Friday, August 22, 2014

THE LIGHT ABSORBING BUTTERFLY

A butterfly

AWAKE! AUGUST 2014

IN ORDER to reduce mankind’s dependence on fossil fuels, scientists are eager to improve the light-harvesting efficiency of solar collectors. “The solution to this problem,” said a scientist, “may have been . . . fluttering right in front of our eyes.”

A butterfly’s wing honeycomblike scales
Scales on the butterfly’s wing have honeycomblike holes

Consider: To keep themselves warm during cold weather, butterflies spread their wings in the sun. The wings of some species of swallowtail are remarkably efficient at trapping and absorbing sunlight. The insects’ secret lies not just in their dark pigment but also in the structure of microscopic, overlapping scales coating their wings. The scales, in turn, contain rows of honeycomblike holes separated by inverse V-shaped ridges that funnel light into the holes. This ingenious structure traps incoming sunlight, making the wings extremely black and warming the butterfly with amazing efficiency.
“Butterfly wings may rank among the most delicate structures in nature,” says Science Daily, “but they have given researchers powerful inspiration for new technology that doubles the production of hydrogen gas—a green fuel of the future—from water and sunlight.” Other promising applications include optical instruments and solar cells.
What do you think? Did the light-absorbing architecture of the butterfly wing come about by evolution? Or was it designed?

LEARN MORE AT www.jw.org

Sunday, December 29, 2013

THE LANTERN OF THE PHOTURIS FIREFLY

A Photuris firefly

THE lantern, or light organ, of a particular Photuris firefly is covered with jagged scales that dramatically enhance the brightness of the light that the insect produces. *

JAGGED SCALESMisfit scales

Consider: Researchers have found that tiny scales on the lantern surface of some fireflies form a corrugated pattern, somewhat like overlapping shingles or tiles. The scales tilt up at one end by just 3 micrometers—less than one twentieth the thickness of a human hair. Yet this tiny tilt lets the lantern shine almost 50 percent more brightly than it would if the scales formed an even surface!

Could that concept improve the efficiency of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are used in electronic devices? To find out, scientists coated LEDs with a corrugated surface similar to that of the firefly’s lantern. The result? The LEDs emitted up to 55 percent more light! Physicist Annick Bay says: “The most important aspect of this work is that it shows how much we can learn by carefully observing nature.”
What do you think? Did the lantern of those Photuris fireflies come about by evolution? Or was it designed?

*FOOTNOTE:
   Scientists have not studied all species of this firefly.

Learn more at www.jw.org the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses

 

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

THE HOUSE SPIDERS' STICKY SECRET

A house spider weaving a web

AWAKE JANUARY 2014

THE American house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) produces a web with adhesion that can be strong enough to stick to a wall or weak enough to detach from the ground and thus act as a spring-loaded trap for walking prey. How does the spider produce both strong and weak anchors for its web with a single type of glue?

 

Scaffolding silk

A spider’s scaffolding discConsider: The spider anchors its web to a wall, a ceiling, or a similar surface by weaving highly adhesive patches of silk called scaffolding discs, which are strong enough to withstand the impact of flying prey. Researchers at the University of Akron, Ohio, U.S.A., have discovered that, on the other hand, the patches of silk that are attached to the ground—called gumfoot discs—have an entirely different architecture, or construction. With far fewer attachment points than scaffolding discs, gumfoot discs allow the web to detach with ease and yank off the ground any prey that has walked into it.

 

Gumfoot silk

A spider’s gumfoot discAccording to a news release from the University of Akron, the researchers who uncovered this wonder of nature “are already working toward developing a synthetic adhesive that mimics this intelligent design strategy employed by the house spider.” Scientists hope to create an adhesive that can be used both for common bandages and for treating bone fractures.

What do you think? Did the house spider’s ability to produce weak and strong anchors with the same glue come about by evolution? Or was it designed?
LEARN MORE AT WWW.JW.ORG

THE STORAGE CAPACITY OF DNA


 
 
AWAKE! DECEMBER 2013
WAS IT DESIGNED?


