Chapter Four Mechanical Experts in Nature

Chapter Four

Mechanical Experts in Nature

In the bodies of living things, there are a great many inter-related mechanical designs: the detailed structure of tiny hairs that cause cells, invisible to the naked eye, to clear the respiratory tract; the special systems that allow fragile moths to survive in deadly cold; and the power in its feet that allows the gecko lizard to climb up sheer walls and even walk on ceilings.

Once again, chance could never bring such flawless structures into being.

The structures, adapted to living things' environments, and the intelligent behavior they exhibit show us the magnificent artistry of God, Who knows all forms of creation.

THE HEATING SYSTEM IN WINTER MOTHS

Winters are harsh in Central Asia, Siberia and Northern Europe. Lack of food and bitter cold cause the deaths of many living things. Yet despite the appalling weather conditions, a few manage to survive. One of the most astonishing is, without doubt, a delicate moth.

The answer to how these fragile creatures manage to survive lies in their bodies' perfect heating system.

Resilient Winter Moths

A great many species of moth die in winter. Yet some manage to survive —for example, the 50 or so species of the Cuculinae sub-group of the moth family Noctuidae are able to survive through even the harsher months of the winter. For that reason, Cuculinae moths are also known as "winter moths," which have a life cycle the exact opposite of other members of their species. Their caterpillars feed on tree seeds in early spring and then remain motionless throughout the summer. They grow to adulthood at the end of autumn or in the winter. And during the cold days of winter, they feed, mate and lay eggs for subsequent generations.

Scientists studying the winter moth's interesting life cycle came up with surprising and thought-provoking conclusions.

First of all, to survive these creatures need to fly. Yet in order to do so, the temperature of the thorax region where their wing muscles are located must be at least 30°C. Where the moths live, however, the ambient temperature is generally below freezing.

Scientists therefore began seeking to answer how winter moths survive despite the cold. How is it that they don't freeze when they are motionless? Despite the cold, how do they manage to fly, feed and reproduce?

Researching all these questions, scientists discovered that winter moths have a marvelously engineered heating system. This system, the product of the most delicate planning and superior creation, is an assemblage of complementary stages.

Stage 1: Heating by Shivering Their Wings

In the winter moth's body, the main muscles are connected to the wings. Before flight, the moths shiver their wings by constantly contracting these muscles, causing the temperature of their thorax region to rise, from 0°C to 30°C (32 °F to 86°F) or even more.

The muscles' vibration takes place in connection with the moth's nervous system, which is able to go into action in low temperatures. In order to understand the importance of this superior feature, it's enough to remember how difficult it is to start your car's engine on a cold, snowy day.

Winter moths begin shivering the moment they determine that the air temperature has neared 0 degrees (32°F). Under certain circumstances, they start shivering at colder temperatures, such as -2 degrees (28°F). But after more than half an hour of wing movement, they achieve the requisite temperature for flight.38

At first scientists assumed that this success stemmed from the moths' metabolisms and carried out research in that area. To that end, they measured the winter moth's metabolic rates at rest, during shivering, and in flight. Yet the figures they obtained were roughly the same as those for other species of moth, of the same weight. It was thus realized that the moths' warming had nothing to do with the speed of their metabolisms. As a result, it emerged that winter moths have a heating system that is unique to this species.

Stage 2: Finding a Protective Shelter

The research into winter moths began with the temperature and humidity of its environment, because the freezing process starts with ice crystals forming in the winter moth's body. In drier environments, the moths' freezing temperature drops to rather low levels. Therefore, how do the moths find a shelter to protect themselves from ice and sudden temperature drops?

The drawing to the side was based on a photograph of a winter moth's body taken with an infra-red camera, showing how heat is distributed in the insect's body immediately after flight. Yellow represents the highest temperature, followed-in order- by red, pink, dark blue, light blue and indigo.

26,6 °C - 30,9°C 24,8 °C- 26,5°C 22,4°C-24,7°C 19,6°C-22,3°C 17,2°C-19,5°C 14,0°C-17,1°C 11,0°C-13,9°C In cold weather, winter moths warm themselves by beating their wings, contracting all their wing muscles at the same time. The pictures at right show the distribution of heat in a moth beginning to beat its wings, prior to flight. Pictures 1 and 2 represent infra-red photographs taken from above, and 3 and 4 photographs taken from the side.

