Voodoo Lily and the Odd Effect of Aspirin

When they flower, some plants actually generate their own heat. The voodoo lily can raise its temperature by 25 degrees. As it does so, it releases a scent that attracts the beetles that pollinate it.

When the voodoo lily generates heat, it burns starch in a way similar to our own bodies. Scientists weren't sure how voodoo lilies generated their heat and scent until only a few years ago. Once they unraveled the complex chemical reactions going on within the plant, they found unexpected surprises. They discovered that a component of aspirin is responsible for raising the lily's temperature. They remain puzzled about why salicylic acid should lower our temperature, yet raise the temperature of the plant.

Scientists were also amazed when they discovered how many separate complex chemical reactions take place to produce a chemical symphony that helps the lily reproduce. Not only does the lily make its own aspirin, it also makes the same chemicals that are found in the rotting meat that its pollinator beetles feed on. The rising temperature of the plant evaporates the chemicals, creating a scent that attracts the beetles. As the beetles look for food in the flower, they become covered with pollen, which will be delivered to the next lily they visit. What a complicated process!

The voodoo lily is an example of how, even in the plant kingdom, there is no such thing as a simple life form. As this plant duplicates several of the processes taking place in animals, we see that all life was created at about the same time by one Designer!

Notes: Discover

2010 Christian Nature

Genesis 1:11
Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so.

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Meet 'The Actor' - Mimic Octopus

Today's animal is so new to science it hasn't even been classified according to genus as this is written. Yet the mimic octopus is the talk of the scientific world. Who knows? The Screen Actors Guild may decide this actor deserves membership!

Found in the Indo Pacific area, the mimic octopus has proportionately longer arms than other octopuses. The mimic octopus also has a very narrow waist that aids in its disguises. When approached, one mimic octopus mimicked a flounder, flattening its body and pointing its legs in one direction. Then it began to swim with undulating motion over the bottom, just as a flounder would.

Mimic octopuses have also been seen to mimic starfish, jellyfish, giant crabs, lionfish, seahorses, anemones, stingrays and other creatures. One researcher was studying what he was convinced was a new species of mantis shrimp. It turned out to be a mimic octopus.

If the possible threat is not fooled, a mimic octopus will morph through a variety of animals. Octopuses are generally seen as intelligent animals. However, the ability of the mimic octopus to mimic both the form and behavior of a range of animals puzzles scientists.

According to evolutionary theory, such high intelligence evolves only in social animals, and mimic octopuses are solitary creatures. So where did such intelligence come from? We can easily explain that its intelligent Creator gave it the intelligence it needed to fool predators for its own survival.

2010 Christian Nature

Notes: An Asian Diver and Creation Moments Radio

The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever. Psalm 81:15

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This Fly Can Eat Your Toad!

If you hear that a dog has bitten a man, it's not unusual news. And if you see a toad eat a fly, it's no big deal. But what if you hear about a fly that eats toads? Now that's a big deal!

The unusual drama of a toad-eating fly was first discovered in the Arizona desert by Thomas Eisner of Cornell University. He noticed a muddy desert pond that had a large population of spadfoot toads.

Looking closer, he noticed that many of the toads were in distress, and some were being pulled down into the mud at the bottom of the pond. A little digging revealed that the predator was the larvae of horseflies.

Further study showed that the larvae burrow into the soft mud until only their head is barely exposed. When an unsuspecting toad wanders by, that larva grabs the toad with its powerful mandibles and pulls it into the mud.

The larvae inject their victims with venom and then consume the toad's body fluids. Eisner says that this drama plays out wherever there are horsefly larvae.

While this is not the prettiest subject I have ever covered, it certainly is one of the strangest. However, consider the Creator's design here.

The horsefly larvae eat toads in order to grow into adults.

The toads eat the adult horseflies to make more toads.

It appears that God has designed a rather circular food chain that operates quite nicely in the desert where food is scarce.

I must remember the individual care God gives to all of His creatures next time I am tempted to worry about the future.

Notes: J. Greenberg. Science News

2010 Christian Nature

These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season.
Psalm 104:27

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You Just Can't Freeze a Baby Turtle!

No matter how cold it gets, you just can't freeze a baby turtle - not if it's a painted turtle hatch-ling!

The painted turtle is found further north than any other turtle in North America. During their first year of life painted turtles survive temperatures as cold as 18 degrees Fahrenheit.

After mid-June, painted turtles begin to lay their eggs. Each nest holds from seven to nine eggs. Some females will make two nests. The eggs are buried, safely out of sight of predators and the mother turtle returns to her normal habitat. The young hatch in ten or eleven weeks. However, they remain buried in the ground, and therefore safe from predators, all winter. The problem is that turtles freeze solid at the temperatures found at nest depth in the winter. When living cells freeze, the long, sharp ice crystals that form in them puncture the cell membrane, killing the cell.

As the baby turtles freeze even the heart and brain eventually freeze. There is no breathing and no heartbeat. Only a tiny bit of electrical activity in the frozen brain reveals that life remains in the body.

