Bible and Science

The Vast Universe, Another World

When we see a view or scenery that we don’t see that often, we cannot help but exclaim. When we see something new and beautiful, we feel like our minds and bodies are recharged. We can blow away stress and boredom from our repeated daily life, seeing a different world. This is why we go on a trip. This must be the reason people climb up the mountain although it is not easy and want to see auroras in the cold polar regions. However, there is something that stirs the hearts of people even more than this scenery of the earth—the universe. The universe where light and darkness coexist is a space of creation where new things are made, and…

The Honey Bee, the Hidden Keeper of Ecosystem

“If the bees become extinct, humans too will go extinct within four years.” This is a famous quote usually attributed to Albert Einstein. The honey bee is known as a beneficial insect that collects honey. This yellow-and-brown striped insect has a stinger and so it may not be easy for you to come close to it. What is this little creature, that it is closely related to the survival of mankind? Honey bees live in a hexagonal honeycomb. Generally, a colony consists of one queen bee and tens of thousands of other bees, most of which are worker bees that are female. Worker bees do almost all important jobs; they gather food such as honey and pollen, build comb cells,…

Journey to the Center of the Earth

What does it look like under the ground where we are standing? The movie Journey to the Center of the Earth answers this question with an interesting imagination. The world deep inside the earth is depicted as a mysterious place where giant animals run around in a valley, hungry piranhas fill the ocean, and rocks float in the air by a strong magnetic field. Let’s have a journey to the center of the earth, an unknown world where no one has ever visited. Internal structure of the earth, the world under our feet The farthest distance the humans have ever reached is the moon, an average of 384,400 km [238,855 miles] away. Voyager 1, the furthest space probe in space…

Lightning, Regarded as Divine Punishment to People, but as God’s Grace to Plants

When the sky is covered with thick clouds, most people feel scared. What if there are also lightning and thunder? The fear will be doubled. In order to encourage terrifying and scary atmosphere in the visual media, thunder and lightning are not omitted. Also, about those who have committed grave crimes or done something harmful to society, Korean people say, “They are going to be hit by thunderbolt.” Here, thunderbolt means punishment from heaven. Although thunderbolt, lightning, and thunder are common natural phenomena, people have felt dreadful about them. Lightning happens when the electric charge, generated by clouds, flows in the air. Lightning is usually created in a cumulonimbus cloud, a vertically long cloud, on rainy days. Caused by various…

Amniotic Fluid, the Water of Life in Mother’s Body

In an advertisement of a milk powder company, a swimming infant has once appeared. Seeing a newborn baby swimming, who cannot even hold its head up yet, most people thought that the scene must have been created. Surprisingly, however, the scene was real. Under the water, babies are comfortable rather than afraid. Newborn babies are more like that. They can swim very peacefully and open their eyes underwater. If they sink, they even paddle. How can this be possible? It’s because they remember their living in the water called amniotic fluid in their mothers’ wombs for nine months though they forget it three months after birth. Amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus for nine months is not simple water. It’s…

Seeds, the Time Capsules of Life

A time capsule that keeps things along with memories is opened after a long time. The first time capsule was buried at the New York World’s Fair 1939, and is to be opened 5,000 years later (in 6939). Among living things, there are time capsules that endure long suffering and put forth life: the seeds. Whereas the oldest time capsule is less than 100 years old, a palm sprouted from a 2,000 year-old seed found in Israel. How are solid seeds of plants made? Flowering plants [angiosperms], which are the most diverse species of plants, produce seeds when pollen reaches ovule. Unlike animals, immobile plants are helped by water, wind, insects, and birds to move their mature pollen to the…

Sense of Pain, Evidence of Being Alive

The kingdom of heaven the Bible teaches about is a place without pain. How good will it be to live without feeling pain all our lives? It would be a great thing if we were in heaven where there is no pain at all, but on the earth it is not quite a good thing for a person not to feel pain although he or she is sick. In 2011, a movie with a unique title Pained was released. This film depicts the ironic encounter of a woman, to whom even a little pain is deadly because of her rare disease, with a man who cannot even feel the pain by losing the senses on his body from his guilt…

