ELECTRIC HORNETS
Proverbs 11:2
"When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom."
How many hornets does it take to power a digital watch? In the case of the Oriental hornet, six hornets can generate enough electricity to run the watch.
Entomologists at Tel Aviv University have been studying Oriental hornets. They have been most interested in the outer skeleton, or skin, of the hornet. And they have discovered that this cuticle works as a living solar cell. When sunlight hits the hornet's cuticle, electricity is generated. To prove their point in dramatic fashion, they wired six hornets together in series. That arrangement generated enough electricity to run a digital watch for several seconds. Their research also revealed the fact that the cuticle's electrical generation is most efficient at the temperatures in which the hornets normally operate. Different layers in the cuticle generate and store electrical current. Voltages have reached as high as several hundred millivolts, and the current has been recorded as high as several tenths of an ampere. In effect, Oriental wasps are living semiconductors!
The researchers now find themselves in the classic situation of finding out how little they know by learning something. They report that they don't know how the hornet converts its electrical energy into a form it can use. Nor do they know how the cuticle stores the energy or transmits it.
Modern science loves to take pride in its accomplishments. However, every time science investigates God's seemingly simplest creations, scientists are reminded of their need for humility.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I stand in humble awe before the works of Your hands! Help me to remember the humility that even the greatest scientists should feel in the presence of Your creation, especially when I feel intimidated by the proud pronouncements of those who claim to have proven that You are not the Creator. Amen.
Reese, K.M. 1992. "Hornet cuticle may work like organic solar cell." Chemical & Engineering News, Mar. 23. p. 94.
Proverbs 11:2
"When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom."
How many hornets does it take to power a digital watch? In the case of the Oriental hornet, six hornets can generate enough electricity to run the watch.
Entomologists at Tel Aviv University have been studying Oriental hornets. They have been most interested in the outer skeleton, or skin, of the hornet. And they have discovered that this cuticle works as a living solar cell. When sunlight hits the hornet's cuticle, electricity is generated. To prove their point in dramatic fashion, they wired six hornets together in series. That arrangement generated enough electricity to run a digital watch for several seconds. Their research also revealed the fact that the cuticle's electrical generation is most efficient at the temperatures in which the hornets normally operate. Different layers in the cuticle generate and store electrical current. Voltages have reached as high as several hundred millivolts, and the current has been recorded as high as several tenths of an ampere. In effect, Oriental wasps are living semiconductors!
The researchers now find themselves in the classic situation of finding out how little they know by learning something. They report that they don't know how the hornet converts its electrical energy into a form it can use. Nor do they know how the cuticle stores the energy or transmits it.
Modern science loves to take pride in its accomplishments. However, every time science investigates God's seemingly simplest creations, scientists are reminded of their need for humility.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I stand in humble awe before the works of Your hands! Help me to remember the humility that even the greatest scientists should feel in the presence of Your creation, especially when I feel intimidated by the proud pronouncements of those who claim to have proven that You are not the Creator. Amen.
Reese, K.M. 1992. "Hornet cuticle may work like organic solar cell." Chemical & Engineering News, Mar. 23. p. 94.
YOUR INVISIBLE EYE
Proverbs 26:12
"Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."
Did you know that you have three eyes? In fact, someday your third eye may provide spare parts that might be necessary to repair the two eyes you normally think about.
Scientists have known for more than a century that the western fence lizard has a third eye. Its third eye can be seen as a white spot on the top of its forehead. While this third eye is an extension of the pineal gland, it has a retina, lens and cornea. While this third eye is unable to focus light, it does sense light. Pineal eyes are also found in other lizards, frogs and lampreys, but not in mammals. Since human beings are supposed to be evolutionarily closer to mammals, scientists did not expect to find the third eye in human beings.
