Bible and Science

Rules in Nature

At first thought, nature looks confusing and full of chaos. It is densely wooded, and numerous plants have rooted down in random places. There are inestimable species of insects we don’t know, and animals howling; the world is rowdy and replete with peculiar things that are hard to describe. People usually say what is not artificial is natural. Unbeknownst to anyone, people regard nature as coincidental, where rules and forms are unsearchable. However, nature has ideal patterns from the smallest atoms, crystals, plants, animals, human bodies, weather, and even to the biggest cluster of galaxy. Though you name anything in nature, it forms a small pattern and the pattern forms a part of another bigger pattern. Among the phenomenal and…

Glaciers: Frozen Archives of History

In 2017, a couple dressed in World War II–era clothing was found in a crevice of the Les Diablerets glacier in southwestern Switzerland. Their daughter, who had spent her life searching for them, was finally able to hold a funeral for her parents, whose bodies had been perfectly preserved in the ice. The following year, in 2018, a global heatwave caused even the Alpine glaciers to melt, revealing the wreckage of a U.S. Dakota military aircraft that had been hidden for more than half a century. Glaciers preserve the past exactly as it was, even decades ago, and act like a time capsule that can take us back thousands or even tens of thousands of years. From Snowflakes to Frozen…

The Purifying Power of Nature: The Mystery of Self-Cleansing Ecosystems

Nanji Island in Seoul, Korea, was once a picturesque landscape where clear streams wound past willows, orchids, and thick reed beds. But in the late 1970s, as industrialization accelerated, Seoul Metropolitan Government designated the island as a landfill site. For more than a decade, over 9,000 metric tons of waste accumulated there, turning the once-beautiful island into a mountain of garbage. The local ecosystem collapsed. Foul odors and harmful dust polluted the air. In 1993, the city finally stopped landfill operations and launched a large-scale restoration project. It was no quick fix—handling toxic gases, treating leachate from the waste mounds, and stabilizing the land enough to create an ecological park took nearly ten years. Cleaning up a polluted environment is…

Star Cluster: The Community of Stars

In 1609, an astronomer made the groundbreaking discovery that the Milky Way was not a cloudy band of light but a collection of countless stars. That astronomer—who would later shape the foundations of modern physics and astronomy—was Galileo Galilei. Using telescopes he crafted and refined himself, he observed that the Milky Way is actually the side view of our galaxy as seen from Earth. A portion of the Milky Way, our galaxy Credit: ESO/Jose Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org) More than 400 years have passed since then. Today, with advancements in astrophysics and the discovery of innumerable celestial bodies, humanity is able to look far beyond the solar system into a universe that is vast, dynamic, and seemingly infinite. Our Address in…

Ruminating: The Value of Slowness and Repetition

In the late afternoon, as the sun begins to dip below the horizon, steam rises gently from a large iron cauldron. Inside, a hearty mix of rice bran, dried straw, bean pods, and oilseed cake simmers together. Once the mixture is boiled, a heavy lid is placed on top, allowing the content to steep. A faint aroma drifts through the air, while the hungry lowing of cattle echoes from a distance. When a scoop of feed is poured into the trough, a cow—blinking its large, gentle eyes—gladly stretches out its tongue to savor the meal. After a long day of slow, steady work in the fields, the cow eats heartily, settles into the barn, closes its eyes, and begins to…

A Feather—Light Yet Never Light

Pillows, fishing rods, hats, fountain pens, arrows, golf balls—what do these items have in common? They all make use of one remarkable material. In the early 20th century, this material was so valuable that it rivaled diamonds, and even today, entire industries depend on it. What is it? Feathers. Found everywhere birds fly, feathers have fascinated people for centuries with their beauty, structure, and astonishing functions. Yet their true brilliance is revealed most fully in nature. Let’s explore the extraordinary world of feathers. A Kaleidoscope of Plumage Birds display an astonishing variety of appearances—from the modest gray pigeon to the elegant white swan to the dazzling peacock. Even the tiny hummingbird, only six centimeters long, glows with iridescent colors unique…