Why don't ice crystals rupture the cells? The young turtles' liver's makes special proteins that are circulated to every cell in the body. These proteins ensure the formation of very small ice crystals that cannot become large enough to puncture delicate cell walls.

Only God could have invented such a unique method of protecting tiny, painted turtles. Even scientists marvel at this.

2010 Christian Nature

But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause; Who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.Job 5:8-9

Notes: Janet M. Storey and Kenneth B. Storey, Natural History

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Where Is That Singing Fish Hiding?

During the mid-1980's, the residents at the north end of San Francisco Bay began complaining about a strange droning noise coming from the Bay. During the months of July and August, the odd noise started after sunset and continued until sunrise. People living on houseboats complained that the noise disrupted their sleep.

Puzzled and tired citizens began a search for the source of the noise. Sophisticated acoustical maps were made of the bottom of the Bay. The local sewage treatment plant was ruled out. A research lab operated by the Army Corps of Engineers was also ruled out. While every one and every thing was ruled out, the hum continued through the long nights.

Eventually, biologists joined the search. Soon the Toadfish, also known as the singing fish, was identified as the source of the sounds. The droning noise was actually male fish offering their mating call to attract females.

All fish have gas or air bladders that act in the same way as a submarine's ballast tanks. The gas bladder adjusts to pressure changes thereby helping fish stay at the depth they desire. A few fish, including the Toadfish, have a set of muscles that rapidly vibrate the air bladder. The bladder then acts as a resonating chamber and the sound is transmitted into the water.

The Bible tells us that all things were created by the same God Who was made flesh for our salvation. Since communication is part of God's nature, we should not be surprised to find communication so universal among the creatures He made.

2010 Christian Nature

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:3

Notes: John E. McC., Discover

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How Do These Animals Live Without AIR?

Seems impossible that an animal could live without air, doesn't it? But these do, thanks to the genius of The Creator!

When little or no oxygen is dissolved in the blood of most animals or humans, death quickly follows. The chemistry by which our cells generate energy to stay alive needs oxygen. When oxygen runs short, a second, temporary, energy producing system kicks in. This system doesn't need oxygen, but it produces lactic acid that can kill living cells. Therefore, this second energy system is an emergency measure, used only when seriously starved for oxygen.

In order to avoid this dangerous situation many amphibians and reptiles that hibernate in ponds, lakes, and rivers have the ability to remove oxygen directly from the water through special tissue on their throats. However, the painted turtle and the mud slider hibernate as close to the freezing line below the water as possible. As a result, they often hibernate in water where the oxygen is quickly used and have lived completely without oxygen for up to 120 days.

How do they do it?

During the summer the turtle stores large amounts of a carbohydrate that can provide energy without using oxygen. The turtle has a unique built-in system that detoxifies the poisonous lactic acid that is built up. As a result the turtle can live for months with no oxygen in its blood or in the water around it.

This unique ability is based on a sophisticated understanding of biochemistry. It's clearly not the result of a genetic accident. It can only be the work of the unique creativity of our Creator!

2010 Christian Nature

Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth…Psalm 105:5

Notes: Janet M. Storey and Kenneth B. Storey, Natural History

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Dynamics of a Special Bird Family

Even birds can have dysfunctional family dynamics! Not that they don't band together and help each other. They do! But like human families, they have their sneaky members, too. I am talking about the White-fronted Bee-eater. It is an East African bird that lives in clans of up to 14 members.

White-fronted bee-eaters have several problems to deal with. Since they nest on the cliffs over-looking riverbanks, youngsters need a great deal of attention until they learn to fly. Once they are on their own, the young birds are often put to work by their parents as helpers. A father may even drive away his sons' mates in order to keep them as helpers.

Helpers bring food for their mother and brothers and sisters. They also clean the nest area and watch for danger. However, the most important job is guarding the nest at egg-laying time. This is necessary because a female who doesn't have her own nest will sneak into another bee-eater's nest and lay her eggs there.

If the eggs are laid before the owner of the nest starts laying her eggs, she will simply toss out the foreign egg. If there are eggs already in the nest she will also care for the foreign eggs. The important job of guarding the nest is usually given to a daughter. However, scientists have observed that sometimes it is the daughter, while on guard duty with the mother absent, who sneaks into the nest and adds a few eggs of her own!

In His goodness the Creator has given bee-eaters a way of life in which helping each other is part of their nature. This kindness toward each other improves the quality of life, even with the dysfunction. It can serve as an example to us that the world is not designed to favor the survival of the most selfish or aggressive.

2010 Christian Nature

And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. Luke 6:31-32

Notes: Bruce Fellman, National Wildlife

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Sharp As Glass Plants and Tongue

I have written much about the damage words can do to a child. Long after physical bruises are healed, those words linger in hiding until suddenly someone (or some situation) brings them to the top of the bleeding soul. The words from a sharp tongue can make a soul bleed an entire lifetime. My post on Brian Wilson demonstrates what words can do to a human being most graphically.

There are plants that can do the same damage as a sharp-edged tongue. These plants have a nasty secret. They absorb silica, the same stuff of which glass is made, and store it in their cells.