However, when medical researchers investigating the human pineal gland compared their findings with eye researchers, they were astonished. Both the pineal and the retina make melatonin, an important chemical in our daily rhythm that also affects mood. Your pineal also makes a number of proteins that were thought to be made only by the eye that are necessary for processing light. And like the pineal, the eye also serves as one of the body's time-keeping mechanisms. There are so many similarities between the eye and the pineal in humans that scientists hope to one day use a person's pineal as a source of genetic spare parts to treat some eye diseases!
That scientific advance might have already been made if scientists had long ago given up their belief in evolution.
I am truly fearfully and wonderfully made, dear Lord! I thank You for the wonders You have designed and placed within me. But most of all, I thank You for Your Holy Spirit, Who has convinced me of the forgiveness of my sin by grace, through faith in Your innocent suffering and death on the cross. Amen.
Proverbs 26:12
"Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."
Did you know that you have three eyes? In fact, someday your third eye may provide spare parts that might be necessary to repair the two eyes you normally think about.
Scientists have known for more than a century that the western fence lizard has a third eye. Its third eye can be seen as a white spot on the top of its forehead. While this third eye is an extension of the pineal gland, it has a retina, lens and cornea. While this third eye is unable to focus light, it does sense light. Pineal eyes are also found in other lizards, frogs and lampreys, but not in mammals. Since human beings are supposed to be evolutionarily closer to mammals, scientists did not expect to find the third eye in human beings.
However, when medical researchers investigating the human pineal gland compared their findings with eye researchers, they were astonished. Both the pineal and the retina make melatonin, an important chemical in our daily rhythm that also affects mood. Your pineal also makes a number of proteins that were thought to be made only by the eye that are necessary for processing light. And like the pineal, the eye also serves as one of the body's time-keeping mechanisms. There are so many similarities between the eye and the pineal in humans that scientists hope to one day use a person's pineal as a source of genetic spare parts to treat some eye diseases!
That scientific advance might have already been made if scientists had long ago given up their belief in evolution.
I am truly fearfully and wonderfully made, dear Lord! I thank You for the wonders You have designed and placed within me. But most of all, I thank You for Your Holy Spirit, Who has convinced me of the forgiveness of my sin by grace, through faith in Your innocent suffering and death on the cross. Amen.
EVOLUTIONISTS HAVE A BACK PROBLEM
Psalm 111:10
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever."
Back pain is one of humanity's most common complaints. And the most common explanation one hears for back pain is that our backs hurt because we stand and walk erect.
Even high school textbooks repeat this myth. Students are taught that our backs bother us because we haven't fully adjusted to our evolution into human beings. Supposedly, when we were still getting around ape like on all fours, our backs didn't hurt. Then we stood up. The new stresses on the spine caused it to curve forward, leading to backaches. Our backbones still have not evolved to support the stress of upright pressure. Many backache treatments are based on this assumption. So they use exercises that try to reverse the natural curvature of the back. Whether these exercises solve the long term problem is debatable.
The Bible tells us that we did not evolve. We were created by an intelligent Creator who certainly knew how to make a backbone for human beings. Upright posture isn't our problem. Even dogs suffer back problems. That's why some therapists have been reporting good long term results using a therapy that doesn't assume that our backs hurt because of evolution. Rather, they assume that the human spine is supposed to have a forward curve. They recommend exercises that correct the forward curvature of the spine.
Faulty assumptions that evolution is true do not provide better medicine. However, medicine is improved when it uses the accurate knowledge that human beings have been specially created by God.
I pray, dear Lord, that You would use those of Your people who are educated in the various scientific disciplines to deliver us from the suffering and misfortunes that we endure because of the ignorance spawned by the rejection of the truth about creation. Amen.
"Your aching back, what doctors can do about it." U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 17, 1983. p.. 85. Smail, Ronald. 1990. "The origin of back pain." Bible Science Newsletter, Jan. p. 1.
Psalm 111:10
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever."
Back pain is one of humanity's most common complaints. And the most common explanation one hears for back pain is that our backs hurt because we stand and walk erect.