Even when the outside air temperature is around -30°C (-22°F), the temperature beneath the leaf layer covering the ground seldom falls below -2 degrees C (28°F). When the temperature does plunge below -2°C (28°F), the winter moths conceal themselves under the leaves, which act like a kind of blanket, until the air temperature rises enough to support them again. Whereupon other systems in the moths' bodies go into action to keep them alive.

Stage 3: The Natural Anti-Freeze Mechanism in Winter

Moths

To stop the water in our car radiators from turning to ice, we use anti-freeze. But few people know that some living things actually have anti-freeze-like chemicals in their own bodies to protect them from the freezing winter cold, although these natural alcohol-based anti-freezes also have some unwelcome side effects. The most important drawback of these substances is that they are poisonous.

In living bodies, therefore, natural anti-freezes are turned into less poisonous substances as a result of a series of biochemical processes. Yet this is a very slow process. In particular, if the animal's body temperature is low, it will take longer to throw off the lethargy caused by the anti-freeze.

Winter moths are among those animals with anti-freeze mechanisms, yet they use proportionally less of it than other cold-hardy living things.

The Specially Regulated Level of Anti-Freeze

As soon as the air reaches the necessary temperature for flight, the winter moth needs to go into action. Yet in order for its internal anti-freeze to have an effect on the entire insect, it needs to wait for rather a long time. For that reason, the moth's level of anti-freeze is proportionately lower than in other living things.

This amount has been regulated at such levels that when the temperature reaches a danger point, the moth gains enough time to find a warmer location. In experiments at Notre Dame University, John G. Duman established that in moths slowly chilled in an ice-free environment, the freezing point was as low as -22°C (-7.6°F).39 How did this system in the moths come about? Who determined the anti-freeze formula, and how is its level determined? Why do all winter moths, without exception, have proportionately less anti-freeze than other creatures?

It's impossible for the moth to know the chemical formula for natural anti-freeze, or to produce it in the requisite quantities within its own body. It needs to determine the chemical, eliminate its poisonous effects and possess the engineering knowledge for each individual stage.

The winter moth is no chemical engineer, but it does all this with ease, setting this system in motion every time the weather grows cold. It receives no help in doing so, reads no books and conducts no experiments. A human being cannot become a chemical engineer all of a sudden, so such a thing is very definitely impossible for a moth. So how did it come by this knowledge?

It is impossible for such a complex system to come about in stages, under the influence of chance, as evolutionists would have us believe. Considering just one of the various reasons will be enough to show how illogical that claim really is.

First and most important, any mistake in the anti-freeze formula will spell death for the moth. It would be lethal for the moth to have as much of this substance in its body as there is in other creatures. Moths use anti-freezes with a specific formula, and they must be present in the body in specific amounts. That means that control is essential in its production. It is impossible for just one of the molecules in this formula with such a special function to come into being by chance. Furthermore, there is no possibility of blind chance arranging the production of the molecule in just the requisite amounts, neither too great nor too small.

When the moth encounters cold weather, it can't just await the chance emergence of this substance. Temperatures as low as -20°C (-4°F) will swiftly lead to the death of this delicate creature and the extinction of the entire species.

Therefore, the features of moths alive today must also have been present in the very first moth to come into existence. This all demonstrates that the design in moths is not the result of mindless chance, but of God's flawless creation. As He reveals in one verse:

… God has appointed a measure for all things. (Surat at-Talaq: 3)

Stage 4: Balancing Energy Consumption

One might think that in cold weather, winter moths would be found in the warmest places possible. Yet that assumption would be wrong, because when seeking shelter, moths behave most intelligently. Indeed, studies have shown that these creatures avoid excessively quiet and warm hiding places, so as to balance their energy consumption.

The amount of energy the winter moth uses when at rest is directly linked to its body temperature. The lower its temperature, the less energy the moth uses up. For that reason, moths prefer environments cold enough to let them expend as little energy as possible, but still warm enough to let them survive. To this end, they use the energy resources in their bodies in a most balanced manner.