Some plants, like corn and Kentia Palms, store large mounts of silica on their leaves, making the edges of the leaves sharp and strong enough to give you a nasty slash. And yes, they do this largely to protect themselves. Insects that like to eat plant leaves find that when they chew on plants with lots of silica, their mouth parts wear out faster. Plants also store silica between their cells, giving them a strong, stony skeleton.

These silica particles made by plants are called phytoliths, which literally means "plant stones." Chemically they are colorless and transparent opals. They can range in size from a thousandth of a millimeter to a millimeter. Each plant forms phytoliths that are unique in shape, and some plants make up to a dozen different types.

After the plant has died and decayed, the phytoliths and their unique shapes remain in the soil. This means that with a microscope and a good knowledge of which plants make which phytoliths, you could examine the soil and tell which plants have grown there in the past.

This is how scientists learned that the Indians were growing corn in South America 2,500 years before the birth of Christ! Isn't that amazing?

God's creation is filled with wonderful surprises. And every one of them glorifies Him except the sharp tongue!

References: Ivars Peterson,Science News; Brian Wilson and the Power of Words

2010 Christian Nature

To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. 0 LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. Psalm 30:12

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Inspirational Nature Quotes

God gives so many types of talent to people. He is The Creative One, so it seems 'natural'. I am grateful for all His different talents He bestows. Without great painters and photographers, how could photos like this one (left) thrill me?

I am also grateful for writers who can encapsulate all that I feel with just a few words. Such is the case with the authors of these inspirational nature quotes.

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.” ~Mother Teresa

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars. ~Martin Luther

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are. ~Osho

And how should a beautiful, ignorant stream of water know it heads for an early release - out across the desert, running toward the Gulf, below sea level, to murmur its lullaby, and see the Imperial Valley rise out of burning sand with cotton blossoms, wheat, watermelons, roses, how should it know? ~Carl Sandburg, Good Morning America, 1928

I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets. It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy. ~Hamlin Garland, McClure's, February 1899

The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man. ~Author Unknown

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. ~Galileo

2010 Christian Nature

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor. Psalm 8:3-5

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Which Butterfly Is Eaten by Man?

If I were to ask you which butterfly is the strangest of all, could you answer me correctly? And what if I asked you which butterfly is eaten by man? (I know - ew!)

The black Madrone butterfly is one of the strangest butterflies in the world. It also has a highly unusual relationship with man.

The Madrone butterfly inhabits only five species of trees in a small part of Mexico. In the caterpillar when they are ready to turn into butterflies, they spin tough bags of double-stranded silk. A single tree may have up to 20 silk bags hanging from it. The bags are so strong that the local Indians use them as bandages, containers, and flags.

Madrone pupae are rich in fat and protein. Since they are eaten by the local Indians, scientists became worried about the butterfly's future. The butterfly is already threatened by logging in the few forests it inhabits. Then scientists discovered that the Indians actually cultivate the butterfly! They regularly move the butterfly's silk bags from trees that have too many bags to trees with no bags, retying the bags to the trees. This care helps repopulate the butterflies in areas where they are scarce.

God has given us the earth and its resources to use for our benefit and the benefit of others. He has also given us the intelligence necessary to care for the earth as we use its resources. The Indians who tend the Madrone butterflies show us by example, proper management of the earth's resources. I think scientific knowledge is not nearly as important as our attitude towards God's creation.

Notes: Ron Cowen, Science News

2010 Christian Nature

Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Genesis 2:15

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Nature Video - Your Love Is Extravagant, Lord

On this Lord's Day and Father's Day, I think it appropriate that we praise our Creator for His indescribably beautiful Creation!

This Christian nature video has such beautiful film of Muir Woods in Marin County, California. It reminds me of the great music by Casting Crowns - "Your Love is Extravagant". Enjoy Northern California's natural beauty and feel the Spirit that created such a masterpiece of nature!



We have a God who is simply presented in all of creation; we should recognize Him. We have a God who is sovereignly powerful; we should respect Him. We have a God who is surely purposeful; we should reverence Him. We have a God who is savingly personal; we should receive Him. All of that is in Genesis 1:1

From the heart of Nature Girl 2009-2010

Author, Lecturer, Columnist and 'Nature Girl' April Lorier. Founder & Director Emeritis of C.O.P.E. Inc. Her testimony before the Calif. State Legislature helped with the passage of The Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect Law in 1974. Her latest book, available at AMAZON, is God's Battered Child: From Abuse to Leadership.

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Galapagos Finches - 'After Their Own Kind'

Much has been written about Darwin's Galapagos finches, and much has been assumed from his assumptions.

During his visit to the Galapagos Islands, Charles Darwin saw that each island was populated by a little finch. These birds were all very similar; yet, from one island to another there were some differences in the size and shape of the beak.

Darwin reasonably concluded that in the distant past a pair of these birds had been blown 600 miles from the mainland and had since multiplied and spread. The environment on each island was slightly different, and the birds had developed specialized beaks to exploit the different food sources.

It seemed to Darwin that here was a unique example of evolution in action where 13 different species had arisen from just one mating pair.

