A Third Eye for Spare Parts?

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.

Notes: Science News

2010 Christian Nature

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

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Science and Faith - Not Mutually Exclusive!

Science and Faith are not mutually exclusive. But, if you are convinced that there is no God, it will be very difficult for you to see any evidence of Him.

Following the publication of Darwin's book in 1859, there was much speculation over the so-called primordial slime believed to be the origin of life. Ernst Haeckel predicted a whole family of creatures that would lead from the slime to the first one-celled organisms. It was thought that such creatures might exist at the bottom of the sea, and H.M.S. Challenger began taking samples of the sea bottom. Protoplasmic blobs were found in all the sample bottles. Scientists, eager to confirm Haeckel's prophetic words, proclaimed these as "life in the making," naming them Bathybius haeckeli.

However, a few years later a chemist pointed out that the preserving agent used in the sample bottles was alcohol, and when sea water is added to alcohol, an amorphous precipitate of sulfate of lime is formed. It had nothing to do with life, but the embarrassment was never reported by the English press.

In truth, if you are convinced that there is no God, it will be very difficult for you to see any evidence of Him. And if you believe that witches can fly on brooms, you will find evidence for it. People did it for generations. Evolutionists continue today to find evidence for what they expect to be true.

Notes: Creation

2010 Christian Nature

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." 2 Timothy 3:13

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Cancer and Shrew Spit?

There's an "Ewww" ingredient that looks like it could kill cancer cells in humans. Shrew spit, that's right—the saliva from shrews—is reportedly under investigation by Canadian scientists as a potential screening test and treatment for breast, prostate and ovarian cancers.

As reported in CBC News, biochemist Jack Stewart of Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick has been studying the northern short-tailed shrew, one of the world's few venomous mammal species whose saliva, containing the chemical soricidin, can paralyze its prey. (Photo: Gilles Gonthier/Flickr)

During initial studies to see how soricidin would work as a painkiller, Stewart discovered that it killed cancer cells because it blocks calcium from the cells.

Said Dr. Rodney Ouellette, president of the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute: "It was a very profound effect on virtually all cancer cell lines we tested. From that point, we started looking at this in a different way and saying maybe this is the real thing, maybe this can work."

According to the report, a Phase 1 trial in humans is now less than a year away.

Source: Staff - CBC News

2010 Christian Nature

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Your 'Green' Brain

In this age where we are bombarded with energy-saving 'green' devices, guess what is the most efficient energy producer you own?

Picture in your mind the sight and sounds of popcorn popping. As you picture the popping becoming more frantic as the popper fills up, do you begin to smell the popcorn? That's part of the wonder of the brain. The brain can not only store words and ideas, but sights, sounds and even smells.

The average person's memory is able to retain about 100 billion bits of information - the information found in 500 sets of encyclopedias. But, to use computer language, the brain is not only a place where information is stored, it is also an information processor. Yet, it only weighs a little less than four pounds and uses about 20 watts of energy - how is that for a 'green brain'?. Our most sophisticated modern computers don't even begin to approach such efficiency.

Research has shown that the more you use part of your brain, the larger that part becomes - just like building muscles. And if you don't use part of your brain, it starts shrinking. Few of us have developed our ability to memorize things to any great extent. But to show you what can be done, in May of 1974 a Burmese man recited, from memory, 16,000 pages from a Buddhist religious text!

What are you doing with that marvelous organ, the brain, that your Creator gave to you? How much of His Word have you stored in your memory as a treasure which can never be taken away?

Notes: Creation Moments

2010 Christian Nature

Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
Psalm 119:11

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Do NOT Irritate a Locust!

Sure, locusts may be shy, but if you value your life, you had better not irritate one!

Normally, the desert locusts mentioned in the Bible are not aggressive, but reclusive, and are green in color. What turns them into the multi-colored army that sweeps across the land, eating every leaf in sight?

Even the book of Proverbs marvels at how locusts, without any leaders, behave like a destructive army. Yet they live most or all of their lives as grasshoppers. However, there are seven species of these locusts that now and again can become a destructive swarm. It happens when their population spikes, usually due to an abundance of food.

But what triggers the change? Could it be irritation?

Researchers put a rolling ball around in a cage to jostle a solitary locust. After a few hours the locust was ready to jostle fellow locusts. Then researchers next took a small paintbrush and began to tickle various parts of the insect. After long, tedious hours of locust tickling they found that simply touching a locust's hind leg made it ready to swarm. They concluded that when the locust population spikes, the insects begin to jostle each other, and that irritation turns them into a destructive swarm.

