SEEING THE INVISIBLE
“A Swiss marine biologist and an Australian quantum physicist have found that a species of shrimp from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, can see a world invisible to all other animals,” reported ScienceDaily.com (May 15th 2008). “Dr Sonja Kleinlogel and Professor Andrew White have shown that mantis shrimp not only have the ability to see colours from the ultraviolet through to the infrared, but have optimal polarisation vision — a first for any animal and a capability that humanity has only achieved in the last decade using fast computer technology.” These shrimps are able to move each eye independently, and view the world in 11 or 12 primary colours as opposed to our humble three. “This species can see a world invisible to the rest of us," said Dr White. COMMENT: We note the scientists’ comment that these shrimps possess “a capability that humanity has only achieved in the last decade using fast computer technology.” Would they be prepared to concede that, since this computer technology was developed by intelligent humans, the mantis shrimp, with its unique vision, must also be the result of intelligent design? If not, then they are being wilfully blind.

AERIAL ACROBATS “Dragonflies are aerial acrobats of the highest order,” according to ScienceNews.org (May 13th 2008). “They can glide, hover, fly backward and even mate on the wing. Much of this agility stems from the insect’s ability to flap and control each of its four wings independently.” Experiments using models of dragonfly’s wings fitted with sensors have revealed that dragonflies use “an aerodynamic trick that engineers could exploit to improve the energy efficiency of small aerial vehicles with a similar design.” They may also help scientists design “tiny dragonfly-like drones for surveillance or reconnaissance purposes.” Tyson L. Hedrick, a biologist at the University of North Carolina said the new research “shows that insect flight may be more efficient than previously appreciated.”Jim Usherwood, a zoologist at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College noted that fossils indicate that dragonflies “have maintained their distinctive wing configuration for more than 300 million years.” COMMENT: Whatever we believe about the age of the fossils, the fact is there isn’t a shred of evidence that dragonflies have evolved. Their highly efficient flying ability — which human designers seek to copy — has clearly been in existence ever since God created these beautiful insects in the beginning.

ROBOTS MODELLED ON INSECTS
“Insects have provided the inspiration for a team of European researchers seeking to improve the functionality of robots and robotic tools,” according to ScienceDaily.com (13th May 2008). “Basing their work on the basic functions of the insect brain, the team developed a new architecture for artificial cognitive systems that could significantly increase the ability of robots to react to changing environmental conditions and to ‘learn’ behaviour in response to external stimuli.” One of the objectives of the research was to develop a machine that could build knowledge independent of human control. “Researchers based the proposed architecture for artificial cognitive systems on the basic building blocks of the insect brain.” Scientists hope to be able to design robots that can find humans buried beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings. COMMENT: Insects have tiny brains, yet these researchers are able to learn how to make better robots based on their design. If scientists finally succeed in making these clever robots, it will only be after a great deal of intelligent effort. Will they give the Creator of the insects the credit for the design they are copying, or illogically say they are the result of mindless evolution?

DINOSAUR MUMMY
A documentary on Channel 4 TV (12th May 2008) featured the mummified remains of a 12-meter-long duck-billed hadrosaur, unearthed in North Dakota in 2004. Paleontologists were surprised because the dinosaur, buried along with a crocodile, was “incredibly well-preserved... Not only was the whole skeleton fossilised, so was some of the soft tissue as well.” It was suggested that the dinosaur and crocodile “could have been washed in by a flood,” and buried rapidly. The scientists’ surprise was due to their belief that the fossil is 67 million years old. During the programme it was claimed that “it is clear that birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs.” COMMENT: Paleontologists are surprised that soft tissue could survive for 67 million years, but they refuse to question their dating. And this find provides no evidence to support that theory that “birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs.”

DAD IS MUM
Seahorses are strange looking fish, but their lifestyle is even stranger — the male becomes pregnant! The female lays the eggs, then deposits them in the male’s brood pouch, where they are fertilised by the male. ScienceDaily.com (8th May 2008), reported on research at Texas A&M University where “evolutionary biology researcher Adam Jones and colleagues in his lab are studying the effects of male pregnancy on sex roles and sexual selection of mates and are trying to understand how the novel body structures necessary for male pregnancy evolved.” Inside the brood pouch the outer shell of the eggs breaks down, and tissue grows up around the eggs. “The male keeps blood flowing around the embryos … through a placenta-like structure until he gives birth.” COMMENT: We suggest that the “novel body structures of the male seahorse did not evolve, but are a created design.