A species is defined by the ability to reproduce; thus, a sterility barrier separates one species from another.

Textbooks use Darwin's finches to claim that new species have been produced, demonstrating evolution in action. However, the facts are that at least six of these different birds are known to interbreed and thus by definition are not new species at all but simply varieties within a single species.

Moreover, DNA studies reveal very little difference between any of these birds, and there is no evidence of new genetic material, which is essential if evolution actually took place.

Darwin's finches offer no support for evolution. However, they do support the Bible when it teaches that, like every other creature, the birds have simply reproduced "after their own kind." God has so designed His Creation that while it is possible for creatures to adapt perfectly to individual environments, there is still stability of the basic "kind."

reference: CreationMatters.org

2010 Christian Nature

So God created… every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:21

(Please note: This is a nature blog, not a science blog. The name of this blog is Christian Nature. Notice "Christian" is the first word and "Nature" is the second.)

I am not a pantheist. In pantheism the Universe (Nature) and God are equivalent. I am a Bible-believing Christian who believes God is the Creator of nature. When He created humans He placed them into nature. It was called "The Garden of Eden."

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What Darwin Did Not Know

A new book, to be released on June 21, explains how a human cell works. It proves that science has progressed to the point that it takes more faith to believe in evolution than in intelligent design. Stephen Meyer lays out the evidence for intelligent design.

Scientists are saying new discoveries inside the very building blocks of life are giving more evidence all the time that there's an intelligent design behind all life on earth.

Darwin's theory of evolution rests on the idea that the incredibly complex web of life today all evolved from simple chemicals and cells. No creator was necessary, just chance and the powers of the fittest forms of life to survive and adapt.

But Darwin couldn't see into cells and DNA like scientists of the modern age. He couldn't know these building blocks of life work because of intricate little machines in each cell -- so wildly intricate there's no chance they could simply evolve.

Darwin couldn't know that DNA functions -- life itself functions -- because of incredibly complex code, way beyond what even the most brilliant computer programmers have devised.

Secular scientists often mock the simple faith of those who believe in an unseen God. But statisticians say the odds are impossible that this incredibly intricate, elegant code could ever just evolve.

Because of that, they say it takes much more faith to believe in such chance than it does to believe an intelligent designer is behind this code at the core of all life.

Science philosopher Stephen Meyer, in his book Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, lays out the evidence for such intelligent design. He refutes the arguments that the theory of intelligent design is just religion and not true science. It's a battle over the very origin and meaning of life that the secular media rarely allow to break out into the open.

Click here for an animation illustration of how a human cell works.

2010 Christian Nature

Reference: Paul Strand, Washington Sr. Correspondent

Author, Lecturer & Columnist April Lorier. Founder & Director Emeritis of C.O.P.E. Inc. Her testimony before the Calif. State Legislature helped with the passage of The Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect Law in 1974. Her latest book, available at AMAZON, is God's Battered Child: From Abuse to Leadership.

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Unbelievable Healing Powers of Bees!

When it comes right down to it, bees and children have a lot in common. For example, when bees are threatened by some diseases or predators, they act like sick children – they get a fever. More specifically, they give their nest a fever, sometimes raising its temperature to levels that are nearly fatal to themselves!

Bees are cold-blooded, but they can generate heat by flexing their flight muscles while holding their wings still. It has long been known that bees can generate temperatures as high as 96.8° F to keep the nursery nice and cozy. Researchers have found that this ability is used to cure a sick hive.

One of the more dangerous threats to the bees' nest is the chalkboard fungus. Researchers noticed that bees raised the temperature of the nursery when threatened with the fungus. They then tested the effect of the temperature increase by introducing chalkboard fungus spores into three experimental hives. Even before the larvae showed symptoms of infection, bees raised the temperature in all three hives. While several larvae mummified in one hive, no larvae in the other two hives showed infection.

Other researchers have also found that bees use the same strategy on giant hornets. The bees cannot sting through the hornet's tough armor. So, when invaded, bees raise the hive's temperature to over 116°F. That's enough to kill the hornet, but one degree hotter would be fatal to the bees. The precision is miraculous!

God has given His creatures important abilities to gain and keep physical health. But for humans, when it comes to spiritual health, we must rely completely on what God's Son, Jesus Christ, has done for us.

2010 Christian Nature

The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?
Proverbs 18:14

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How Fast Can A Rattlesnake Strike?

I have mentioned that I was raised in enchanted New Mexico where rattlesnakes are plentiful, so I am well-acquainted with them (and fascinated by them, too!). You can read about the pristine majesty of the Gila Forest here. Bottom line is, I know when a rattlesnake strikes, it is so fast that it has taken high-speed photography to study it.

Those famous fangs of the rattlesnake are mounted on hinges so that they can fold up along the roof of the snake's mouth when not in use. Each fang is a hollow needle, with a canal on the side of the end of the fang through which venom is injected. After only a couple of uses, the fang drops out, to be replaced by another.