Energy metabolism measurements taken from winter moths at rest clearly reveal this equilibrium:

For example, a winter moth that had consumed 6 grams of plant sap and sugar could remain at rest for 193 days at a temperature of -3°C (26.6° F). When the temperature was increased by 3°C, in other words at 0°C (32°F), the moth was able to continue for only 24 days. At 10°C (50°F), its energy reserves are enough for only 11 days.40

That moths make very accurate and rational selections is an important point that needs to be borne in mind.

Stage 5: The Special Heat Insulation System in Winter

Moths

It is well known that a heat radiates from warm environments to colder ones. For that reason, the moth's raising its body temperature alone is not enough to let it take flight, because the temperature difference between the moth's warm body and the outside cold will lead to an acceleration of heat loss. For the moth to be able to take flight, therefore, it also needs a means to protect the heat it generates. Its body has again resolved this need with a perfect design.

Can the Winter Moth Insulate Its Heat?

Insulation is the most effective method against cold. In colder climates, buildings are constructed using insulation technologies that reduce heat loss from external facings, windows and roofs to a minimum. In a similar way, moths have an insulating system that minimizes heat loss—a thick, scaly layer that covers their bodies.

The winter moth's auditory organ lies inside its air sacs, which work as perfect heat insulators. One can compare the sacs to double-glazing on windows, since these sacs prevent a transfer of heat between the external and internal environments, thus forming a kind of insulation wall between the warm chest region and the colder abdomen.

Bernd Heinrich, a zoology professor from Vermont University, conducted experiments that established that moths without a scale covering grew cold faster than moths with one. He performed an experiment to determine to what extent that layer could retain heat. Moths with their normal protective coverings and others deprived of them were subjected to various wind tunnel speeds. He measured the rates of chilling of the moths' bodies and observed that at a wind speed of 7 meters a second (22 feet/second)—roughly the speed at which a moth flies—moths without protective coverings grew cold twice as fast as those with their scales intact.41

This layer is an important piece of the moths' makeup, yet it is still not enough to meet all the insect's needs. In humid environments, moths can survive only down to -2°C (28°F), which is their standard freezing temperature. But as we've already seen, temperatures where they live can fall to as low as -20°C (-4°F). In such extreme cold, the scaly layer's protective function will of course be insufficient. Therefore, the moth needs an additional system.

From there, scientists began to examine of the winter moth's heating systems in greater detail.

Another Proof of Flawless Design

When the air temperature during flight falls below zero, the winter moth has to overcome yet another problem. The moth will vibrate its wings to maintain heat in its thorax, since the emerging heat will be lost in due course, the moth won't be able to maintain the required heat level. It will thus expend all its energy on vibration, and then die. But contrary to this likely scenario, the winter moth stays alive because the perfectly designed system in its body overcome every difficulty.

This system prevents heat being dissipated to colder regions outside the thorax, serving as an ideal means of insulation in protecting the moth's internal heat.

George R. Silver, of the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Massachusetts, conducted a series of studies on the subject. He used an infra-red camera to photograph these insects and observe the amount of heat they gave off. His pictures showed that during warming, flight and post-flight cooling, the winter moth's legs, wings and stomach regions warmed up very little or not at all.

Silver's research also revealed another miracle mechanism in the winter moth: an insulation system that delays the flow of heat to the head and stomach regions and totally prevents heat transfer to extremities like the legs and wings. Thanks to this design, preventing the dissipation of heat to colder regions of the body, the moth maintains its vitally important thorax warmth.

But at this point arises an important question. The stomach temperature of a moth that takes flight as a result of vibration registers a 2-degree rise, and the rise in thorax heat reaches 35°C (95°F).

How is it, therefore, that this insulation system can maintain a more than 30-degree temperature difference between the thorax and abdomen, which are only 1 to 2 millimeters (0.03 to 0.07 inches) apart from one another?

The answer lies in another amazing design in the moth's circulation system.

Winter Moths' Different Body Structures

In all moths, the blood flows in a single vein from the abdomen to the thorax, and from there to the head, where it is warmed. On its return, it is filtered through tissue. In addition, the anatomy of the winter moth is different from that of summer-flying moths—a difference in design that lets the winter moth survive cold temperatures.