Even high school textbooks repeat this myth. Students are taught that our backs bother us because we haven't fully adjusted to our evolution into human beings. Supposedly, when we were still getting around ape like on all fours, our backs didn't hurt. Then we stood up. The new stresses on the spine caused it to curve forward, leading to backaches. Our backbones still have not evolved to support the stress of upright pressure. Many backache treatments are based on this assumption. So they use exercises that try to reverse the natural curvature of the back. Whether these exercises solve the long term problem is debatable.
The Bible tells us that we did not evolve. We were created by an intelligent Creator who certainly knew how to make a backbone for human beings. Upright posture isn't our problem. Even dogs suffer back problems. That's why some therapists have been reporting good long term results using a therapy that doesn't assume that our backs hurt because of evolution. Rather, they assume that the human spine is supposed to have a forward curve. They recommend exercises that correct the forward curvature of the spine.
Faulty assumptions that evolution is true do not provide better medicine. However, medicine is improved when it uses the accurate knowledge that human beings have been specially created by God.
I pray, dear Lord, that You would use those of Your people who are educated in the various scientific disciplines to deliver us from the suffering and misfortunes that we endure because of the ignorance spawned by the rejection of the truth about creation. Amen.
"Your aching back, what doctors can do about it." U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 17, 1983. p.. 85. Smail, Ronald. 1990. "The origin of back pain." Bible Science Newsletter, Jan. p. 1.
MOON PUZZLE
Psalm 148:3
"Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light!"
Our moon is moving away from the Earth at the rate of four centimeters per year. That might not seem like much. However, that rate of movement away from the Earth presents problems for those who believe the Earth and moon have been around for 4.5 billion years.
At the rate the moon is receding, it would have been so close to Earth only 1.5 to 2 billion years ago that tidal friction would have melted Earth's surface rocks. Mathematical fiddlings help a little, but not enough. By mathematically increasing the rate of Earth's spin over supposed "billions" of years and figuring in a factor for assumed different tidal rates, one can inch the Earth moon relationship back to about 4 billion years.
Evolutionary scientists believe the problem can be solved to keep their 4.5 billion years of evolutionary history intact. But they admit that the assumptions being tried need investigation since the matter is far from solved. In other words, evolutionists admit they have a problem making the Earth moon relationship fit into their long age history.
The mathematical models rule out the theory that the moon was formed billions of years ago from the same dust cloud that supposedly formed the Earth. Also ruled out is the theory that the moon was captured by the Earth's gravity. Only one explanation seems to satisfy the data – that the moon was formed relatively recently, orbiting the Earth from the time of its creation.
I thank You, dear Father in heaven, that Your Word to us in the Bible is true and can be trusted. With the creation I will bear witness to You as Creator, and with my mouth I will tell others of salvation in Christ. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Dye, Brad. 1988. "The moon revisited." Creation Science Dialogue, Spring. p. 4. Kerr, Richard A. "Where was the moon eons ago?" Science, v. 221. p. 1166.
Psalm 148:3
"Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light!"
Our moon is moving away from the Earth at the rate of four centimeters per year. That might not seem like much. However, that rate of movement away from the Earth presents problems for those who believe the Earth and moon have been around for 4.5 billion years.
At the rate the moon is receding, it would have been so close to Earth only 1.5 to 2 billion years ago that tidal friction would have melted Earth's surface rocks. Mathematical fiddlings help a little, but not enough. By mathematically increasing the rate of Earth's spin over supposed "billions" of years and figuring in a factor for assumed different tidal rates, one can inch the Earth moon relationship back to about 4 billion years.
Evolutionary scientists believe the problem can be solved to keep their 4.5 billion years of evolutionary history intact. But they admit that the assumptions being tried need investigation since the matter is far from solved. In other words, evolutionists admit they have a problem making the Earth moon relationship fit into their long age history.
