throat. That placement creates a sound chamber that allows us to make language expressive. Moreover, the placement prevents us from breathing and eating or drinking at the same time. But we are not born that way. A newborn's larynx is placed higher up in the throat, allowing a baby to breathe and suckle at the same time. By the time a child is six,and has no need to suckle and breathe at the same time, but is learning language, the larynx has moved to its adult position.
This obviously designed arrangement in support of human speech presents only more problems for the evolutionist. But for those who believe in our Creator God, it is one more testimony of His wise handiwork.
Dear Father, I thank and praise You for the gift of speech. Amen.
Roger Lewin, Spreading the word, New Scientist, 5 December 1998, p. 46. Photo: Endoscopic image of an inflamed human larynx. Courtesy of MylesSG. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
THE FAMILY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER�
Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
We have all heard it said that, the family that prays together, stays together. A new survey by the Barna Research Group indicates that this old saying is still true. The phone survey interviewed 1,512 Christians about their marriage history and their church membership.
The respondents were divided into three groups. Couples who belonged to different denominations made up 17 percent of the sample. Couples from different denominations who decided to become active in the same denomination after marriage made up another 14 percent of the sample. The rest of the married couples, 65 percent, belonged to the same denomination when they were engaged. The lowest divorce rate was among those of different denominations before marriage and who decided to become active in the same denomination after marriage. This group's divorce rate was only 6 percent. The divorce rate for those who were raised in and remained active in the same denomination was 14 percent. The divorce rate for those who remained in different denominations was 20 percent, which is still less than half the divorce rate for the general population.
Researchers stressed that shared beliefs were not the primary reason for the success of these marriages. Rather, interviews showed that the most important factor in the successful marriages was shared religious activities. This is yet another study that reveals practical benefits for the lives of active church members compared with atheists or inactive church members.
I thank You, Lord, for the gift of marriage. Help me always to honor it. Amen
Study: Divorce Rate Higher for Inter-Church Couples, The Christian News, July 26, 1999, p.17. Photo: Courtesy of US Environmental Protection Agency. (PD)
Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
We have all heard it said that, the family that prays together, stays together. A new survey by the Barna Research Group indicates that this old saying is still true. The phone survey interviewed 1,512 Christians about their marriage history and their church membership.
The respondents were divided into three groups. Couples who belonged to different denominations made up 17 percent of the sample. Couples from different denominations who decided to become active in the same denomination after marriage made up another 14 percent of the sample. The rest of the married couples, 65 percent, belonged to the same denomination when they were engaged. The lowest divorce rate was among those of different denominations before marriage and who decided to become active in the same denomination after marriage. This group's divorce rate was only 6 percent. The divorce rate for those who were raised in and remained active in the same denomination was 14 percent. The divorce rate for those who remained in different denominations was 20 percent, which is still less than half the divorce rate for the general population.
Researchers stressed that shared beliefs were not the primary reason for the success of these marriages. Rather, interviews showed that the most important factor in the successful marriages was shared religious activities. This is yet another study that reveals practical benefits for the lives of active church members compared with atheists or inactive church members.
I thank You, Lord, for the gift of marriage. Help me always to honor it. Amen
Study: Divorce Rate Higher for Inter-Church Couples, The Christian News, July 26, 1999, p.17. Photo: Courtesy of US Environmental Protection Agency. (PD)
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