Creation Reflects Divine Wisdom
small house hunters
How do swarms of bees who break off from their original colonies find a new home? “Scouts fly out in search of suitable cavities in which to establish a new hive,” answers “Natural History” magazine. (June/July 1979, p. 75) “The cavity must be chosen with great care since its ability to keep its occupants warm and dry during the long, cold winter is crucial to the colony’s survival. Scouts return and advertise what they have found by means of the same dance used to communicate food location. At first, several potential sites may be reported, but soon, usually within a day or two, all the dances will indicate just one location.” What brings the scouts to a “meeting of the minds” on this vital matter? Researchers have learned that “each scout advertises its find with a degree of enthusiasm that reflects the site’s quality as a potential dwelling,” says “Natural History.” However, “now the scout will stop and watch dances indicating other sites. It will then fly out and visit them, perhaps also reinspecting its own discovery, then return to the swarm and dance for the best one. The bee has sampled the available locations, compared them, and come to a decision. When virtually all the scouts agree—that is, when all of the dancing indicates the same spot—the swarm will then be roused and led to the chosen cavity.”
tiny designer?
Recently, microbiologists have discovered bacteria that contain within their microscopic bodies chains of magnetic particles. They speculate that these particles form built-in “compasses” that may help the minute organisms to find which way is down, in order to locate the sediments necessary for their existence. What is astounding about the tiny particles is that if they were only slightly smaller or larger, they would not function as an efficient “compass.” Richard B. Frankel of the National Magnet Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says that “the bacteria have solved an interesting problem in physics by producing particles of magnetite of just the right size for a compass, of dimension 500 angstroms [.000002 inch or .000005 cm].” Taking up the theme of assigning such genius to the lowly bacteria, Harvard evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould calls it “an organism that builds an exquisite machine within its own body.” And his article in Britain’s “New Scientist” magazine is titled “A Natural Precision Designer” with the subtitle “Bacteria with built-in magnets reveal biology’s meticulous engineering.” Who truly was the designer and engineer? Biology? The bacteria? Or an intelligent, all-wise Creator? You be the judge.
does the hook hurt?
Is the fisherman’s long-held assumption that the worm wiggling on the fishhook feels no pain correct? Swedish scientists have found that, like humans and animals, worms produce chemicals known to help the enduring of pain. Since these substances are present in the earthworm’s “brain,” it raises the question whether worms do feel that hook after all. Of course, the type and degree of any such pain is also a moot question.
“understanding the world”
The book “Dieu existe? Oui.” (Does God Exist? Yes.) gives this opinion by naturalist Professor Grassé: “A world without God is an absurdity. Man without God loses all signification; maybe he is not even a man anymore. In any case, a man without God is incomplete. I believe that a researcher or scientist who does not accept God is depriving himself of a comprehension of the universe. God is the only key to understanding the world.”—Compare Proverbs 1:7.