"You are what you eat." We've all heard the saying. It doesn't mean that if you eat a lot of chicken, you'll literally become a chicken. But now science has discovered a creature for which the saying is literally true, in part, right down to the genetic level.

The green sea slug called Elysia chlorotica is more than just leaf-shaped. It eats algae and after a couple of weeks doesn't need to eat for the rest of its year-long life. It actually photosynthesizes its own food by stealing the genes for photosynthesis from the algae it ate. However, geneticists knew that the genetic information it steals from the algae only gives it one-tenth of the DNA it needs to code for the proteins needed to continue to be able to photosynthesize. In search of the answer to this mystery, scientists closely studied the slug's DNA. They discovered that the missing genetic information was indeed to be found in the slug. What's more, this information was identical to the algae's genetic information. In other words, the slug steals all of the genetic information necessary for photosynthesis. Scientists are mystified as to how the slug accomplishes this wonder!

Of course, it's no mystery when you know that the same Creator Who designed DNA also designed the sea slug who can selectively steal it.

Prayer: Father, I thank You for all the wonders You have created, but the greatest wonder is Your love toward me. Amen.

References: www.newscientist.com/article/dn16124-solarpowered-sea-slug-harnesses-stolen-plant-genes.html, 11/24/08, Catherine Brahic, "Solar-powered sea slug harnesses stolen plant genes."

When one thinks of clever creatures, moths are probably not the first creature that come to mind -- in fact, they probably don't come to mind at all!

Researchers at Wake Forest University raised some bats from infanthood in large cages. Their purpose was to carefully control the growing bats' diets and study their responses to various prey. Among the prey offered were Tiger moths. In the caterpillar stage they eat plants which make them unpalatable even as moths. As moths, when a bat is near, they emit a series of clicks. A bat will try to eat the moths only once, spitting out the foul-tasting insect almost immediately after biting it. When the bats were offered a different but equally foul-tasting species of Tiger moth, a few of the bats tried the new species despite their "don't eat me" clicking sounds. They quickly learned to avoid the new species as well. Researchers also offered the bats tasty Milkweed Tussock moths. While tasty, these moths click like the tiger moths when approached by a bat. Three of ten bats tried these moths, but the other seven wouldn't touch them. These tasty moths managed to fool most of the bats into thinking that they were the unpalatable Tiger moths.

Good doesn't usually mimic evil, but Scripture warns us that evil will mimic good.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your Word which teaches me the truth of salvation and warns me against evil mimicking good. Amen.

References: Science News, 6/23/07, p. 397. S.M., "Moths mimic ‘Don't eat me' sounds."

We were once told that tool use is what separates man from the animals. Then it was discovered that some animals use tools. Now, scientists have learned that these animals do more than just grab something from their surroundings; they look for something that would be needed to do the job.

Primatologists studied tool use and selection among wild capuchin monkeys in Brazil. First, they observed natural tool use among the monkeys. They noticed that when monkeys wanted to crack open a nut they examined several types of stones. When they had a choice between a hard rock or a softer sandstone, which would be likely to break, they preferred the harder stone after examining both rocks. One monkey was observed examining two stones of the same hardness and then selecting the larger one. Then he placed a palm nut on a fallen log and cracked the nut open with a rock. Stone selection also varied depending on what type of nut was being cracked open.

Man isn't separated from animals by tool use or making. Rather, he is separated from animals because he was made to have a personal relationship with God. He is also responsible to God for his actions. This is why, when man first sinned, God promised us a Savior Who would show us the way to salvation.

Prayer: I thank You, Father, that through Your Son Jesus Christ I have the forgiveness of sins and salvation. Amen.

References: www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/39930, 1/15/09, Bruce Bower, "Capuchin Monkeys Choose The Right Tool For The Nut."

Plant seeds are distributed by a number of ingenious methods, including wind, water, mammals and birds. Plants that rely upon these creatures to distribute their seeds often attract them with tasty fruit surrounding the seed. However, tasty fruit contains sugar and other substances that many other creatures also find inviting. Yes, the problem is, everybody likes sugar and that includes insects, molds and fungi, all of which are useless as seed distributors. Some plants make up for this problem by producing large amounts of fruit, just to ensure that some are reproduced.

It has long been said that "hot" chili peppers use spice to deter non-seed distributors from contaminating their fruit. Researchers have now confirmed this and report that the "hot" taste in these chili peppers comes from the amount and types of chemicals in them called capsaicinoids. They studied the Capsicum chili plants in Bolivia that have a range of capsaicinoids. A common fruit pest in this part of the world is a sap-sucking bug whose mouth parts commonly infest plants with a black fungus. Researchers surveyed infestations in different plant populations and analyzed the quantity of capsaicinoids they contain. Sure enough, the hotter peppers had measurably fewer black mold infestations than the more mild peppers.