One might conclude that when God wanted to punish people in Old Testament times with a plague of locusts, He simply blessed the locusts until they began to jostle against one another. Then they were ready to swarm at His bidding.

Notes: Science News

2010 Christian Nature


"The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands...." Proverbs 30:27

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How 'Smart' Is the Tree in Your Backyard?

Sounds like a silly question, but how smart is the tree in your yard? How smart is the smartest tree you ever met? Does it sound silly to speak of tress as being smart? Botanists are learning that some trees have elaborate defenses against insect pests.

Studies have shown that a cottonwood tree sets up an elaborate zone defense when attacked by aphids. Some branches will manufacture poisons to resist the aphids while others use a different strategy. Branches that offer the aphids poisons can be dozens of times more resistant to aphids than neighboring branches.

Should an aphid land on a leaf that is not manufacturing poisons, that leaf is very likely to be shed by the tree. This squeeze play by the tree keeps both strategies viable in resisting aphids.

However, sometimes insects are almost as clever as trees. The eastern tent caterpillar eats a fatal dose of cyanide with each mouthful of cherry tree leaves without harm. The poison is combined with two sugar molecules in the leaves.

Normally an insect's digestive system would separate those sugars, releasing the cyanide. However, the tent caterpillar's digestive system releases only one sugar, leaving the cyanide bound and harmless.

On the other hand the pink sawfly larva concentrates and stores the toxic oils of the eucalyptus leaves it eats. When threatened, the worm-like larva rears up and spits droplets of the poisonous oils at its attackers.

There is no level at which the creation fails to show forth intelligence and planning. Every level of creation glorifies God!

Notes: Discover

O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions. Psalm 104:24

2010 Christian Nature

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The Ever-Listening Great Hornbill

The Great Hornbill is an intelligent, ever-listening bird. What is he listening for?

With the exception of basic messages such as aggression, communication between two entirely different species has seldom been observed among animals in the wild. We know that many animals among the same species give each other specific warnings about an impending danger. However, scientists have never noted one species recognizing the specific warning given by a second species.

Diana monkeys on the Ivory Coast of Africa face two primary threats: leopards and crowned eagles. When one of these threats appears, the spotter gives a very specific bark-like call depending on the type of threat. Of course, the monkeys need to respond differently to each threat, whether it comes from the leopard below or the eagle above. So it helps them to know what they are facing.

On the other hand, a bird named the Great Hornbill is threatened only by the crowned eagles. Researchers noted that these birds ignored the monkeys' warning about the leopards. But when the monkeys signaled danger from the eagle, the Great Hornbill took defensive measures. Researchers confirmed their observations using tape-recorded monkey calls. The researchers were amazed that these birds understood the monkey warnings in an intelligent manner.

Such intelligence comes from the Creator, Who has given the gift of such intelligence to His creatures in a way that provides for their survival. This shows His loving care for His creation.

Notes: Science News

2010 Christian Nature

"Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus...."Colossians 1:28

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Give Us More Fathers Like This One

Oh, that there were more human fathers who behaved as admirably as THIS father!

He sits on his eggs to protect them until they hatch, but he's no rooster. He's a good swimmer, but he's no duck or swan.

The Puerto Rican forest frog, coqui, is among the most common vertebrates in Puerto Rico. They are active and hunt mainly at night because they are very susceptible to dehydration during the day. So important is protection from drying, that researchers have found that the frog population is directly related to the number of sheltered spots they can find during the day. The frog's eggs, which are not laid in water, are even more threatened by dehydration than the adults. These frogs are important in the tropical forest because they are one of the forest's primary insect predators.

After she lays her eggs the female leaves for parts unknown. However, the dedicated father tends the eggs. The average male coqui will sit on the eggs to keep them moist for 23 hours a day, for up to three weeks. Without his care and protection, few eggs would ever hatch.

While this arrangement may seem strange at first, the genius of the design becomes apparent with a little thought. God designed these frogs to be major insect controllers in the forest. After she lays her eggs, the female's need for insects is much greater than the male's. It's easier for the male to give up most of his hunting for food for three weeks than it is for the female to give up eating. Again our Creator's wisdom is evident!

Notes: Science News

2010 Christian Nature

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

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How Did This Bird Learn This Skill?

This is a photo of two Bee-eater Birds. The male is courting the female by playing with the wasp he caught. If she's lucky, he will share it with her! Yum!

