The Jellyfish
Posted by Jim on Aug 28, 2009
(0)
Comments •
Article Link
They are not made of jelly neither are they actually fish. Yet the jellyfish is a fascinating creature. It had no brain, no respiratory system, no circulatory system, not even an excretory system (its mouth also excretes waste), and is 95% water.
Two hundred species of jellyfish are presently known. The largest is the Lion’s Mane that can have a diameter of 8 feet and tentacles half as long as a standard football field. Jellyfish never stop growing.
Why will rain decrease the jellyfish population? Jellyfish are saltwater coelenterata and therefore, the fresh water of rain has an adverse effect on it.
Though jellyfish have the ability to move by jet propulsion, they usually just travel as they are carried by the tides and currents.
The most dreaded is the Box Jellyfish or Sea Wasp. They have a transparent body with a pale blue color and can grow to be 8 inches across and weigh 4.5lbs. The Box Jellyfish can move at over 6 feet/second and its sting can kill a person in 3 minutes. In fact, these jellyfish kill more people each year than sharks do, for the venom of one Box Jellyfish is enough to kill 60 people! Even a wet suit is insufficient protection. However, it cannot sting through nylons so lifeguards in Australia are often seen with nylons are their legs and arms.
Unlike other jellyfish that catch food by drifting into it, the box jellyfish actually hunts its prey. “Box jellyfish venom is the most deadly in the animal kingdom and has caused at least 5,568 recorded deaths since 1954; each tentacle has about 500,000 sindasites which are harpoon shaped needles that inject venom into the victim.” (Wiki) They can be found in Australia, the Philippines, Hawaii, and other tropical areas.
Though the Box Jellyfish is so deadly, yet some marine species, like turtles, are immune to the venom and even feed on jellyfish! Consider, for example, the sea slug. Some types of jellyfish have poisonous capsules called nematocysts that explode to provide food and protection for the jellyfish. Sea slugs actually feed on these jellyfish. The unexploded nematocysts are transferred to special sacs in the slug’s skin. There, the nematocysts become a defense system for the slug.
How can a brainless creature produce a toxin so deadly to people? How did some marine animals develop immunity to the poison? Dead creatures can’t evolve anything! How could the sea slug develop a system of defense involving the ingestion of explosive capsules and then use them itself? Evolution has no answer. However, creation simply states all this was in place in the beginning and no development process was possible, or necessary. The jellyfish is, instead, more evidence of the handiwork of a wise Creator.
The Big Blue Butterfly
Posted by Jim on Aug 21, 2009
(0)
Comments •
Article Link
Yes, that’s really the name for this beautiful butterfly. If that isn’t fancy enough, try the scientific name, Maculinea arion. Large Blue butterflies are native to Europe and some parts of Asia. The caterpillar is about ½ inch long and can live 9 months before forming a chrysalis. The butterfly has a wingspan of up to 2 inches but only lives a few weeks.
Large Blues live part of their lives in symbiosis with red ants! “Large Blue caterpillars feed on wild Thyme or Marjoram flowers for the first few days of development.” Afterwards, they seek out the nests a specific species of red ant, and hibernate inside their tunnels. “On emerging from hibernation, the caterpillars will then begin to eat the red ant’s eggs and larvae for up to 3 weeks. It will then hang itself by its legs on the nest’s roof and build a chrysalis around itself. The caterpillar will spend a further 3 weeks transforming into the Large Blue butterfly adult. After its change from caterpillar to butterfly, the insect emerges from its chrysalis and leaves the red ant nest to find a mate.” (Wiki)
This appears on the surface to be very one sided, to be parasitic, not symbiotic. But note these details: when the ant finds the caterpillar, the ant strokes it with its antenna. The caterpillar gives off a sweet milk from its tenth segment which the ant drinks for an hour. Then the caterpillar hunches up and the ant carries it to its nest. There the ants continue to enjoy the milk while the caterpillar munches on the ant larvae.
While still in the den, Large Blue enters the pula stage and develops into an adult butterfly. “Usually, red ants will escort the newly emerged butterfly to the surface, taking it to a low plant or shrub nearby. The red ants will encircle the butterfly and ward off any predators that attempt to attack the butterfly as it dries out. After the butterfly is ready to fly away, the ants will retreat back into their nest.” (Wiki)
Evolution has no explanation how two very different creatures became dependent on each other in this fashion. Design, however, agrees with the Bible, that they were so made from the beginning.
