Marvels of Creation

Newly Discovered War Machines in the Immune System

Marvels of Creation | by | Volume 30, Issue 5 | September – October 2024

An armoured terrorist lurks in the city. Suddenly, thousands of pieces of sticky rope fly at him from all directions. They bind together, immobilising him in a net. The net dissolves the intruder’s armour, and simultaneously signals for miniature robotic snipers to land on the net and use it …

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Fruit Flies – Remarkable Pests

An adult fruit fly emerges from the egg and pupa in about two weeks. As the eyes are developing in a fruit fly embryo, an amazing process unfolds. A wave of signals sweeps across stem cells, switching on certain progenitor cells to stop proliferating and signalling other cells to undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis). The result is an amazing organ—the compound eye—and it comes in matching left and right sides, like a pair of rubies.

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Self-Medicating in the Animal World

The science of animal self-medication is called zoopharmacognosy, derived from the roots, zoo (“animal”), pharma(“drug”), and gnosy (“knowing”). It’s not clear how much knowing or learning is involved, but many animals seem to have an innate ability to detect the therapeutic constituents in plants and other natural products.

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The Genius of the Foetal Circulatory System

Marvels of Creation | by | Volume 29, Issue 6 | November – December 2023

It is difficult to imagine a more profound testimony to design than the delivery of a fully developed baby that, only nine months ago, was a single cell. The degree of regulatory control and informational complexity of the process that drives embryonic development is far beyond human comprehension. Few biological phenomena are as gripping and awe-inspiring as the process of reproduction and the development of a baby in utero. The signature of design here is unmistakable, for so much of the process—from conception to delivery—depends on foresight and planning.

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