The Dream of All Mankind: Exploring the Universe

Ancient humanity, regardless of language, culture, or where they lived on the earth, was fascinated by the night sky. Powerful beliefs were attached to the heavenly bodies, placing them in the realm of the supernatural. Around the world, the sun, moon, planets, stars, and constellations were carefully observed. Often, these celestial bodies were believed to be gods or to be guided by gods. The Mayans were so precise in their observations that their 260-day and 365-day calendar cycles match the tropical solar year with an error of only about 19 minutes. Across civilizations, dwellings, pyramids, temples, and entire cities were aligned with the stars. Despite the importance placed on the visible lights in the sky, ancient peoples had no understanding…

August Kruesi (Aerospace Engineer)

Foot: Masterpiece of Ergonomics

The star of the 1960 Rome Olympics was Abebe Bikila, the marathon runner from Ethiopia. He became the first black athlete from Africa to win a gold medal, setting a new world record in the process. Most notably, he accomplished it all barefoot. Bikila had entered the race at the last minute, replacing an injured teammate, and did not have time to be fitted for proper running shoes. Choosing to run without uncomfortable, ill-fitting footwear, he made history as the legendary “barefoot runner.” But how could he endure a marathon on rough asphalt and cobblestone roads without shoes, padding, or support? Foot: Silent, Sophisticated Structures Often hidden beneath socks and shoes, our feet may not receive much attention—but structurally, they…

The Most Accurate Clock in the World

In order to make the best perfume, people pick roses from midnight to two o’clock in the morning before the morning dew dries up; because roses have the best fragrance at dawn when is dark and cold. Then why are roses more fragrant at dawn? How do they know what time it is and emit fragrance? It is not only roses that do so. Around noon every day, your stomach growls as if it knew what time it is. You have lunch, come back, and start working again. But then around 3 in the afternoon, you feel drowsy as if it was already planned to. When the sun rises, you wake up, and when the night comes, you feel sleepy.…

More Beautiful Together: The Forest

A canopy of branches shades the forest, where the breeze carries refreshing energy and the soft rustle of wildlife gently stirs the quiet. This calm, green world often becomes a canvas for vivid imagination. It is no surprise that so many fairy tales—Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood—begin their stories in the woods. Yet even without imagination, the forest holds countless fascinating tales of its own. Every plant and animal depends on one another, each life woven with unique meaning. Among them, the trees—unquestioned pillars of the ecosystem—tell stories we can never overlook. The Harmony of Trees in the Forest It takes hundreds of years for a dense, natural forest to form. Seeds carried by the wind…

The Seas, a Repository of Life

On March 26, 2012, James Cameron, the movie director of Titanic and Avatar, successfully explored the Mariana Trench. The Mariana Trench, which is known as the deepest part of the world’s oceans, reaches a maximum depth of about 11 ㎞ [36,090 ft]. It is deeper than the height of Mt. Everest (8,848 m above sea level). Why is it that the expedition to the seas that are so familiar with us draws so much attention in the age of cutting-edge science, when we have even left human traces in space? It is because it has been hard for humans to explore the deep seas due to its high pressure, cold water temperature, and complete darkness. James Cameron made a six-hour…

Starlight: The Universe’s Signal

In the movie Interstellar, the protagonist embarks on a space mission for the future of humanity. From a five-dimensional space, he sends a signal across time to his daughter on Earth. Even today, humanity receives time-transcending messages from the universe. The light emitted endlessly by the stars in the night sky—sent from the past and arriving in our present—is precisely that signal. The vast universe is filled with countless stars1 and galaxies, each radiating its own light. Yet from Earth, we cannot see the universe as it exists now. We see the Sun as it was eight minutes ago, and we navigate by the North Star as it appeared 466 years ago. What messages does this starlight—having traveled across space…

“I Was in My Mom”

Children sometimes joke, “I think my mom is a god. Even though I did it secretly, somehow she knows it was me.” “Not only she knows when I’m joyful and happy, but she also knows when I’m ill, lonely and sorrowful. It’s as if she knows me more than I know myself.” That is not all. She even defends her children despite the threat of death. We do not need to mention the case of the 27-week-old premature infant that came back to life just by being held by his mother for two hours to display the miracle of mothers who have saved their children on the brink of death. Mothers fear nothing and can accomplish anything for their children.…