Earth’s Atmosphere & Magnetic Field

What would it be like if there were no atmosphere and magnetic field on Earth? On Earth’s surface, there would be countless craters from the impact of meteors just like the Moon; and above all, there would be no living organisms on Earth. That is how important Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field are. Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field function as protective fields and shields that are essential for the living organisms on it. Earth’s atmosphere optimized for the survival of living organisms So far as is known, Earth is the only planet where organisms exist in the Solar System. One of the characteristics of Earth is that it is surrounded by the atmosphere that is perfect for living organisms to…

Maternal Instinct

All living creatures in nature run away from their natural enemies to avoid being swallowed up. However, the courage from the maternal instinct even makes the creatures go against that providence of nature. A giraffe attacks five hungry lions without the slightest sign of fear in its face; and a squirrel risks its life to fight a snake. It is only for one reason—to protect their young. In the sea, a shark that attacked a baby dolphin died as its mommy dolphin butted the shark. The desperate struggle of the mothers to protect their young in the heartless world of wild animals is amazing and touching. Humans are no exception. A mom personally rescued her immature daughter who had run…

Lifespan Given by Parents

Now the super-aged society is imminent, and many news reports about health and longevity come out: the secrets of longevity of the people who are listed in Guinness World Records for living more than 120 years; longevity villages and the lifestyle of the villagers around the world; and a dog that lived 26 years in Japan until it died recently. Why does living a longer life than others draw people’s attention? It is because of mankind’s common desire of longevity. This proves that life is a mystery that even science has not solved yet, despite the remarkably developed civilization. Life is something that people can easily feel, but it is very hard to define. Life is a common quality that…

Body Temperature Maintenance

Titanic is a blockbuster in 1997. In the cold ocean, when Titanic was sinking into the deep Atlantic Ocean, Jack the main character lifted Rose up from the bone-chilling water to a floating shipwreck. In the end, he became ice cold and sank into the sea. Many people were saddened by the last parting scene between Jack and Rose which is still considered as one of the best movie scenes. The movie is based on the true story. On April 10, 1912, the Titanic, the biggest ocean liner in the world at that time started its maiden voyage from Southampton in the U.K. to New York City in the U.S. with about 2,200 passengers. Although it was called The Unsinkable…

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

In 1920, a woman claimed she was Anastasia the last Grand Duchess of Russia. It was two years after the Russian imperial family was mercilessly assassinated during Bolshevik Revolution. Anastasia was the fourth child of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, who was the most loved among the four princesses. Her appearance drew public attention along with sympathy for the tragedy of the Russian imperial family. The woman’s name was Anna Anderson. She got in the center of controversies; she knew the details of the imperial family and was familiar with royal family etiquette, and people around her gave testimonies about her. In 1970, after 37 years of a battle to find the truth, the German Supreme Court ruled…

Human Sense Organs Optimized for Survival

Superman, our superhero in a movie that we watched when we were little! He has superhuman power. Not only can he fly freely in the sky, but he also has power to lift up a car with one hand, and excellent sight to see distant objects, and the hearing ability to hear even tiny sounds from far away; these are powers that humans can’t have. For this reason, Superman is an object of envy for children. Then what will happen if we get special power like Superman? Appropriate response to external stimuli Humans accept various signals and information coming from the environment through the sense organs. Then the cerebrum comprehensively analyzes them and responds to stimuli by giving appropriate commands…

God’s Creation Power Seen in Flight

One of the most fascinating sights in nature is to behold the amazing diversity of living creatures that can glide or fly. Throughout history, mankind has been fascinated by birds in flight. Is there a more regal sight than the eagle soaring high above us in the sky? Since ancient times, men’s imagination and dreams have turned to the sky, and we have longed to fly as freely as the birds. It is remarkable that there are over 10,000 species of birds, but it is not only birds in nature that can fly. We also see hundreds of flying insects, bats which are flying mammals, and there are reptiles and fish that can glide. Mollusks are no exception. There is…