There are 24 species of Bee-eater Birds.

Bee-eaters make their living catching and eating bees and wasps with stingers. The poison in many of these stinging insects is powerful enough to kill bee eaters, but the birds are not only skilled at avoiding stings; they know how to remove the poison from the bee when they eat it.

Having captured a bee or wasp, a bee eater will take it to a branch where he will pound its head and rub its stinging end until all of the poison has been removed from the insect's venom sac. Once the poison is removed, the bee-eater enjoys lunch.

Bee-eaters are described as lively and sociable. You seldom see one roosting all by itself. And when the weather is cool, bee-eaters huddle together to keep each other warm. There are even reports that bee-eaters will roost on each other's backs, forming a feathered pyramid made out of birds.

Now it's possible that bee-eaters figured out that they were warmer when huddled together, although even that much intelligence had to come from their Creator. But how could bee-eaters simply "discover" how to detoxify bees? If this ability evolved by trial and error, there would probably be no descendants of the first bee eaters around today. Obviously this dangerous behavior would not favor survival. This makes the bee-eater one of God's own arguments against evolution!

Notes: Natural History; Creation Moments Radio

2010 Christian Nature

But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you. Job 12:7

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Wordless Worship - Video

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

2010 Christian Nature

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What Do Plants Have To Do With Music?

What do plants have to do with music - especially invasive plants? Let's say you are listening to the Boston Pops Symphony on PBS. How many plants are you listening to? And what do plants have to do with music, anyway? More than you would have guessed!

Reed instruments like the oboe and clarinet trace their ancestry back to instruments made by the Egyptians more than 4,000 years ago. An Egyptian relief dated to about 2700 B.C. shows a clarinet-type instrument.

This means that humans have been dealing with the problem of making reeds work in reed instruments for thousands of years. Natural reeds can crack, break and make awful honking noises as they age and wear out. Today many musicians use plastic reeds. However, professional musicians reject the sound of plastic reeds as inferior for public performance. As one professional musician put it, "They sound kind of like a duck with laryngitis."

Reeds are fashioned from the giant reed plant. This large grass grows to a height of seven or eight feet. Reeds are made from the sections between the nodes. However, a seven-foot stalk may have only 25 sections that are the right dimensions for an oboe reed.

After harvesting and curing, a process that takes nine months, sections are selected on the basis of size and color. One plant may produce only one oboe reed. The goal is to obtain a reed that has a crisp tone over a wide range of notes. Out of a box of 100 reeds, which can cost $150, the professional musician may find two that he considers excellent.

Making music is one of the earliest human activities described in the Bible. The mention of music early in Genesis shows us that the earliest people were just as human as people today.

Notes: Schmidt, Karen F. 1991. Good vibrations: musician-scientists probe the woodwind reed. Science News, v. 140, Dec. 14.

2010 Christian Nature

His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. Genesis 4:20

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Snakes Have Feelings Too, You Know

How do you feel about snakes - any kind of snakes? There are those who keep them as pets, but most of us think of them as 'weird'. But snakes have feelings, too!

Mention snakes or other crawly reptiles and people usually shy away. One reason is the function of the serpent in Genesis and the subsequent curse God put on them - that they would crawl on their bellies from that point on. But there are other reasons, too.

Typically, snakes have a reputation for being dangerous, or at best, completely unable to show affection. New research shows us that in many cases this isn't true at all.

A number of studies have now shown that at least some snakes take care of their young, have friends, and even prefer to hang around with relatives. Mother pythons will stay coiled around their eggs for the two months they take to hatch, not even leaving them for food. Though she is cold-blooded, should the temperatures drop too low, she can generate muscle heat by shivering.

A black-rattler mother will stay with her babies for nine days. During that time she can protect them from predators. The young snakes can barely see at all until they shed their skin at nine days, after which they set off on their own.

Cage studies involving non-sibling and sibling rattle snakes, showed that non-siblings distance themselves from each other. However, rattle snakes that were siblings would touch each other frequently and often intertwine. Live-bearing snakes, found in Australia, are monogamous for life. How many humans can say that?

While evolution leads people to think of reptiles as primitive, here we see that their Creator, the God Who is love, blessed them with feelings for one another. This, too, is testimony of His loving nature.

Notes: Science News

2010 Christian Nature

By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. Job 26:13

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My Closest Relative? Are You Serious?

I recently read that these 'fury kites' that look like a combination of bat and squirrel were my closest relatives! Now really! Are scientists THAT confused?