Animals That Overcome the Heat

When the sweltering heat is in full force, people find ways to cool down—by drinking chilled beverages or enjoying time in the water. In regions such as Southeast Asia, where it feels like summer all year round, people cope with the heat by wearing clothes that block sunlight or by living in houses designed with good ventilation. In Korea, during July and August when heat waves and tropical nights are most intense, the use of cooling appliances causes electricity consumption to soar, sometimes even leading to temporary blackouts. Animals, on the other hand, survive perfectly well in scorching conditions without any special equipment, relying only on their own natural abilities. Termites, for example, are exceptional builders. On the African plains,…

Journey around the Earth Two and a Half Times

Around the World in Eighty Days is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg, a gentleman from London, wagers £20,000 on whether or not it is possible to circumnavigate the world in eighty days. To win the wager, he and his valet Passepartout leave for a long eighty-day journey, starting from London to India, Japan, and the U.S., and back to London. However, what is amazing is that a journey over twice longer than the round-the-world journey from the story is going on in our body. The one that makes this fascinating journey is blood. Blood is made in the bone marrow. Blood consists of plasma that is mainly water, and of blood cells.…

What We See Isn’t Everything

Humans have remarkably developed civilizations up to the title of the “most intelligent species.” However, we have a big weakness that overshadows us in terms of being “on top” on this planet. This big weakness is that we understand the world through our imperfect sense organs. In other words, the level of our awareness of the world is determined by our sense organs, and we can perceive the world as much as our sense organs allow. We understand the world by using our five senses: vision, audition, olfaction, gustation, and somatosensation. We tend to trust our vision more than any other senses, just as the saying goes: “It’s better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand…

Insects’ Love for Their Children

An oak tree twig with four or five leaves “suddenly” falls from the air. In fact, the quiet trail is full of twigs with acorns attached to them. The edges of the twigs are straight as if they were cut with a knife, so it must’ve been done by someone. It is August when the sunlight feels strong as if the summer wants to stay longer and the trees are greener. Who ruined these acorns that are still green and unripe? Acorn weevil The ones who did it are acorn weevils. If you take a close look at the fallen acorns, you can see that each one has a black dot. They are holes acorn weevils made with their long…

Mitochondria, the Inheritance of Life from Mother

We see how mitochondria are essential for life. What is interesting is that all mitochondria in our cells are from our mothers; it is maternal inheritance. “What is life?” Though it seems like a philosophical question, this question is being studied by many scientists because they haven’t found an answer to it yet. It is a very common truth that all living things have life. However, it is not a simple matter to define life in one word. Many scholars have tried to define life, but they haven’t established one perfect theory. The current definition of life is the generalization of the common characteristics of life. Living beings have the following characteristics: homeostasis, organic system, growth and development, reaction to…

Invertebrates, the Irreplaceable Beings

In regard to a person or an object that is hardly noticeable, people say they have a weak presence. Presence means a feeling that a person or an object exists, which speaks for the amount of people’s interest in the object. Then, which animal has the strongest presence? Is it the elephant which is almost as big as a house, or the whale as big as a few buses put together? Or maybe it is the lion, the king of the jungle, since the world operates within the law of the jungle, or the shark which dominates the ocean. However, the presence in nature is not always in proportion to the size of the body or strength. There are animals…

Snowflakes! No Two Snowflakes Are Alike

On a snowy morning, even the cold winter feels cozy and warm. Thick snow covers everything white, and snow flowers that bloomed overnight on every tree branch look like there’re going to fall off at any moment. This quiet winter scene, where time seems to have stopped, is a gift from the heavens. The scenery covered with snow, where the sun shines through the clear air, is dazzlingly beautiful. The snow scenes are beautiful, but if you take a close look at the snowflakes, you will find they are even more splendid than what they look like on the outside. Open your eyes big and take a close look at the snowflakes, and you will find beautiful jewels, the gifts…