When it strikes, the snake's neck muscles propel the head with such speed that a car with the same acceleration would go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just half a second! As the head moves toward the prey, the fangs unfold and a suitable amount of venom is released into the victim. In less than a second the snake is back in position. The venom not only kills the victim, but it also begins tenderizing the meat. When he swallows his victim, the rattlesnake can unhinge its jaws to make the job easier.

Scripture tells us that such violence was not part of God's original plan for the world. It is one of the consequences of sin. One Day all of that will be changed back to His original plan, and I am looking forward to That Day!

2010 Christian Nature

It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear... and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,' says the LORD. Isaiah 65:24, 25b

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Scarab Beetles and Elephant Ears - Unlikely Friends

There are a wide variety of decorative and ornamental plants that go by the popular name "elephant ears" because of their very large leaves. Elephant ears are among the 2,500 known species of plants that generate heat in much the same way as warm-blooded animals. Some flowering elephant ears actually raise their temperatures close to human body temperatures while in bloom!

Even more amazing is the relationship between many elephant ears and the scarab beetle. It has only recently been learned that many elephant ears depend completely on the scarab beetle for pollination. Elephant ears produce a flower stalk, called a spadix, which has three different kinds of flowers, male, female, and sterile.

The beetles live to eat the sterile flowers and on the process of crawling around the spadix the beetles pick up the pollen from the male flowers and pollinate the female flowers. Incidentally, while the male and female flowers look exactly like the sterile flowers, they are never eaten. I find this amazing!

This close dependency between totally unrelated creatures which have special features perfectly suited to one another bears witness to an overall plan and Planner for all the creation. And if our Creator has made such detailed provisions for these plants, which are here today and soon gone, you can rest assured that He has made many more provisions for you and me.

2010 Christian Nature

As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
Psalm 103:15

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Pigeons Are Not Just 'Bird Brains'!

Mankind has been teaching birds to talk for thousands of years. Man has also been using birds to deliver messages for just as long. But new research on the intelligence of birds suggests that they might be more intelligent than we suspect.

Pigeons are not the 'bird brains' you might think they are!

Researchers studying pigeons have learned that they can read all of the letters of the alphabet and they read them in a way similar to people. Scientists became convinced that pigeons see the world in much the same way as we do when they discovered that pigeons tend to confuse the very same letters that people do. What's more, it took only four months for pigeons to learn to distinguish all the letters of the alphabet. For years pigeons have been used to spot and reject defective items on assembly lines, where they have better records than human beings.

Based on evolutionary theory, scientists naturally conclude that the recognition of abstract forms such as letters of the alphabet requires the larger brain. But this is an assumption and we might be reminded of the work of Harvard psychologist B. F. Skinner who made extensive use of learned behavior using pigeons. Brain size has little to do with intelligence.

Real science and experience show this and disprove evolutionary views. The only alternative is that it is the Creator who gives His creatures their intelligence.

2010 Christian Nature

Do not curse the king, even in your thought; do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the air may carry your voice, and a bird in flight may tell the matter. Ecclesiastes 10:20

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Pawpaw Tree Offers Anti-Cancer Drugs and Insecticide

The mechanism God designed to protect the fruit of the Pawpaw tree from being eaten before its seeds are ripe may provide powerful, new anti-cancer drugs and a powerful, safe, insecticide. The Pawpaw tree with its custard-like fruit, is common all over the eastern United States.

The twigs of the Pawpaw contain powerful biological chemicals that make them toxic to insects. The Pawpaw fruit is nearly as toxic as the twigs until it ripens. This discourages animals from eating the fruit until it is ripe and the seeds are ready to be spread. Scientists at Purdue University recently developed a simple and inexpensive test to see if natural substances are biologically active. If a plant extract is active, it means that it could have some use as a medicine.

As a result of these successful tests, scientists found at least seven chemicals that may prove useful against cancer. The most powerful is a million times more effective against cancer than the leading anti-cancer drug in use today. In addition, they discovered a powerful, natural, insecticide that is effective against a wide range of plant pests.

God's extraordinary care for the lowly Pawpaw also appears to provide powerful help for some of man's ills. God often chooses to work through the lowly things of this world to bring blessings to us. Nothing or no one is unimportant to His plans if they will only allow Him to use them.

Father, I thank You that You have chosen to work through the lowly things of this world so that even the least among us is not without Your help or Your blessing.

2010 Christian Nature

He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. Job 5:11

references: Science News and Sacramento Union

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What Is Color Constancy?

Don't you hate how your photographs sometimes turn out showing different colors than you remember seeing when you took the picture?

Florescent lights might make faces look a little green. A tungsten lamp will make everything in a photograph look pinkish. Even though you did not see those colors when you took the picture, they were there and could be measured by the right equipment.

The reason that the colors we see are often different is because our brains have the amazing ability to adjust and correct the colors we see to those colors that are expected. This ability is called color constancy.
More recently, researchers discovered that goldfish not only see color but that their brains also adjust for color constancy. Scientists had always thought that goldfish were too primitive and had brains that were too small to even see color, much less provide color constancy. Ha!