The veins extending along the winter moth's abdomen form the heart-and-aorta section of the circulatory system. This part, which extends in the upper part of the tail, turns a 90 degree angle downwards as it nears the heart region. It then enters this area from underneath where the thorax joins the abdomen. So far, the blood in this area is cold.

When the vein enters the abdomen, contraction of the muscles there warms the blood on its way from the stomach to the chest region. Where the abdomen and thorax meet, the vein assumes more or less a V shape. The blood in the left arm of the V is cold, and that in the right arm warmer.

Under normal conditions, the heat of the warm blood rising in the right arm should pass to the tail area where the cold blood circulates. However, the winter moth is never exposed to such a lethal situation— thanks to its hearing organ, in the exact center of the bend in the V. This organ is one of the examples of the superior design in the heating system. The animal's auditory organ is inside the tympanic air sacs, which function as perfect heat insulators. One can compare the sacs to a double-glazed window. The sacs prevent the passage of heat between the external and internal environment, forming a kind of barrier between the warm thorax area and the cold abdomen.

In conclusion, the tail area cannot leach heat from the stomach area. In addition, the air sacs in the abdomen provide supplementary insulation.

All these features, just one part of the moths' insulation system deal a lethal blow to the theory of evolution's claims of "chance." The emergence of this exceedingly complex system, designed in great detail with flawless engineering and which works in stages, cannot be explained in terms of random mutations. In order for the system to work, it needs to exist together with every one of its components.

To fully provide for the moth's heat insulation, it's essential that its auditory system be in exactly the right place, forming a barrier to keep the requisite regions warmed. If the moth is to gain the time to move, the anti-freeze must be present in the exact right amount with the correct properties. If the moths are to warm up by shivering their wings, their nervous systems and muscles must act at the same time.

None of these systems can possibly be accounted for in terms of chance. These designs in moths are just one of the countless proofs showing how flawlessly God has created living things.

Anyone who sees and thinks about these proofs must live his or her life in a manner pleasing to God, again calling to mind the fact that there is no other deity but Him. God's infinite might and majestic glory are revealed in a verse:

Everyone in the heavens and Earth belongs to Him. All are submissive to Him. It is He Who originated creation and then regenerates it. That is very easy for Him. His is the most exalted designation in the heavens and the Earth. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Surat ar-Rum: 26-27)

Counter-Current Heat Exchangers in Moths

When we further examine moths' circulatory system, other astonishing structures appear before us. Cold blood flows from the end of the tail region in the vein that extends as far as immediately beneath the air sacs. That part of the vein just under the air sacs constitutes the bottom end of a V shape, and here it passes through a special tissue. Heat exchange takes place here, just as in the vein. But although the blood in the vein is cold, that tissue is warmed by blood from the thoraic region.

Theoretically, one should expect a heat transfer from the warmer blood to the cold. In such a transfer, the heat in the thorax will spread to the abdomen by means of the circulatory system, and no matter how much the moth shivers, it will never achieve the temperature high enough for flight. Furthermore, the air sacs will serve no purpose for heat insulation.

Yet none of these unwelcome developments actually takes place, because all the needs essential to the moth's survival have been arranged with a marvel of biological engineering. What permits this regulation is called a counter-current heat exchanger.

In this system, two liquids (or gasses) in two different but touching, or contiguou s, channels flow in different directions. If the liquid in one channel is warmer than the liquid of the other, heat will pass from the warmer one to the colder.

In the moth are two counter-current heat exchangers. The first of these is the abdominal heat exchanger. As its name implies, it's located in the abdomen, immediately beneath the air sacs, and there, the cold blood in the vein and the warm blood in the tissue flow in opposite directions.

As the cold blood from the abdomen flows to the thorax, warm blood flows from the thorax to the abdominal region. This flow causes heat to pass from the tissue to the vein, and from there to the thorax. The heat given off from the thorax is thus loaded onto the cold blood entering it. In this way the heat in the thorax is prevented from passing to the abdomen.