The mathematical models rule out the theory that the moon was formed billions of years ago from the same dust cloud that supposedly formed the Earth. Also ruled out is the theory that the moon was captured by the Earth's gravity. Only one explanation seems to satisfy the data – that the moon was formed relatively recently, orbiting the Earth from the time of its creation.
I thank You, dear Father in heaven, that Your Word to us in the Bible is true and can be trusted. With the creation I will bear witness to You as Creator, and with my mouth I will tell others of salvation in Christ. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Dye, Brad. 1988. "The moon revisited." Creation Science Dialogue, Spring. p. 4. Kerr, Richard A. "Where was the moon eons ago?" Science, v. 221. p. 1166.
A TRAIL THAT TELLS A TALE
Psalm 19:1
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork."
Two rocks float through silent space, unaware that they will soon cause a scientific debate millions of miles away on Earth. On Earth, these two small asteroids added together may weigh only a few hundred pounds. However, the conclusions that can be drawn from them might be weighty enough to overthrow a powerful theory.
That summarizes the status of a scientific debate over patterns in which meteorites fall. Evolutionary theory says that when those two asteroids smash together in space, the resulting chunks will separate during the millions of years before they ever strike Earth. As a result, meteor falls cannot possibly follow a pattern. However, a pattern has now been discovered.
Researchers from Purdue University and the State University of New York say they have discovered that 17 meteorites that struck the Earth in May between 1855 and 1895 form a broad line that extends for several thousand kilometers. Because the Earth revolves, however, the line is mathematical rather than geographical. The meteorites are classified as H chondrites. When scientists analyzed 13 of the stones, they found that each had similar amounts of rare trace elements not found in 45 other H chondrite meteorites. The other meteorites did not fall into the geographic line researchers had discovered.
The findings strongly suggest that these stones had not been drifting through space long enough to separate before they hit the Earth. If the solar system is billions of years old, there is virtually no chance of the stones remaining together, which suggests a young age for the solar system.
Lord, the many wonders in the heavens do more than inspire our awe. They also bear testimony to the truth of Your Holy Word, what You have made, and our need to be restored to our Creator by grace through faith in Your innocent suffering and death for us on the cross. Amen.
Cowen, R. 1992. "Meteorites: to stream or not to stream?" Science News, v. 142, Aug. 1, p. 71.
Psalm 19:1
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork."
Two rocks float through silent space, unaware that they will soon cause a scientific debate millions of miles away on Earth. On Earth, these two small asteroids added together may weigh only a few hundred pounds. However, the conclusions that can be drawn from them might be weighty enough to overthrow a powerful theory.
That summarizes the status of a scientific debate over patterns in which meteorites fall. Evolutionary theory says that when those two asteroids smash together in space, the resulting chunks will separate during the millions of years before they ever strike Earth. As a result, meteor falls cannot possibly follow a pattern. However, a pattern has now been discovered.
Researchers from Purdue University and the State University of New York say they have discovered that 17 meteorites that struck the Earth in May between 1855 and 1895 form a broad line that extends for several thousand kilometers. Because the Earth revolves, however, the line is mathematical rather than geographical. The meteorites are classified as H chondrites. When scientists analyzed 13 of the stones, they found that each had similar amounts of rare trace elements not found in 45 other H chondrite meteorites. The other meteorites did not fall into the geographic line researchers had discovered.
The findings strongly suggest that these stones had not been drifting through space long enough to separate before they hit the Earth. If the solar system is billions of years old, there is virtually no chance of the stones remaining together, which suggests a young age for the solar system.
Lord, the many wonders in the heavens do more than inspire our awe. They also bear testimony to the truth of Your Holy Word, what You have made, and our need to be restored to our Creator by grace through faith in Your innocent suffering and death for us on the cross. Amen.
Cowen, R. 1992. "Meteorites: to stream or not to stream?" Science News, v. 142, Aug. 1, p. 71.
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