In providing these plants with protection from pests, God has also provided us with useful and pleasant spices.

Prayer: Father, thank You for not only providing protection for productive plants but for giving us useful spices as well. Amen.

References: www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/35114/title/Bittersweet_fruits, 8/12/08, Rachel Ehrenberg, "Bittersweet Fruits."

Can mammals that spend time in the water smell odors under water? Of course they can, but no researcher is going to take a big sniff under water to find out!

Being able to smell helps us to learn important information about our surroundings -- smells can attract or warn of danger. But it has always been thought that semi-aquatic animals could never smell odors under water. Animal researchers at Vanderbilt University were aware that water shrews and star-nosed moles release bubbles constantly when they are under water, but they didn't know why. The star-nosed mole is amazing by itself. Its nose has 16 pink tentacles, giving this strange-looking creature its name. So they watched the animals under water on high speed video. They saw the creatures exhaling and then re-inhaling the bubbles at the rate of ten times a second. That led them to wonder whether the animals could be detecting odors under water. As a test, they placed food in the tank but separated it from the test subjects with a screen so there was no physical contact. As the animals were tested they excitedly targeted in on the food source, demonstrating that they were indeed detecting the odor of wanted food.

Since these creatures make their living under water, God has given them the amazing and surprising ability to smell under water.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, the gifts You give are wonderful and often unexpected, for which I praise and thank You. Amen.

References: www.rscc.org/Chemistry World/News/2006/December/20120601.asp, "A breath of fresh water."

Most people know that if they are stranded at sea without fresh water they should not drink sea water. While we need salt, the amount of salt in sea water would kill a person more quickly than thirst. Have a little too much salt on your popcorn and your kidneys will filter out the extra. But to do so, they need extra fresh water.

The marine iguanas of the Galapagos islands drink too much salt water every day. They feed on the algae that grow in sea water, but they lack a good freshwater supply to flush the salt out using their kidneys. Since God knew what kind of environment this iguana would one day be living in, He gave the marine iguana a special gland. Located in its head, it removes excess salt from the iguanas' blood and holds it. Periodically, the iguana will sneeze, expelling the salt-saturated fluid. As it dries it leaves a salty crown on the top of its head that dissolves back into the sea during the next swim. Several other reptiles also have salt glands, but each of these work very differently. This means that evolutionists must explain how these salt glands evolved at least ten times.

God gave the marine iguana these unique glands because He knew what they would need for the life He gave them.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for providing so wondrously for all Your creatures, even as You have provided for my salvation. Amen.

References: Answers, 3-4/09, pp. 20-22, Mary Mitchell, "Salt-Sneezing Lizards."

Perhaps you have a self-cleaning oven in your kitchen, and if you have small children in your house, you've probably wished for self-cleaning walls. Self-cleaning clothes would be nice, too!

Lotuses often grow in muddy water where mud can accumulate on leaves. Yet, for efficiency in collecting sunlight, their leaves need to be clean. And, yes, they stay clean despite the environment in which they grow. Close examination under a powerful electron microscope reveals why. The top of the leaves are covered with tiny spikes that feel waxy. They are so tiny that they can even hold up a particle of dust that settles on a leaf. As a result, any water that lands on the leaves rolls right off. As it rolls off, it collects any dirt that may be on a leaf. These leaves are self-cleaning! Researchers realized that this microscopic spike structure could be used to make self- cleaning products. For example, self-cleaning paint for homes is already in use under the product name Lotusan. Self-cleaning food containers are being developed as well. And one day we may even have self-cleaning clothes, including swimming suits that never get wet.

However, when it comes to our standing before God, we are not self-cleaning. We must rely on the cleansing from our sin won for us by our Lord Jesus on the cross.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the forgiveness of sins I have through my Lord Jesus Christ and the life He gives me. Amen.

References: Science Illustrated, 7/8/08, pp. 62-69, "Inspired by Nature," ("Mr. Clean," pp. 68-69).

In the perfect world that God created there were no meat eaters. In today's sinful world it is hard to imagine meat eaters, like spiders, being vegetarians.

Some spiders have occasionally been observed tasting plants. The male crab spider has been seen tasting plant nectar. Some baby spiders eat spores that they find in their webs. But now a small jumping spider that lives on acacia trees has been discovered that is vegetarian. Acacia trees are often home to vicious ants that protect the tree from other gnawing insects. In return, the tree offers the ants protection and tasty nectar. So the little jumping spider must constantly avoid the guard ants when it heads out for a meal of nectar. One of their strategies for avoiding ants is to build their nests on mature leaves. These leaves are the least guarded on the plant. Researchers noted that they did observe four instances of a spider eating ant larva, but this was out of 140 feeding observations.