The vein leaving the abdominal region enters the thorax, where the thoracic heat exchanger is. The vein enters the thorax under the stomach, then immediately climbs to the upper part of the thorax—in other words to the back. Here it makes a sharp U-turn and heads back under the thorax. Here, the shape of the vein may be compared to a letter N whose arms are touching. The part of the thorax that contains this bend in the vein is the heat exchanger. Since the two arms forming the bend in the vein are very close to one another, the temperature difference between them is reduced to a minimum. Thus the temperature in the moth's thorax is perfectly stabilized.

The Vein System in Winter Moths

To better understand the importance of the thoracic heat exchanger, it's useful to compare the winter moth's vein system with that of the sphinx moth, which lives in warmer environments.

Sphinx moths have relatively larger bodies than winter moths and live particularly in tropical regions. Instead of a heat exchanger, these insects have a cooling system in their thoraces. Instead of the N-like bend in the vein, the sphinx has one more resembling a small letter r. As can be seen from the diagram overleaf, the left side of the vein bend is longer in the sphinx moth than that in the winter moth. This leads to a temperature difference between the left and right arms of the bend, and for that reason, this part of the sphinx moth's circulatory system is known as its cooling mechanism.

Both sphinx and giant silk moths have a mass 60 times greater than that of winter moths. Therefore, one might expect that they are heated more easily. But contrary to what one might imagine, these moths transmit excess heat first to the head and abdominal region and from there to the air. To state it another way, sphinx moths' cooling system corresponds to the heating mechanism in winter moths. If winter moths possessed a cooling system like the sphinx moths', they could never survive. The physical difference between these two species of moth may be compared to the difference in the air-conditioning systems produced for conditions in Arabia and Siberia.

Another species with an anatomy similar to that of the winter moth is the tent caterpillar moth. In this species, the vein bend is in an N form, the same as in the winter moth, but the descending branch is not contiguous to the ascending one. This small difference affects the tent caterpillar moth's heat retention ability and allows it to fly only when the weather is warm.

Despite the presence of the same system in both animals' bodies, a small difference gives rise to major changes. Both animals possess bodily structures most ideally suited to the regions they live in—which clearly refutes evolutionists' claims of chance emergence.

According to evolutionists, animals acquired these features by means of blind chances, and one living species developed into another. Just one of the features we've described in moths is sufficient to show how irrational and illogical this claim is.

Random coincidence can never determine the shape assumed by a moth vein. Furthermore, that coincidence would have to have been present in all the winter moths that have ever lived—another aspect that reveals the invalidity of evolutionists' claims.

By itself, no moth can analyze the problems it encounters, deduce solutions to them and adapt its own anatomy accordingly. Moreover, the design in moths constitutes a system in which all possibilities have already been calculated.

No doubt there is a superior Creator Who has created not just the moth but all living things and endowed them with the systems to meet their needs. That Creator is God, Lord of the Worlds.

With the incomparable engineering designs He has created in the body of an insect, God reveals to us the limitlessness of His artistry. God has also commanded us to consider His creations:

Haven't they looked at the sky above them: how We structured it and made it beautiful and how there are no fissures in it? And the Earth: how We stretched it out and cast firmly embedded mountains onto it and caused luxuriant plants of every kind to grow in it, an instruction and a reminder for every penitent human being. (Surah Qaf: 6-8)

Everyone who thinks about examples such as these will better understand God's greatness and omnipotence.

MICRO-ENGINES IN NATURE

Some cells in our bodies possess structures that resemble tiny hairs,42 whose sole function is to move the cells. For example, spermatazoa, the male reproductive cells, use their whips (flagella) to swim. Every cell in the respiratory system has more than a hundred of similar hairs. These hairs move constantly, pushing upwards the mucus in the respiratory channels. Tiny particles that enter the respiratory channels are trapped in the mucus and thus expelled.

Though microscopic in size, these tiny hairs still have exceedingly complex structures.

In cross-section under an electron microscope, they can be seen to consist of nine separate straw-like structures known as micro-tubules, consisting of two separate but interconnected links. The first consists of 13 strands (or protofilaments), with 10 protofilaments comprising the second. The main constituent of micro-tubules is the protein tubulin. Micro-tubules also have an outer and an inner arm containing the protein dynein, which serves as an engine among the cells and provides a mechanical force.