Sometimes God's imagination is so creative that even the scientists are stumped by the results. One such example is the Colugo, an animal that scientists tried to place in three different families before they finally gave up and designated a whole new family just for that one strange creature.
Scientists agree that the Colugo is a mammal. But beyond that, they're stumped. For a while they had classified the Colugo as a bat, because it has a membrane that it uses for gliding. But upon closer inspection, it was clear that the Colugo was not a bat.

The Colugo has both front and hind legs and a tail that are all used to stretch the membrane of the cat-sized animal to a width of four feet. Based on this, scientists thought it might be a lemur with wings, so they classified the Colugo as a primate.

The strictly vegetarian Colugo is not a lemur, however.

So about 50 years ago, scientists decided to give the Colugo its own classification - Dermoptera, meaning "skin wing."
Scientists classify animals according to an imagined evolutionary history - the most popular school of thought today. This doesn't prove evolution; it is simply arranging similar things together, just as kindergarten children do as they learn about different objects.

But the Colugo is such a testimony to God's imaginative creativity that scientists have not been able to find anything that even remotely resembles this strange and wonderful creature.

© 2007 Creation Moments

2010 Christian Nature

Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, but rebelled by the sea; the Red Sea. Psalm 106:7

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A Thriller - 'Dangerous Journey of a Little Fish'

Aren't these beautiful leaves? Aha! You, like I, were fooled into thinking you were looking at a pile of leaves! These are NOT LEAVES! They are part of a thriller story about an innocent little fish just swimming along, looking for a bite to eat.

It's a warm day on the Amazon River. A small fish swims near the surface looking among the natural floating river debris for some food. As he looks among the occasional leaf or twig in the water he sees no danger. At the same time, one of the floating "leaves" is waiting for the little fish to move just a bit closer. Then, without warning, the floating "leaf" comes to life, grabs the fish and eats it! (Oh, this would make a good thriller movie about the dangerous journey of a little fish!)

What the little fish thought was simply another floating leaf was actually another fish! The Amazon Leaf Fish is carefully designed not only to look like a leaf, but to act like one as well. It has a flat body, very much like a leaf. A black line runs the length of its body, giving the appearance of the midrib of a leaf. A fleshy growth in its lower jaw looks like a leaf stem. (See all of this in the photo?)

Beyond looking like a leaf, the Leaf Fish also acts like a leaf. It lies still in the water, drifting with the current. To hide its identity further, it draws its fins close to its body, removing any last hint that it is indeed a hungry fish looking for lunch.

Amazon Leaf Fishes have voracious appetites. They have to eat for their bodies to maintain a normal shape. When they eat, the fishes eat very fast, widening their eyes, eat anything that their mouth size allows - even each other. Uh oh! Their anatomy resembles the sunfish, and they keep their heads down. In fact, they hardly move at all unless it's to snap up some food!

The leaf fish combines deceptive coloring, appearance and behavior into one design so that it can make its living. In this the leaf fish shows that the Creator makes nothing without also designing a special purpose for that creature. According to the Bible, the same can be said even more emphatically for each human being He has made. Your Creator has a special purpose for you, too!

References: Hanson, Jeanne K., and Deane Morrison. The wonderful weird of flora and fauna. Star Tribune First Sunday, WhooZoo.org and Holy Bible

2010 Christian Nature

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

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God Uses Bright Colors For a Reason!

I am constantly amazed at how prepared The Creator was and is! Unlike me, He did not jump ahead in enthusiasm without thinking His Creation through. The specificity of each created being is what amazes me. And then there's His use of bright color for specific reasons!

The Gouldian Finch, a native of Australia, is a prime example of God's love for color and its purpose. It sports bright, parrot-like colors. A single bird may carry feathers in up to six brilliant colors, including sky blue, dark blue, yellow, green, purple and black. The finch's face may be red, orange or black.

Found mostly in the grasslands of northern Australia, the finches usually build their nests of loosely woven dried grass. These nests are usually built in a tree hollow, a termite mound or in the grass itself. Consequently, finches often find themselves having to feed their young in low light conditions. But God, knowing the behavior He built into these birds, has provided a solution for this problem.

You might put a night light in the baby's room so you can find her mouth at night. God has done about the same for the Gouldian Finch. Their young have two pairs of iridescent nodules marking the margin of their beaks. These nodules don't generate light. Instead, they are highly efficient reflectors that glow purplish blue in all but total darkness.

