ABSTRACTS
Fascinating New Insights into the Design of Bacterial Flagella
by David Thomas
Many readers of Creation Matters will be familiar with bacterial flagellar motors being used as an example of design in nature. The bacterial flagellum (figure 1) was first used as an example of irreducible complexity by Michael Behe in his 1996 book Darwin’s Black Box and has since become an icon of the Intelligent Design movement. In recent years, scientific knowledge about these fascinating molecular machines has exploded, and yet, almost all of these recent discoveries have not been discussed by biblical creationists or intelligent design advocates. I have spent the last year and a half researching these new discoveries and am currently working on a comprehensive review. Here, I’ll give you a brief overview of some of the most important and fascinating discoveries and what they mean for the creation/evolution debate.
Fireflies Flashing in Unison
by Don DeYoung, PhD
Bioluminescence is the production of light by organisms from internal chemical reactions. Examples are found in beetles, fungi, jellyfish, lantern fish, squid and glow-worms. Fireflies, popularly called lightning bugs, are of special interest. There are roughly 2200 species of these beetles scattered around the world.
Certain firefly species, including those in Appalachia, display a remarkable behavior. Swarms tend to synchronize their flashes as if an entire string of Christmas lights was flickering on and off. Earlier it was suggested that this coordinated behavior was an illusion, perhaps resulting from the viewer’s involuntary blinking; however, close observations do show unified flashing.
Historical Narratives and the Fossil Record
by Jean K. Lightner, DVM, MS
Q: How can anyone claim there are huge gaps in the fossil record given the abundance of intermediate fossils?
A: This question comes from my interaction in an evolutionary biology class. It made it clear to me how anyone can get so caught up in their own paradigm, they miss overall patterns of evidence. Though I unswervingly believe the history presented in the Bible is true, as a scientist I need to be able to see how evidence is interpreted in more than one paradigm. I need to understand how evolutionists think, as it helps in conversations related to scientific evidence. Certainly, this is healthy for any scientist regardless of their preferred paradigm for interpretation.