There is no such thing as a simple living thing. Nor can living things be arranged on a scale from simple to complex, the way many scientists would like. Color vision and color constancy were not produced by trial and error genetic accidents, they are abilities given by the Creator. He can give these abilities to any creature He wants and has done so, that the entire creation might glorify Him!

I would say God has always been underestimated!

reference: Creation Moments Radio

2010 Christian Nature

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. Revelation 4:11

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Male or Female? It Depends On the Water

Researchers have learned that some fish have an absolutely amazing ability - a specialty that is of considerable help to fish and to man as well. This remarkable gift is the capacity to change sex after they are hatched!

Scientists have learned that silverside eggs placed in relatively warm water will eventually produce mainly male Silverside Fish, no matter how many females originally hatch. At the same time, eggs allowed to hatch in relatively cold water will produce mainly female Silverside Fish.

This is an advantage because eggs hatched in warm summer waters have the winter ahead of them and young strong males are more likely to survive the winter than young females. On the other hand, eggs hatching in the spring usually hatch in cold water, producing females that have plenty of time to grow before facing winter. Researchers point out that these findings could be of tremendous help to fish hatcheries who wish to manage their populations and production.

Our Creator has wisely provided for the preservation of His creatures. He has designed some of these gifts in such a way that human beings can use them to put the earth and its plants and animals into service for their, as well as our good. The witness to our Creator could not be clearer.

reference: Creation Moments Radio

2010 Christian Nature

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.' Genesis 1:28

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A Rattlesnake With Epilepsy?

Since I grew up in the enchanted mountains of New Mexico, it was common to see rattlesnakes often. Even when my dad was driving and a rattler pierced our car tire, Daddy wouldn't touch the tire. Rattlesnakes are dangerous!

Yes, the rattlesnake is a dangerous creature, but surprisingly vulnerable. Believe it or not, rodents are one of the rattlesnake's greatest enemies. (You'd think they would be easy victims of the rattlesnake,wouldn't you?)

Ground squirrels will sometimes attack rattlers, lunging and biting them. Ground squirrels can inflict wounds that become infected and cause the snake's death. They often get away with this because their reflexes are so much faster than the snake's.

Those who handle rattlesnakes must be careful of their bite. But they must be equally careful about how they pick the snake up, because its neck is easily broken.

If a rattler is trapped for only 20 minutes in the noonday sun, it can go into convulsions! A Rattlesnake with epilepsy? Oh, now that's weird! And if it is placed on ground with too steep an incline, its heart, unable to pump uphill, may fail. In fact, simply handling a rattler may cause it to starve itself to death.

Scripture refers to the devil as the "serpent" many times. However, just as the rattlesnake is deadly, yet vulnerable, so too is the devil - truly deadly, yet vulnerable. But what Jesus accomplished with His sacrificial death and resurrection defeated that old "serpent". Of course, he would like me to forget that, but I won't!

2010 Christian Nature

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:14

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God Knew You Would Be Nauseous!

Have you ever taken ginger for your nausea? I have! Often naturally occurring medicines work better and more gently than man-made concoctions. Ginger has long been accepted as a natural treatment for nausea. Several modern studies have confirmed that ginger can even work better than modern nausea medicines such as Dramamine®.

The ginger we're talking about comes from the roots of tropical plants that grow two to four feet high. It was once used to calm bees so that honey could be harvested without incident. A 1988 study gave either ginger capsules or placebos to Dutch naval cadets. The study concluded that ginger proved to be "significantly beneficial" in reducing the incidence of seasickness. Two studies in the 1990s showed that ginger reduced nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and some types of surgery.

A Utah study compared the effectiveness of ginger versus Dramamine. Students were rotated on a tilted chair for six minutes. None of those who had taken the Dramamine made it through the six minutes. Half of the students who had taken ginger lasted the full six minutes. Researchers warn that you should check with your doctor before trying ginger since it does interact with some medications.

When God placed helpful natural medicines into His perfect creation, He was providing healing for us before we even needed it. He knew you would one day be nauseous!

References: Rx Remedy/Creation Moments Radio

2010 Christian Nature

…They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.Ezekiel 47:12b

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The Miracle of Vision

Have you ever contemplated the miracle of vision? It's all so complicated!

Did you know that if you stared at an object with absolutely no eye movement you would eventually go blind? Actually, it is impossible to stare at anything without some eye movement, and there is a good reason for this.

You may be aware that each eyeball has a blind spot where the optic nerve is attached. Normally we don't notice it because the other eye fills in the missing portion of the image in our brain. However, there is much more than this going on to make vision possible.

Suppose that you are talking with someone, nodding your head in agreement. Despite the movement, your eyes stay focused on his face. You can do that because of an organ in your ear called the vestibular sensory organ.

It senses the motion of your nodding head and sends the information to your eyes, enabling them to stay focused while your head moves. More amazing is what you don't see.

Your retina is crisscrossed with blood vessels that cast shadows into your field of vision. You just don't see them because the shadows never move. This explains why, if you were able to stare perfectly at something, you would go blind. Your brain automatically filters out perfectly nonmoving images. If it didn't, you would constantly see the web of blood vessels on your retina.