Lest anyone question whether these nodules were specially designed to help the parents feed their young, we note that the nodules disappear as the young birds mature into adulthood. Now THAT is specific creativity surrounded by bright color!

Notes: Creation

2010 Christian Nature

I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. Psalm 50:11

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Even In The Drought, God Provides

Have you ever wrung drinking water out of fog? No? Well there are places on earth where it very rarely rains, like parts of Africa. How do the creatures there survive? They do!

The Stenocara Beetles live in the Namib Desert in southwestern Africa where it almost never rains. Early in the morning, a fog settles over the desert. Any water that might condense out of it is quickly evaporated by the sun and daily winds that come later in the day.

But the beetles are up early to collect the water from the fog on their backs. Their back shell has tiny bumps about a half millimeter in diameter. The tops of the bumps are covered with a material that attracts water.

The valleys between the bumps are coated with a waxy material that repels water. So, when large-enough droplets of water collect on the bumps, they roll down into the waxy valleys, and down those valleys into the beetle's mouth. Researchers have duplicated the beetle's covering and found that such coverings will aid desert survival for man.

This design also teaches us that these beetles and all the other living things in creation were not produced by mindless evolution, but by a loving, caring Creator. If He cares that much for a beetle, how much more does He care about you?

Notes: Science

2010 Christian Nature

"To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man...." Job 38:26

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Astrology Disproved by Science

Judging by the number of newspapers that carry daily horoscope columns, astrology continues to be very popular. Unfortunately, even many Christians have more than a passing interest in astrology.

Interest in astrology goes back thousands of years. And so do God's warnings for His people to stay away from astrology. However, it is only within the last 30 years that science has subjected astrology's claims to careful testing. Recent studies have turned up all sorts of problems with astrology.

For example, as the earth rotates, it also wobbles. As a result of that wobble, the zodiac upon which astrology is based has changed by nearly one entire constellation in only the last 2,000 years. Astrologers have never accounted for that change.

Likewise, studies have shown that horoscopes themselves are inaccurate. A study of men reenlisting in the Marine Corps from 1962 through 1970 showed that their astrological signs were just as likely to be ruled by Venus, the planet of love, as they were by Mars, the god of war. In a study of nearly 3,000 couples, researchers found that astrologically incompatible signs were no more likely to be divorced than astrologically compatible signs.

The Bible opposes astrology for a more important reason than that it is false science. God warns His people away from astrology because it encourages us to trust in created things, like the stars, instead of the true God who made us and loves us.


Evidently, astrologers know everything except that the earth wobbles!

Notes: Science

2010 Christian Nature

You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; let now the astrologers; the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from these things that shall come upon you. Isaiah 47:13

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One Man's Weed Is Another Man's Flower

I argue with my 'gardener' (grass cutter) constantly. He, like most, dislikes this yellow flower and I, on the other hand, love it! It makes me happy! I tell him one man's weed is another man's flower!

It is called the Lion's Tooth, Irish Daisy, Priest's Crown, Peasant's Cloak and Yellow Gowan. It has another name. too. Can you guess what it is? You will usually find that name printed on the sides of bags of lawn care chemicals.

The millions of homeowners who wage unrelenting war on the dandelion will probably not be pleased to hear anything good said about the plant. But the dandelion actually has a very interesting history.

It was first brought to North America from Europe because of its beautiful flower. As late as the early 20th century seed companies were still selling packets of dandelion seeds for home flower gardens.

Up to 1957, more than 100,000 pounds of dandelion roots were imported annually to the United States for pharmaceutical use. In spring the dandelion contains mannitol, which is used as a base for pills, a treatment for hypertension and coronary insufficiency, as well as in manufacturing radio condensers and percussion caps. And many people enjoy a salad that includes young dandelion leaves freshly picked in the spring. (Euell Gibbons did, remember?)

While you may not like dandelions in your lawn, the dandelion illustrates that God has not made anything that is without use. It is up to us to put what He has given each of us to use for His purposes.

I have to admit, I have not appreciated the good purpose for which God has brought some experience or event into my life. When I 'see the light' I am ashamed of how ungrateful I have been for all He has done. After all, one man's weed is another man's flower!

Notes: Science

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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Wanda, The Backward Wombat

I have seen numerous examples of the humor of God in both His creation and in my own life. Meet Wanda the Backward Wombat. She lives in Australia with her cute baby.