These hairs' only aim is to cause cells—or other substances—to move. In order for this to happen, a very detailed design has been set up. This description is just a brief and simple summary of the design in just one of the components of these micro-hairs. That this perfect structure should have been designed inside an almost infinitesimal cell immediately raises the question of how this design came into being. The rational and flawless planning in the hairs' structure shows us once again that we are faced with a clear miracle of creation.

This detailed artistry in a body too small to be seen with the naked eye is the creation of the all-knowing God. In one verse it is revealed:

He to Whom the kingdom of the heavens and the Earth belongs. He does not have a son and He has no partner in the Kingdom.

He created everything and determined it most exactly. (Surat al-Furqan: 2)

These hairs' structure will be set out in greater detail in the following pages. The purpose is to reveal proofs of God's flawless creation, and to better understand the greatness of our Lord's glory, and the fact that there is no other deity but Him.

Design in the Tubulin Molecules

The structure of the nine separate straws (micro-tubules) making up the micro-hairs is exceedingly systematic. As already stated, the micro-tubules are made up of tubulin proteins. The molecules comprise the tubulin are in the form of cylindrical bricks or beads set on top of one another. But unless cylindrical bodies are attached when piled on top of one another, the slightest pressure is enough to break them apart.

If the surface of one side of the molecule did not match the side of another, they might well suffer such a collapse. Yet that never actually happens, because the tubulin molecules rather resemble food tins, which have small depressions in them that allow tins to be easily stored on top of one another. And even if you knock one of the tins, the rest will not come tumbling down.

The movement of the micro-tube is established by the connecting proteins among the molecules comprising the micro-tube. The main element permitting movement is the flexible nexin protein. When it slides over the protein dynein, this will transform into a bending movement.

Yet tins having the proper design is not enough. If they're placed in such a way that their bottoms face other bottoms and tops face tops, they'll still fall apart. It calls for planning to arrange them in the right way.

The top picture shows the micro-tubes in full. Below, how the movement of the dynein and nexin proteins turns into a bending movement, during which the dynein and nexin assume different functions. While the dynein acts like an engine, the nexin helps to keep the structure together. If the nexin and dynein lacked these complementary properties, the tiny hairs would be unable to move.

Of course, one tubulin molecule is attached to the next in a far more complex way. There are thousands of different proteins in a cell, and it is essential that the tubulin molecules attach themselves to the right molecules. Were the tubulin molecules to join to just any nearby protein, then the micro-hairs could never come into being.

The more we examine the design of the tubulin molecules, the more complex its structure appears.

In this molecule, there are ten short, needle-like protrusions. At the bottom are ten depressions in which these protrusions sit. A difference in just one of the protrusions would prevent the necessary tubulin connection being made, which definitely proves that each tubulin molecule is created to be compatible with another one.

The Connections That Enable the Hairs to Move

Examination of the cell reveals that like the tubulin molecules, the micro-tubules are attached to one another. However, the connections between the micro-hairs are not in the form of attachments, as is the case with tubulin molecules. Micro-tubules can cling together only with the help of other proteins, and there is an important reason for this.

Micro-tubules fulfill a great many functions inside the cell, most of which can be performed only when the micro-tubules are separated. Yet as is the case with the hairs, micro-tubules connected together are necessary for some other tasks. Therefore, how do specific proteins join together when necessary?

If micro-tubules had the characteristic of joining themselves together, like the tubulin, they would constantly do so and thus, be unable to perform many of their functions within the cell. Therefore special connectors between the micro-tubules have been created, such as the protein nexin, which connects the end of one micro-tubule, consisting of two conjoined links, to another.

Furthermore, on every micro-tubule are also two separate protrusions made up of the protein dynein, known as the outer and inner arms. Dynein is different to nexin. Its task is to work like a kind of engine and create a mechanical driving force inside the cell. For that reason, nexin and dynein perform different tasks apart from linking the micro-tubules together. (In the micro-hair are other connectors as well as dynein and nexin.) If the proteins dynein and nexin did not have these mutually complementary properties, the hairs could not move.

A Microscopically Small Engine

Another detail makes this interconnected structure even more complex and convoluted. The structure that enables the micro-hairs to move, and which resembles a motor, lies not in the cells to which they belong, but in the micro-hairs themselves. Were just one of the elements in these engines to be absent – the protein dynein, for instance – the hair would be unable to move.