COMPUTER users generate enormous amounts of digital data that has to be stored for access as needed. Scientists are hoping to revolutionize current methods for digital storage by imitating a far superior data-storage system found in nature—DNA.

Consider: DNA, found in living cells, holds billions of pieces of biological information. “We can extract it from bones of woolly mammoths . . . and make sense of it,” says Nick Goldman of the European Bioinformatics Institute. “It’s also incredibly small, dense and does not need any power for storage, so shipping and keeping it is easy.” Could DNA store man-made data? Researchers say yes.

Scientists have synthesized DNA with encoded text, images, and audio files, much as digital media stores data. The researchers were later able to decode the stored information with 100 percent accuracy. Scientists believe that in time, using this method, 0.04 ounce (1 g) of artificial DNA could store the data of some 3,000,000 CDs and that all this information could be preserved for hundreds if not thousands of years. Potentially, this system could store the whole world’s digital archive. DNA has thus been dubbed “the ultimate hard drive.”

What do you think? Could the storage capacity of DNA have come about by evolution? Or was it designed?

 WWW.JW.ORG for more informative articles

Saturday, October 5, 2013

THE KATYDID'S REMARKABLE HEARING


 

WAS IT DESIGNED?


THE South American bush katydid (Copiphora gorgonensis) has ears less than a millimeter long, yet they work in a way very similar to human ears. The insect can distinguish a wide range of frequencies from long distances. For example, it can tell the difference between the sound of another katydid and the ultrasound of a bat that is hunting.


KATYDID’S EAR
Consider: The katydid’s ears are located on its two front legs. Like the human ear, the ear of the katydid collects sound, converts it, and analyzes the frequency. But scientists have discovered a unique organ inside the ear of this insect—a pressurized fluid-filled cavity that looks like an elongated balloon. This organ, which they named the acoustic vesicle, works like the cochlea of mammals but is much smaller. The acoustic vesicle is responsible for the katydid’s remarkable hearing.

Professor Daniel Robert, of the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences in the United Kingdom, says this discovery will help engineers “develop bio-inspired hearing devices that are smaller and more accurate than ever before.” Researchers believe it will also contribute to the next generation of ultrasonic engineering technology, including imaging systems for hospitals.

What do you think? Did the remarkable hearing of the katydid come about by evolution? Or was it designed?
     For more informative reading please go to www.jw.org

Thursday, June 20, 2013

THEY CAN LEARN FROM THE BEES


 

 In recent years, engineers and product designers have increasingly realized something that bees apparently have always known: configuring even a very thin material into a six-sided honeycomb pattern makes it much stronger than it would be in some other shape.”—The New York Times, October 6, 1991.

IT IS not surprising that men can profit from a careful study of insects. An ancient man of faith, Job, once said: “Ask, please, the domestic animals, and they will instruct you; also the winged creatures of the heavens, and they will tell you. . . . Who among all these does not well know that the hand of Jehovah itself has done this?” (Job 12:7-9) Yes, the wisdom of the Creator is evident in such common things as the hexagonal shape of the cells that you can see in honeycomb.

While the wax walls of these cells are a mere 1/80 inch [about a third of a millimeter] thick, they are extremely strong. In fact, they can bear some 30 times their weight.

This strength can be utilized in practical applications, such as in cushioning equipment against blows. It is even protecting military equipment being parachuted to earth. The New York Times notes about this: “Objects as heavy as jeeps are fastened to platforms with blocks of honeycomb underneath to absorb the blow of landing.”

Man-made products with this design can be formed from many materials. The most common seems to be paper. Nylon-fiber paper and resin are being used to form honeycomb that goes into the fuselages of some large airplanes. The strength comes with relatively little weight. Why? Most of the space between the panels is air, so there is little weight. The air has good insulating qualities too.