Australia has many animals that are not found anywhere else in the world today. One of the most unique is the wombat, which looks like a small bear with brown fur. The wombat is a burrowing animal.

Like many of Australia's animals, the wombat is a marsupial, having a pouch in which it’s prematurely born young complete their development. The pouches owned by most marsupials are open at the top toward the mother's head. This works fine for the kangaroo and other marsupials - no one ever saw a kangaroo standing on its head!

But the wombat is a burrowing animal. If its pouch opened toward the mother's head, it would very quickly fill with dirt, which wouldn't do the young wombat inside the pouch any good. So, unlike any other marsupial, the wombat's pouch opens toward the animal's hind legs - it points backward! See Wanda and her baby?

The marsupial's pouch is a wondrous enough invention all by itself. But this pouch is a clear case of a specialized intelligent design for a unique situation. If the wombat's backward pouch had been produced by mutations, how would baby wombats have gotten by during the millions of years of trial and error needed to redesign the pouch?

It's easy to see the wombat's backward pouch as a humorous hint from the Creator that human theories simply cannot replace the account of creation that He has revealed to us in the Bible!

I am so thankful that God has so carefully planned every detail of the creation for the benefit of every creature. When things don't seem to be going well in my own life, He comforts me with the fact that He is still in charge and that He cares about the details of my backward life too!

Notes: Creation Moments Radio

2010 Christian Nature

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

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Want To Go Fishing... With a Fish?

Have you ever considered going fishing with a fish? Nope, not crazy. There IS a fish that goes fishing! I wonder if my dad, who lived to fish, ever knew this?

A family of fish that live in the depths of the sea actually go fishing - pole, dangling bait, and all. This is only natural, since they, like people who go fishing, like to eat fish.

This group of fish is collectively called the angler fish. The front dorsal spine in the female angler is located on her head. It is much longer than any of the other dorsal fins and has a fleshy bait on the end.

When hungry, she sits very still and dangles the bait in front of her mouth. It doesn’t take long before something swims up to investigate this bait as its possible lunch. But before it can think about taking a sample, the angler has turned the tables and eaten her own lunch.

Of course this system wouldn’t work very well in the pitch darkness one mile below the surface of the ocean without one other special provision. Like many other fish at such depths, the angler is able to generate her own light. In her case, only the bait lights up, so she stays invisible to her victims. The chemical method she uses to create the light is nearly 100% efficient!

In His imaginative creativity, God was pleased to place creatures a mile below the surface of the sea. Yet in His mercy He has provided them with everything they need to make their living there. Likewise, you may not know why God has placed you into a particular situation right now. If He so cares for the creatures a mile below the waves, how much more does He care for You?

Notes: Creation Moments Radio

2010 Christian Nature

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:20

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Stable Seasons Promised - Solar Storms

Eleven years is the magic number to remember as you read this post on solar storms and stable seasons. I have a relative who is very much affected by the sin's magnetic field, so this subject has interested me for some time. The time cycle is 11 years.

Our sun, though remarkably stable as stars go, follows an eleven year cycle of activity. Every eleven years the sun's surface is torn by solar storms. These storms can send a hot blast of particles at the earth at a million miles per hour. When they hit the Earth, these particles can disrupt radio communications and electrical systems. During this peak, the sun's magnetic field is at its strongest.

Five and one-half years later, the sun is relatively quiet. During this quiet period, the sun's magnetic field is at its weakest. As a result, the sun's atmosphere develops leaky holes. These openings, called coronal holes, eject protons and electrons into space at two million miles per hour.

Now two climatologists have collected data that indicate that during this quiet period, the sun may actively cool the Earth. They studied 20 years of temperature data from weather satellites and found that the Earth's temperature average was lowest when the sun had the most and largest coronal holes.

In 1995, the sun's surface was covered with coronal holes and the Earth's lower atmosphere averaged two degrees cooler than when the sun was most active. They theorized that some of the particles ejected from the sun enter the atmosphere and serve as nuclei for water droplets, increasing cloud formation and cooling the lower atmosphere.

While we have much to learn about the sun, we can thank a loving Creator for giving us a uniquely stable sun that supports life. He has, after all, promised stable seasons.

Notes: Discover

2010 Christian Nature

While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22

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Weirdest Bird On Earth - Kakapo

The kakapo parrot, better known as the 'owl parrot' was thought extinct until it was rediscovered in 1958. It is the weirdest parrot in the world.

