Science & You

All biological processes are under some type of logical regulatory control.  In the immune system, cells called Macrophages eat dead and worn out cells and bacteria.  If this process was not controlled we would eat ourselves up from the inside.  Worn out cells which need to be recycled have on their surface a protein euphemistically called the "eat me" signal.  And, as you might expect, there is also a "don't eat me" signal protein.  Cancer cells are able to evade detection by the immune system, sometimes by displaying the "don't eat me" signal on their surface and are thus not attacked by macrophages.  Blocking this signal with another protein can allow one's immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.  But where did the logic behind the design of this regulatory mechanism come from?  Uplook Magazine, April 2013, p.24.  References:  http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2010/december/crt-signal.html;  http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-high-lights/blocking-don-t-eat-me-signal-on-cancer-cells-lets-phagocytes-clean-up/81246548/

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.  Some time ago a man in my church died and we discovered that he had for years wound and set the clock at the back of the meeting room.  Few noticed when the clock stopped and even fewer understood what it meant.  In a similar way in the past, many have looked up to the heavens but did not understand what they told us.  The movements of planets and moons in our solar system seems to obey and invisible, clock-like mechanism.  So how does one check the precision of this celestial clock?  One method for checking if the solar system is running as predicted can only be used once in most people's lifetime.  Uplook Magazine, April 2012, p.30.  References:  www.transitofvenus.org;  www.astrosociety.org/uitc;  The Universe in the Classroom No. 78, Fall 2011;  William Sheehan and John Westfall, The Transit of Venus (New York, NY: Prometheus Books, 2004).

Can understanding the "What?", lead us to "Whom?".  If dominos are arranged standing up and are close to each other, when one is tipped over it causes the next one to fall, and the next, and the next...  Something similar is found in living cells which use a domino-like cascade of sequentially activated enzymes to transmit a signal from outside the cell, into the nucleus where changes in gene expression occur.  These sequences are part of the process called "signal transduction".  Dominos fall in this way because they are intentionally placed in certain patterns.  This raises the question of who or what designed the placement and programming of enzyme pathways within a cell?  Uplook Magazine August-September 2011, p.9.  

Is it possible to make life from scratch using just its raw materials? The elements and molecules needed for life are well know and can be made in a laboratory setting.  And we are told that life "formed" long ago based on standard chemistry.  Well, it turns out that making synthetic life is not so easy after all. But if it was easy for random chance and basic chemistry to produce life originally, then why is it so hard for highly intelligent and experienced researchers to produce synthetic life on purpose?  Uplook Magazine November-December 2008;, p.18.   References:  P Barry, "Life From Scratch," Science News Online, vol. 173, no.2 (week of Jan. 12, 2008), http://www.sciencenews.org/ ;  M. Madiagan and J. Martinko,  Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 11th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005).  J.C. Lennox,  God's Undertaker:  Has Science Buried God? (Oxford, England: Lion, 2007).

In 2004, prominent atheist philosopher Antony Flew announced he had finally "discovered God".  In his 2007 book, There is a God, Flew outlines the scientific arguments that changed his mind after 70 plus years.  The points he presents are familiar to anyone who has followed the creation/evolution/intelligent design controversy over the last 30 years.  He states that it was the error of the dogmatic assumption of atheism which prevented him from seeing where the scientific evidence led over so many decades.  Although Flew now believes God exists, he does not yet know the God of the Bible personally.  What is needed by Flew, and all who are still in denial, is not just a change of mind, but a change of destiny.   Uplook Magazine April 2008, p.4.   References:  Antony Flew and R.A. Varghese,  There is a God: How the world's most notorious atheist changed his mind (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007).

Outer space is not a very inviting place to visit.  We must take with us and entire life support system to make it even possible to visit space.  But we still cannot take gravity with us into space.  Spaceflight in microgravity conditions is harmful to humans because our circulatory system bones and other structures are designed to function in the gravity field of earth.  In microgravity, muscles may weaken and bones become more fragile  due to leaching of calcium out of bone.  These considerations should remind us that our earth environment and the needs of our human physiology are precisely matched and, while we may visit space, there is still no place like home.  Uplook Magazine March 2006, p. 4.  References: West JB.  Physiology of a microgravity environment: Historical perspective:  Physiology in microgravity. Journal of Applied Physiology 89:379-484, 2000.  Holick MF.  Perspectives on the impact of weightlessness on calcium and bone metabolism.  Bone 22(5)105S-111S, 1998.  LeBlanc A et al. Future human bone research in space.  Bone 22(5)113S-116S, 1998.  Burger EH and J Klein-Nulend.  Microgravity and bone cell mechanosensitivity.  Bone 22(5)127S-130S, 1998.

Small is big.  Nanotechnology is the new marketing buzzword.  Event two of the COVID-19 vaccines are produced using nanoparticles.  But God was into nanotechnology from the very beginning, building life on a series of biochemical "nano-machines".  A molecule of water is about three tenths of a nanometer wide.  A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.  The water molecule also has a slight positive and a slight negative end.  Without this small separation of electrical charges, life would not be possible.  There are many other examples of such miniaturization in biological cells.  But where did these careful, finely tuned nano-machines come from?  Uplook Magazine May 2006, p.9.  References:  I. Langdon, "Small Science"  World (Mar. 4, 2006): pp32-34.  PJ Kuekes et al.  "Crossbar Nanocomputers," Scientific American 293, no. 5 (Nov. 2005): pp. 72-80.  DM Berube, Nano-Hype (Prometheus Books, 2005).

Many animals such as frogs, birds, coyotes and insects, produce distinct calls or sounds.  These calls help males and females find each other, signal danger, or assert ownership of a particular territory.  But can any animal sounds really be called music in the sense that humans understand music?  No doubt you have felt the ability of music rouse the spirit, impart joy or sorrow, or trigger lost memories.  Music is the language of emotion and there is no true parallel in the animal world. But why, if music confers no real survival advantage to humans, do we write, perform and listen to music at all?  Uplook Magazine September-October 2010, p. 18.  References:  Josh McDowell, Thomas Williams.  In Search of Certainty.  Green Key Books.  Holiday, Florida, 2003.

An airplane is made of non-flying parts.  But when integrated into a completed plane, the parts take on a new characteristic, flight.  Similarly, a living cell is composed of dead chemicals which, when organized in just the right way, constitute a living thing.  The property of Life is not inherent within inorganic and organic chemicals.  These compounds obey but do not create, the biological laws of genetic variation, natural selection, population dynamics and biochemistry. Instead, these physical and biological laws must have been set in place by someone outside of the entire system.  Uplook Magazine April 2006, p.8.