So when you stare intently at something, the muscles of the eye send microscopic tremors to the eyeball making it vibrate so that you won't go blind.

The ability to see is the result of several precision designed systems all working together to give us reliable vision. God, not chance, creates such precise integration.

References: Discover

2010 Christian Nature

The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made both of them.
Proverbs 20:12

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Research Shows Plants Have Memory

As a horticulturist, I have written on the subject of talking to your houseplants and playing music for them. In fact, one of those posts is my "Top Post" (most comments)!

It was a very hot subject a few years ago! Many so-called experts thought that this was a silly idea since plants are very low, comparatively speaking, on the (imaginary) evolutionary scale. Research eventually proved that plants which were treated to music, especially classical music, did indeed seem healthier.

New research has convinced many scientists that plants also have feelings and memory. Researchers carried out their experiments on the bur marigold,(pictured) which typically sprouts and immediately produces two identical leaves.

Scientists made several tiny needle holes in only one of the leaves and then, after only five minutes, they removed both of the leaves. Later they removed the top growth of the young plants in order to force growth from the buds adjacent to the leaf sites. As a result, the plants tended to show growth only on the side where the undamaged leaf had been.

Further study has shown that, while plants do not have a nervous system, they do have a chemical communication system which works something like memory!
We certainly must marvel at our Creator's care in giving even plants feelings and memory. And then we are reminded that if He has taken such care in creating and caring for plants, how much more must He care for each and every one of us!

Reference: OMNI

2010 Christian Nature

Author, Lecturer & Columnist and Horticulturist April Lorier. Founder & Director Emeritis of C.O.P.E. Inc. Her testimony before the Calif. State Legislature helped with the passage of The Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect Law in 1974. Her latest book, available at AMAZON, is God's Battered Child: From Abuse to Leadership.

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How Do Insects Survive In Winter?

People who live in climates where there is ice and snow are used to seeing the activity of warm-blooded creatures even in winter. However, reptiles and amphibians, because they are cold-blooded, seem to disappear in the winter. But did you know that many kinds of insects continue to be active in the winter?

How can insects be active this time of year without freezing? After all, when living tissue freezes, expanding ice crystals destroy tissue membranes. Insects survive freezing temperatures in much the same way as does an automobile - with antifreeze! Many insects manufacture either a form of alcohol or glycerol, which is chemically similar to the antifreeze in your car.
Eastern tent caterpillars are very much alive within their cocoons, and by midwinter their body weight is over one third antifreeze. One parasitic wasp larvae is able to continue living at temperatures as low as -52 degrees F. Some 25 of the 700 known species of pygmy locust actually live in or near Arctic regions. And the snowfly gets its name from the fact that its life is carried on in the snows of winter.

It seems doubtful that the world before the Flood had winters as we do today. Yet, in His wisdom, God built special provisions into many of His creatures so that they could survive when winter cold as we know it today became a reality.

References: Jo Ellen Tuthill, “The Bugs of Winter,” January/February, Science 83, pp 36-39; Creation Moments

2010 Christian Nature

“He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes; He casts out His hail like morsels; Who can stand before His cold? He sends out His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.” Psalm 147:16-18

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Believe or Don't Perceive

A primary step in understanding how we think is realizing that our perception of the world around us is based upon unprovable beliefs. Those who do not believe in God will see no evidence of His working in the world.

In November of 1919 the name Albert Einstein became a household word. That was when Arthur Eddington announced that Einstein's theory of relativity had been confirmed as "one of the highest achievements of human thought." This was based on one photograph, taken during an eclipse of the sun, in which starlight was said to be bent by the sun's gravity as much as Einstein had predicted.

Modern researchers have been reviewing the evidence. Some photographs were taken by teams in Brazil and in Africa. Modern researchers have discovered that of all the photographs taken, only one shows the bending Einstein predicted. Most of the plates show bending on the order predicted by Newton. Eddington simply ignored all those other plates.

To make matters worse, any evident bending of light was so small that the same effect could have been produced by distortion by the Earth's atmosphere or the changing temperatures in the telescope. In short, Eddington perceived only what he wanted to perceive!

The same is true of those supposed evidences for evolution. Not one example of a cited evidence for evolution is more than a perception based upon the assumption that evolution actually occurred. This is definitely not the objective method that science claims!

Reference: Journal of Scientific Exploration

2010 Christian Nature

And He said, 'Go, and tell this people: Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Isaiah 6:9

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Do You Hear The Trees Communicating?

Genesis uses only a few words and simple language to describe the creation of trees. That hardly seems fair, considering the importance, variety and complexity of the largest and longest-living things on earth.

The largest Sequoias in northern California weigh more than six blue whales. The tallest Australian eucalyptus trees and redwoods tower as high as a 30-story building. Some of the Bristlecone pines in the American west are 4,000 years old.

Trees do more than provide us with building materials, food and medicine. Like other green plants, trees take the waste carbon dioxide produced by animals and humans and turn it into oxygen. As a bonus, trees produce sugar.

The cellulose fiber we call wood is actually only thousands of sugar molecules linked into long chains. In recent years scientists have also learned that trees communicate with each other. Do you hear them?