The kakapo parrot lives in New Zealand. The most unusual parrot on earth, it is one of only a few known parrots that prefers to sleep during the day and becomes active at night. Weighing in at five pounds, it is also the world's heaviest parrot. It is, perhaps not surprisingly, the world's only non-flying parrot.

The Creator's unusual expression of inventive creativity in designing the kakapo did not end here. The mating habits of the kakapo are especially peculiar for birds. In mating season the males gather in locations that are used year after year for mate selection. Female parrots come to these places to inspect the males and select a mate. However, in most un-bird-like fashion, the males provide absolutely no help building the nest or rearing the young.
The kakapo is remarkable because of its many strange traits, most of which would make it least fit for survival. In other words, not only is it an unusual creature, but its more unusual characteristics seem to put it at a disadvantage as far as evolution is concerned. So while evolution could not have made the kakapo, our inventive Creator did, perhaps as a witness of His dominance in the Creativity Department.

Reference: Discover

2010 Christian Nature

Many, O Lord, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Psalm 40:5

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Earthquakes and Tsunamis - Animals Know They Are Coming

Almost everyone in the world today knows of the terrible disaster that struck the coasts of South East Asia. The North American news media gave daily body counts, reported human tragedy and inflicted damage yet, as far as is known, none mentioned the animals.

However, Asian reports from the damaged areas comment not only on the ability of trees to withstand the devastating waves but the almost total absence of animal deaths.

It appears that the animals, from flamingos to elephants, took off for the hills long before the humans. The Chinese have done extensive investigations on animals and earthquake detection but are at a loss to explain it. Chinese scientists simply conclude that animals have far greater sensitivity than the best of scientific instruments.

Reuters reported from Thailand that the elephants used in the tourist business at Khao Lak began to "cry" at 9 am, about the time of the quake. Some elephants broke their hefty chains, but they all raced away toward the jungle-clad hills, taking their surprised tourists and guides with them.

Some people were even picked up by the elephants using their trunks! They all came to a point on high ground where the waves stopped just short of where they stood.

Three thousand, eight hundred people died in that area. God is merciful to those sensitive enough to His warnings.

Notes: Reuters

2010 Christian Nature

"But now ask the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee;" Job 12:7

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'Solar Tsunami' Provides Beautiful Light Show!

What could be more fascinating than the aurora borealis or northern lights—the evidence of Earth's magnetic field being stirred up by solar flares from the sun?


Recent solar activity has caused some brilliant displays of northern lights farther south than usual in the US. The clear skies over Michigan revealed a remarkable sky show on Tuesday night; researchers say there could be more this week, and it could even be visible over the UK. (Photo by: Shawn Malone-LakeSuperiorPhoto.com)


According to the Daily Mail report, "The prospect of seeing the aurora borealis from the UK is because two minor solar storms that flared on Sunday are shooting tons of plasma directly at Earth. Usually only regions closer to the Arctic can see the aurora of rippling reds and greens, but solar storms pull them south." (Photo by Jesper Groone - Denmark)

To view the full panoramic photo, and others of the northern lights, follow the link provided. The photos are majestic, and the video is awesome!

Source: Niall Firth – Daily Mail

2010 Christian Nature

"O LORD, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory on [or above] the heavens." –Psalm 8 (Amplified Bible)

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Fireflies Fly in a Synchronized Ballet - Video

I have such wonderful memories of collecting fireflies in my grandmother's yard at night. I was filled with wonder at the synchronized ballet of these tiny 'Christmas Light Insects'! As an adult, I now know that fireflies do, indeed fly in a synchronized ballet!

Fireflies in Southeast Asia regularly put on a show like that seldom seen from fireflies in the rest of the world. These fireflies have an ability found only among humans.

As the evening darkness deepens along a Southeast Asian riverbank, fireflies in the trees over the riverbank begin to flash. At first the flashing is familiar to anyone who has ever seen fireflies anywhere in the world. Flashes come randomly from different parts of the tree. Within a few minutes something strange begins to happen. Instead of the flashes appearing randomly, they now appear in groups.

Fireflies in one part of the tree flash in unison, then a group in another part of the tree flashes. In less than half an hour the entire swarm, which may extend over more than one tree, is flashing once per second in perfect unison. This ability to pick up a rhythm to synchronize actions is found otherwise only in human beings.

Here is an example of the wonder of fireflies!




Scientists report that different species have different rates at which they synchronize. They have also discovered that fireflies of one species ignore the synchronized flashing of other species. Some firefly swarms even flash in waves, creating an especially eerie sight along riverbanks.

