Marvels of Creation

A recent article appeared in Vox magazine, written by its environmental correspondent, Benji Jones, which explores the uniqueness of a particular vine found in South America. These are the main points drawn from his article.

“More than a decade ago, a plant ecologist named Ernesto Gianoli …

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 …

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.

Many flowering plant species rely on wind or water pollination, but most species must have the help of animals, especially insects, to carry pollen from one flower to another.

Yucca species send out an exclusive night-time chemical invitation to Yucca moths, using their special but limited n…

Every day of our lives we assess complexity and the need for the appropriate time and resources to complete some tasks. When you get out of bed you have already considered most of the expected tasks for that day.

In Psalm 107:23-24 we read, “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.”

In the black of night, thousands upon thousands of deep-sea animals come up to the surface to feed and collect a day’s w…

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.

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.

Homology refers to similarities of body structures or organs between species. For example, the vertebrate skeleton across fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds are very similar; notably they all have a spine with ribs and a skull.