They cool the air and pump enough moisture into the air to transform a dry desert-like climate. If it were not for the mycorrhiza fungi, trees would battle through their roots for control of moisture and soil resources. However, when this fungus is present in the root systems, trees will link roots with each other and share water and nutrients.

Scripture's simple statement that God created trees expands into volumes of information as we learn more about them. This is how science done in faith - that is, as our search for knowledge about what God has made - serves to glorify our Creator!

References: Reader's Digest

2010 Christian Nature

“Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth'; and it was so.” Genesis 1:11

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An Ugly Monkey Making a Living

Do you have any idea what an Aye-Aye is? The Aye-Aye is one of the strangest little monkeys on Earth. Its peculiar features bear witness that it was specially designed and created to fill a unique niche in nature, not a chance development of evolution.

The Aye-Aye lives in Madagascar. This small creature has huge ears and an extra long middle finger. It crawls on trees, tapping on them to find grubs.

The Aye-Aye's ears are so sensitive that it can tell if there is a grub hole hidden beneath the surface of the wood. Not only can the Aye-Aye sense a grub hole an inch within the wood, it can even tell if there is a grub in the hole! When the Aye-Aye senses a grub, it chews into the wood with forward-curving incisor teeth.

However, the Aye-Aye doesn't have to worry about wearing its teeth down chewing on the tough wood. Its special incisor teeth are unique among primates. They continue to grow throughout the Aye-Aye's life, just like a rodent's teeth. Once down to the grub, it uses its elongated middle finger to fish the grub out for lunch. Researchers have noted that the Aye-Aye fills the same niche as the woodpecker in an environment where there are no woodpeckers.

The Aye-Aye has clearly been specially designed with unique features so that it can make its living in a niche that is unfilled in its own environment. Our Creator God not only made the Earth to be inhabited, He designed His creatures to make a living within it.

Reference: Science Frontiers

2010 Christian Nature

For thus says the LORD. Who formed the earth and made it. Who formed it to be inhabited: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other.' Isaiah 45:18

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What's The Point of Music?

“And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.” Genesis 4:21

I spent years as a musician and music teacher. Were those years worthless? Of what value is music when it comes to survival?

The Bible tells us that the earliest generations of human beings were making music. By the time the eighth generation of man came along, Jubal, a member of that generation was able to make his living providing musical instruments. On the evolutionary side of things, however, musical ability would seem to provide no survival advantage. Yet, the human brain devotes considerable resources to the processing of music.

Our love of music is wired into our brain. Each of our sense organs is important to our enjoyment of music. And each of these organs is linked to its own part of the brain which is responsible for how we experience the music.

Parts of the brain are reserved for memory which stores the music. Other parts of the brain are dedicated to trying to understand the entire piece of music, referencing back to parts of the music stored in the memory.

Even more interesting is that one need not hear music to activate the various parts of the brain devoted to music.

Positron-emission tomography reveals that a person only needs to imagine music for these portions of the brain to become active.

The ability to make or appreciate music offers us no apparent survival value, and therefore, according to evolutionary theory, should not have developed. Yet, our brains, and indeed, all our senses, are designed to make and appreciate music.

The obvious message here is that evolution had nothing to do with the formation of human beings. Rather, we were created by God Who loves music, and wants us to praise Him with music.

Reference: Science Frontiers

2010 Christian Nature

Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. Psalm 33:1-3

Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals,praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Psalm 150: 2-6

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Even Trees Go To War

When I owned a cabin in Big Bear, I sold it because of infestation of the trees by pine bark beetles. It was a sad sight, indeed, especially for a place known for its beauty. Actually, it broke my heart to see my property destroyed by these bugs. But not all tree infestations end up badly.


A gypsy moth caterpillar infestation can strip the leaves from large numbers of trees, threatening the trees' lives. Since they don't have a means of escape, it doesn't seem as if the poor trees have much of a chance.

But botanists were tipped off to the possibility that trees may not be all that defenseless when they began to investigate why only a few trees were badly damaged by insects in an infected grove while most stood unharmed. They discovered that when facing a threat like gypsy moth caterpillars, trees begin to defend themselves by sounding the alarm. Even trees go to war!

A large variety of trees - including beeches, poplars, sugar maples, and red oaks - communicate with each other. Scientists believe the trees communicate by releasing chemicals called pheromones into the air. What they now know is that before insects attacking one tree can get to the tree next door, the second tree has already begun defending itself.

How do they defend themselves? When under attack or notified by other trees of attack, most trees begin to manufacture an array of poisons. Some of the poisons make leaves impossible to digest while others kill the insects outright. Some make as many as eight poisons at once, and many can change the poisons that are made from year to year. Is that fabulous?

Our Creator's concern for living things extends even to plants. If He sees to this detailed level of care for trees, can there be anything in our lives that is too small for His loving concern?

There have been times I have thought God was too busy to bother with a seemingly small problem of mine - or, more likely, a "small decision". How foolish of me. Am I not worth more than a tree to my Father?

References: Discover,Sept

2010 Christian Nature

You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better? Matthew 7:11 Message

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