Our experiences in a fallen world do not begin to prepare us for what God is able to create, despite all the wonders around us. If it pleases God, He can make vegetarian lions, tigers and even spiders. Who of us would ever have thought of His plan to rescue us from sin through His Son, Jesus Christ?

Prayer: Thank You, dear Father, for providing for all of Your creatures, even in a fallen world. Amen.

References: Science News online, http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/35121, 8/12/08, Susan Milius, "Vegetarian Spider."

When God told Noah that man could now eat meat after the Flood, He kindly filled the animals with a natural fear of man. However, He evidently left a few animals without that fear in order for them to be helpmates and companions for man.

The dog has been man's best friend probably since before the Genesis Flood. Researchers recently tested whether Border Collies were intelligent enough to fetch an unseen item in another room simply by being shown a picture or model of it. Chimps and dolphins had also been tested for this ability and were unable to do it. Collies, both trained and untrained to "fetch", were tested in their own homes. Eight toys they were to fetch were in a second room. Then the dogs were shown either an exact copy of what they were to fetch, a model of it, or a photograph and were told, "bring it here." All retrieved their toy easily after being shown a model of it. Trained dogs did well when shown an exact copy, but the untrained dogs needed a little practice with this task. Some dogs were even able to fetch a toy when shown a full-sized photograph.

Not only does the domestic dog have no natural fear of man, but many of them can relate to us in very helpful ways.

Prayer: Father, thank You for those animals which can be companions and even help us. Amen.

References: Science News Online, 3/21/09, http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/419732, Bruce Bower, "Dogs Show a Fetching Communication Savvy."

According to the theory of evolution, the atmosphere of the very early Earth contained no oxygen, but it did contain carbon dioxide. When the plants and trees evolved, they lived on the carbon-dioxide as they still do today and, by metabolizing carbon dioxide, they released oxygen as a waste product.

When sufficient oxygen had been produced, air-breathing animals evolved, but this was supposedly a slow process. Calculations showed that by the time the dinosaurs were beginning to die out, 65 million evolutionary years ago, the Earth's atmosphere only contained 10 to 12 percent oxygen. Today, the atmosphere is 21 percent oxygen. But to complicate the issue, there is much fossil evidence of wildfires during this era. The researchers wondered whether the small amount of oxygen that was supposedly in the atmosphere then could support such fires under realistic conditions. Tests were carried out in an atmosphere containing 12 percent oxygen using paper, matches, wooden sticks and a candle. The results showed that none of these items will burn readily until the atmosphere contains a minimum of 17 percent oxygen. The evolutionary model of the early Earth's atmosphere was proven wrong!

When God finished creating, He declared that everything was "very good." That includes the design of the atmosphere with enough oxygen to support life, but not too much to cause fire to burn explosively.

Prayer: Father, thank You for so wisely designing the Earth's atmosphere so that it supports life and fire serves us. Amen.

References: Science, 29 August 2008, pp. 1197-1200, C.M. Belcher, J.C. McElwain, "Limits for Combustion in Low Co2 Redefine Paleoatmospheric Predictions for the Mesozoic."

One of medicine's greatest challenges are those populations of bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.

The ocean is literally a soup of bio-germs, including bacteria, many of which can infect, sicken and kill a wide variety of creatures. These germs often form biofilms which protect them from antibiotics. Marine researchers were investigating the ocean bottom where something had killed all the marine creatures. In the midst of all this death they found a thriving marine sponge. Why wasn't it dead like everything else? Studying the sponge's defenses, researchers discovered a chemical called ageliferin. Further study showed that this compound prevented biofilms from forming. What's more, the chemical makes resistant germs once again susceptible to antibiotics. It has already been proven to re-sensitize bacteria that cause ear infections, food poisoning, whooping cough and a particularly nasty resistant bacteria that causes infections in hospitals.

While God gave us a perfect world, He knew that mankind would sin and bring disease and death into the world. So God provided antibiotics. But He also knew that some germs would become resistant to antibiotics. So He provided His creation with substances to solve that problem, too. Nevertheless, mankind's primary problem is sin, and He provided us with the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world -- one repentant sinner at a time.

Prayer: I thank You, Lord, for good medicine, but most of all I thank You for sending Your Son to be my Savior. Amen.

References: Science News, 3/14/09, p. 16, Laura Sanders, "Sponge's secret weapon revealed."

Bottlenose dolphins have a reputation as intelligent, playful creatures. A newly released video shows just how intelligent their play is.