One scientist, who has been trying to understand how fireflies do this, said that this behavior is so complex he has no idea how it works. Whether or not these scientists believe in the Creator, their wonderment is a tribute to His unsurpassed handiwork, even in the lowly firefly.

Reference:Ivars Peterson - Science News

2010 Christian Nature

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

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Special Design for Humpback Whales

Thank goodness, God's thoughts are not our thoughts! When God designs, He doesn't always use human common sense! A good example of this can be seen in the pectoral flippers of the humpback whale. The leading edge of these flippers, which one would intuitively expect to be smooth, actually sport evenly spaced bumps.

After all, airplanes, as well as birds, have sleek leading edges on their wings. These smooth edges would seem to be the most efficient at cutting through the air, which is a fluid, just like water.

Puzzled about this, scientists recently made two models of the humpback's pectoral fins. One had a smooth edge, the other had the bumps that appear on real fins.

These models were taken for testing in a wind tunnel. Not surprisingly, the smooth-edged fins performed like a standard wing. However, the humpback model did much better! It generated 8 percent more lift and a third less drag than the standard design.

What's more, the bumpy wing could angle 40 percent more steeply into the air than the sleek model before it stalled. Since water, like air, is a fluid, these principles would apply to a real humpback fin, enabling humpbacks to be more nimble in the water.

This unusual design comes in handy for the humpback because they feed on fast-moving schools of nimble herring and sardines. Obviously, God gave them a special design to help them do this.

And for those who are asking, "Isn't a whale a fish?" No, a whale is a mammal who looks like a fish. Whales have all the characteristics of mammals: they perform internal fertilization, produce milk for their young, breathe air, have hair (as fetuses), and are endothermic vertebrates.

Reference: Scientific American

2010 Christian Nature

"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind..." Genesis 1:21a

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Insulation In the Bird World

We all know insulation protects us from the cold in winter. What about the birds? How do they survive winter?

European blackbirds love southern Germany so much that many of them stay for the winter. Some of the blackbirds migrate to North Africa, Spain, or southern France to escape the cold. Like the robin in North America, however, some European blackbirds don't migrate.

European blackbirds are able to live through the cold German winter because they are designed with several features that use sophisticated principles from biochemistry and physics.

To cope with the winter cold, the birds fluff up their feathers. This creates more insulating dead air spaces between their warm bodies and the cold. Then they tuck their head inside the feathers making their body into a ball. A round ball is the most heat conserving shape possible for any object. The ball also protects poorly insulated parts of their bodies like feet, legs, and beak.

Food is also more scarce in the winter. On top of that, the birds' need for energy is five times higher at 20 degrees below zero (F) than it is during the summer. The blackbirds reduce their energy needs by lowering their body temperature at night when they are curled into a ball. Scientists have found that, as a result, European blackbirds are in no danger of freezing, even at 20 degrees below (F), as long as they can get enough food!

The intelligent special designs found in the European blackbird reflect a sophisticated knowledge of biochemistry and physics. By its very existence, the European blackbird glorifies our Creator God.

Reference: Science News

2010 Christian Nature

But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you…who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind? Job 12:7, 9, 10

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Bluebirds As Fathers - Good or Bad?

What kind of fathers are bluebirds? The answer may surprise you!

The first scientific studies that showed essential differences between males and females, men and women, were not well received by some. Many Christians have resisted the teachings that men and women are by nature the same. Christians have traditionally understood the Bible to teach that males and females each have essential, honorable, but different roles to play.

Unfortunately, many Christians have been unsure how to describe those roles. As we study the Scriptural portrayal of the family, especially in Ephesians chapter 5, a picture begins to emerge. All the Scriptural examples of motherhood and fatherhood can be distilled into one basic idea. What we call a healthy maternal instinct and a healthy desire on the part of the male to protect and prevent danger are only two sides of the same coin.

An example of what this means was recently discovered in bluebirds. Scientists have found that bluebird fathers offer their nestling daughters twice as much food as their sons. Of course, the sons are never allowed to go hungry. Scientists were puzzled by this until someone suggested that by doing this, father bluebird was teaching his daughters, by example, how to select a mate. Female bluebirds are very fussy about selecting a mate. One of the most important things they look for in a mate is the ability to provide plenty of food for the next generation.

In an age of declining parenting skills, it's good to be reminded that our Creator has given human parents instruction in His Word.

Notes: Science News

2010 Christian Nature

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

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