The Origin of Morality
Posted by Jim on Aug 14, 2009
(0)
Comments •
Article Link
In the light of evolution, why do people have a moral code, a right or wrong? Animals have a code of conduct but it is always based on survival. People, on the other hand, have moral codes beyond mere survival.
Dan Ariely, professor of behavioral economics at Duke University and MIT, did an interesting study recently, seeking to answer the question, Why do people cheat? Whether or not to cheat should simply be a matter of logic: What is the probability of being caught? What is the advantage of cheating? What is the consequence for being caught? When these factors weigh in favor of cheating, then we do it.
However, in his study, Ariely found it wasn’t that simple. Another dynamic is present that he called the fudge factor. We have two goals: to feel good about ourselves and to gain advantage, even by cheating. These are in tension with each other. For example, in his test, he gave 20 simple math problems to a test group but not enough time to finish them. They were allowed to grade their own papers and get a dollar for each correct answer. The average number of correct answers was four. When the group was allowed to shred their test before reporting their score (eliminating getting caught), the average went up to seven, not significantly higher. But more money offered for each correct answer motivated no increase in cheating, even up to $10 per right answer.
The most interesting part of his study was this: when the group was asked to recite the 10 Commandments before taking the test, cheating dropped to zero! This was true in spite of the fact that no one could remember all the Commandments. It was true of avowed atheists as well! Cheating also vanished when the group was asked if they were aware that the test fell under the school honor code, though no such honor code existed!
Ariely’s conclusion was that these irrational behaviors were motivated by a personal desire to feel good about themselves. The Bible says it is more than that. It says that there is a God consciousness in every person and an avowed atheist must drive it out. (See Romans 1:18ff). It goes further than just living with ourselves. There is awareness that maybe, just maybe, we will have to account for our lives one day, and want some merit points in our defense.
Richard Dawkins, militant atheist and evolutionist, said that morality was invented so we can live advantageously. Do people set up laws for themselves naturally? Think of a school classroom when the teacher leaves the room. Does the absence of authority bring better behavior or worse?
The Bible teaches that man is not evolving laws for his good but rather rebelling against God for his independence. Romans 2 states that there is a law written on our hearts. When we are reminded of it, we tend to comply. The only way to violate it and still feel good about ourselves is to rationalize why what we did was still OK. Evolution itself, as we have seen in the past, is one such rationale.
Evidence for Ancient Intelligence
Posted by Jim on Aug 07, 2009
(0)
Comments •
Article Link
According to evolution, man has evolved from ape like creatures to the present day intelligent hominid. His language changed from grunts to complex communication. His way of provision went from hunters and gatherers to farmers. He started as cavemen and evolved into city dwellers. Does archeology support this view?
To consider the evidences of man’s superior intelligence in the past, check out the seven wonders of the ancient world: Great Pyramid of Giza (the only one of the 7 still standing), Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Great Pyramid “contains more quarried stone than what is contained in all of the cathedrals and churches in England.” Each weighed 100 tons and was transported from 60 miles away, 2,300,000 in all! If it was really built in 20 years, that would mean about 800 tons of stone was laid each day!
Or consider the seven wonders of the Medieval world: Stonehenge, Colosseum, Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, Great Wall of China, Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, Hagia Sophia, and Leaning Tower of Pisa.
A recently compiled list of wonders includes a famous city in South America. Long before modern power equipment, the city of Machu Picchu was built 8000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains of Peru. The city was built of stones not native to the mountain but quarried down the Urubamba River and carried, somehow, up the river and then up the mountain. “The Incas were among the best stone masons the world has seen, and many junctions in the central city are so perfect that it is said not even a blade of grass fits between the stones. . . Inca walls show numerous design details that also help protect them from collapsing in an earthquake.” (Wiki)
Now consider these: The Mayans lived 2000 B.C. yet were able to calculate the length of a year to within 99.98% accuracy. A hundred years before them, Egyptians were able to electroplate and to make battery cells. Ancient skulls in South America indicate they knew how to perform brain surgery. The Aztecs of Mexico monitored the orbit of Venus and used a calendar based on its cycles. An 8 carat gold chain 10 inches long was found in a lump of coal. This is a problem to evolutionists who date coal formation long before the evolution of man. Yet the chain shows evidence not only of art, but also of metallurgy. However, this is in perfect harmony with the Bible that states metallurgy was practiced seven generations after Adam (Gen. 4:22)
These facts are only a small portion of the vast evidence of the skill and intelligence of ancient people. Rather, archeology indicates that man has not evolved to intelligence, but rather has fallen from it because of sin.