The video shows various dolphins creating rotating bubble rings which seem to hover in the water for a few seconds. The dolphins do this by first creating a water vortex with their dorsal fin. The ends of the vortex then come together into an invisible ring. Then the dolphin injects air from its blowhole into the spinning vortex. The vortex has enough energy to hold the ring from rising too quickly for play. Such a vortex bubble is about two feet across. However, dolphins might play with the vortex to create a smaller ring. Sometimes a dolphin will insert a smaller bubble ring inside a larger ring. They also create rings that flip vertically or even flip completely over. Sometimes a dolphin will create two bubble rings that collide and produce a third ring. The video shows one dolphin creating a large ring and watching it rise through the water. Just before the ring breaks the surface, the dolphin swims through the ring and leaps from the water.

Intelligence and such play as this are linked. Our Creator has not just shared intelligence and creativity with man. He clearly has shared some of His intelligence and creativity with His other creatures as well.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the beauty of Your creation and sharing Your creativity with so much of Your creation. Amen.

References: http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/dolphinrings.asp, "Video shows dolphins creating and playing with bubble rings."

When they have a headache or perhaps a toothache many people take an aspirin. It turns out that many plants do almost the same thing when they are under stress.

The plants that do so, however, make their own form of aspirin called methyl salicylate. This phenomenon has been observed in the laboratory, but never in nature until now. Researchers studying air pollution set up their instruments near a California walnut grove. They wanted to see what gases the plants might be emitting. Methyl salicylate was among the gases they detected. Researchers believe that the gas might have some immune function for the plants. It might also warn surrounding plants of a threat. This finding may help farmers and others detect when plants are being stressed by lack of water, insects or disease. Until this finding, those caring for plants could only tell when a plant was stressed once the plant began to show visible signs of stress. With this information, those who tend plants will be able to apply pesticides, for example, in a more timely manner.

God gave us a perfect world where there was no need for medicines. But He knew we would sin and bring death and sickness upon the creation. So, being a loving God, He also gave us medicines to discover and ease our suffering.

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the gift of medicine. Prosper all good knowledge that brings healing in our midst. Amen.

References: Yahoo! News, 9/18/08, Randolf E. Schmid, AP Science Writer, "Stressed plants produce aspirin-like chemical."

Those who widely travel usually have interesting experiences to talk about. That is no less true of animals that migrate. A commonly known example is the monarch butterfly. In the fall, monarchs from all over North America head south to the same small patch of jungle trees in Mexico. Even more astonishing is that each generation finds this exact traditional wintering spot but has never been there before.

Scientists have recently discovered that another migrating creature has an even more interesting story to tell. Bar-tailed godwits, shorebirds with a wingspan of about 12 to 16 inches, summer in Alaska. But they winter in New Zealand, over 7,000 miles away. As you mentally picture their route, you would be right to notice that there are very few places to stop and rest between Alaska and New Zealand. Researchers outfitted seven female godwits with tracking devices to learn more about their migration. They found that the godwits traveled the distance nonstop, without rest or even food or water. That's the equivalent of a nonstop flight from London to Los Angeles, plus 1,000 miles more!

Godwits glorify God as Creator with their amazing migratory paths. As the first Christians scattered across the Roman Empire in fear of persecution and martyrdom, they spread the wonder of God's love for us in the Gospel of salvation.

Prayer: Father, I thank You for the glory of Your creation, but I rejoice in the wonder of Your love and salvation. Amen.

References: Science News, 11/22/08, p. 14, Laura Sanders, "Nonstop godwit flights."

Without a doubt the brain is a marvelous organ, although there is still a great deal to learn about how it works. We do know that brain cells communicate through connections which reach out in three dimensions to other cells. When thought and motion take place, they communicate with each other very quickly. They are even in communication while you sleep.

In contrast to the human brain, the "thinking" parts of a computer are connected in two dimensions to "communicate" with each other. Researchers thought that it might boost performance if a three-dimensional computer chip could be designed. Cell phones already use a three-dimensional chip arrangement, but these are just individual flat chips stacked one on top of another. Researchers wanted to see what true three-dimensional chips (called TSVs), could do. Now several chip manufacturers have developed working TSVs. They have found that three-dimensional chips transmit information faster and use less power than flat chips. In other words, they are more efficient than flat chips and pack more "thinking" power into a smaller space. Chip manufacturers are now working on ways to successfully mass produce the TSVs.

The three-dimensional computer chip does improve chip performance by mimicking the wiring of the brain. However, except in the area of calculation, we are
nowhere close to mimicking the power of the human brain.

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for implanting in my mind faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

References: The Nikkei Weekly, 12/29/08 & 1/5/09, p. 3, "Semiconductor makers head for third dimension."