The simple bee does not really “know” all of this, for it does not have a degree in engineering. Yet, daily it goes about its work with the instinctive wisdom provided by the Creator, Jehovah.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

THE OIL PALM----A MULTIPURPOSE TREE

By Awake! correspondent in the Solomon Islands

GUADALCANAL—to many people the name of the island is synonymous with some of the most savage fighting of World War II. Today, however, any who return to this former battleground in the Solomon Islands will find a very different scene—seemingly endless regiments, not of soldiers, but of stately oil palms.

The soil beneath these lush and majestic oil palms once covered tons of leftover bombs and other hazardous war materials. But these war implements have been removed to make way for the oil palm. How did cultivation of this tree get started? And why can we say that this beautiful tall tree is multipurpose?

A Rich History

The first modern description of a tree resembling the oil palm was recorded in the mid-15th century by the Venetian Alvise Ca’da Mosto, who explored the western coast of Africa. Then, nearly 500 years ago, African slaves took the fruit with them to countries across the Atlantic. Thus palm oil has emerged as one of the most widely used vegetable oils in the world today. Oil palms yield more oil per acre than any other oil-producing plant. In addition, the oil palm is a perennial plant that bears fruit and oil for 25 to 30 years.

An important factor in the production of palm oil, especially in some lands in the Far East, was a discovery made in the late 1970’s. Previously it was thought that oil palms were mainly pollinated by the wind. Therefore, a poor crop was attributed to unfavorable climatic conditions. However, recent research has revealed that pollination is done mainly by insects! Thus, the transfer from West Africa to the Far East of insects that could pollinate the trees proved to be beneficial.

The oil palm’s reddish-orange fruit yields two kinds of oil. Both are used in a variety of products, some of which you likely use. Before we consider these, let’s visit a palm oil mill and see how the oil is extracted.

Processing the Golden Fluid

As we approach the mill, our tour guide greets us and takes us inside. All around us heavy machinery is operating. The first step in processing the fruit of the oil palm, he explains, is to place it in a huge cylindrical steam oven. Each bunch of fruit has about 200 date-size fruitlets, which are tightly packed together. The steam oven sterilizes the fruit and helps to loosen the fruitlets from the bunch.

The next step is to separate the fruitlets from the bunch by using a machine called a stripper. The detached fruitlets are then sent to a huge blender, where the fleshy outer pulp is separated from the nut. This fibrous outer flesh is then squeezed in a huge extruder, or press, to obtain crude palm oil. After being cleaned and refined, the palm oil is ready to be shipped.

There is, however, a second type of oil. This comes from the nut. The oil palm’s nut must first be cracked open to get at the kernel. Afterward, the kernels are pressed to release their precious liquid. This oil is called palm-kernel oil.

The residue from the kernels is used to produce a nutritious livestock feed. Similarly, after the fruitlets have been stripped away, the remnants of the fruit bunches are returned to the fields to serve as mulch. The fruit’s fiber and shells are also recycled, being used as fuel for the mill’s boilers. Quite an efficient operation!

From Ice Cream to Face Cream

Palm oil is the second most widely used vegetable oil in the world, after soybean oil. The World Book Encyclopedia says: “During the 1700’s, the English used palm oil as a medicine and hand cream.” Today, however, it can be found in ice cream, margarine, shortening, and cooking oils, as well as in such nonfood products as soaps and cosmetics.

Palm-kernel oil is also used in the manufacture of margarine as well as chocolate and other confectioneries. But that is not the end of the oils’ uses. After additional processing, components of palm and palm-kernel oil are made into pharmaceuticals, soaps, detergents, candles, and even explosives!

Indeed, the oil palm has found a welcome home in the Solomon Islands. The impact of the oil palm on the economy is highlighted by the fact that 13 percent of the country’s exports come from this tree.

When we look up at an oil palm, it is amusing to imagine that a product of this bright-orange fruit may be dripping off a laughing child’s mouth in the form of ice cream and that it may be on his mother’s face, in her makeup. Yes, the oil palm is a versatile tree, and we can be thankful for its bountiful fruitage.

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