To acquire a better understanding of this structure, scientists set up a model that can be compared to a continuation of the example of the food tins we gave earlier.

THE BACTERIAL WHIP REFUTES EVOLUTIONISTS! Evolutionists regard single-cell bacteria as among "the most primitive organisms." But in fact, bacteria have a mobile internal engine and a whip-like extension. This mechanism, which allows the "primitive" bacterium to move, consists of 240 separate proteins. These proteins act as the alternator, regulator or battery, just as in a car. Some send signals to start or shut down the "engine' that causes the whip to move, others constitute joints that permit it to move, and still others provide flexibility to the membrane covering the whip. If just one of these proteins in the whip were missing, what would happen? If any one failed to form or were defective, the whip would not work, and would be of no use to the bacterium. Therefore, this whip must have existed fully formed, ever since the very first bacterium came into being. Once again, this invalidates the theory of evolution's claim of "gradual development." Bacteria are one of the most minute living things on Earth, yet their detailed designs clearly verify creation. God shows us His incomparable art of creation in all the entities that He has created, great and small.

Two columns of tins, one on top of the other, are joined by loose wires. A tiny engine is attached to one tin, and a motor arm to the adjacent tin beside it. When the engine is set in motion, the motor arm slides down, pushing down the tube to which it is attached. Since the columns are interconnected, the loose wires begin to contract. As the motor arm pushes the tube opposite it, the tension caused by the wire causes both tubes to lean over to a specific degree. The movement of separation is thus turned into bending.

Let's express this analogy in biochemical terms.

The dynein protein arms between two micro-tubules set the opposite tube in motion. The biological energy known as ATP is used for this movement. When this takes place, the two micro-tubules begin moving together. Were it not for the nexin—in our analogy, the loose wire in between—both tubes would continue to move away from one another. However, the nexin protein's mutual links prevent the micro-tubule from moving away from its neighboring tubule more than a very short distance. When the loose nexin connectors extend to the final row, the greater movement of the dynein protein makes the nexin connectors to contract from the micro-tubule. The tension rises as the dynein movement continues. Since the micro-tubules are flexible, the sliding movement caused by the dynein protein in the tubule opposite gradually turns into a bending movement.

The Micro-Hairs' Mechanical System Cannot Have

Formed by Chance

As we've seen so far, a mechanical system, all of whose parts work interdependently, has been designed in the micro-hairs and is far more difficult than one might imagine. All the elements in the system must be exactly right, and all their features must be fully present, since the slightest deficiency will harm the outcome.

In order to understand this, look at any child's moving toy. If one of the parts that permit it to move is missing, the toy will not work. The absence of just one of its components will reduce it to just a collection of plastic and metal parts that serve no purpose.

To review, these are the parts necessary in order for the micro-hairs to move:

Micro-tubules comprise the main structure of the hairs. They are just as essential as walls are to a building. Were it not for the micro-tubules there would be no part for the engine rod to slide over.

The engine has to be present in order for the hairs, and therefore the micro-tubules, to move.

The links cause neighboring tubules to move. The separation movement is turned into a bending one, and the connectors prevent the entire structure from falling apart.

In order for the system to move successfully, the components' structure is also of the greatest importance. Any excess or deficiency in these features would cause the system to fail. If the wire connecting the two tubes in question were too weak to bear the tension on it, as soon as the engine went into action, it would break and cause the two tubes to separate. Yet that does not happen: The wires possess all the necessary features, as do the proteins and all the other components.

All this shows the complex perfection in the structures of the micro-hairs. But to better understand the subject, everyone with some basic knowledge needs to ask some questions:

How did these mechanisms come into being inside such a microscopically small area? How did the molecules comprising the hairs acquire these characteristics? How did the hair produce such an incomparable engine system within itself? Could these hairs have evolved in stages, as the result of chance, as evolutionists maintain?

All rational people will appreciate that chance could never bring about the structure of the hairs in the cell for the following reasons:

Since different protein will affect the shape of the cell, it is essential that the proteins attached to the micro-tubules be very specific in order for the hair to be mobile. This situation can be compared to randomly sited cables totally ruining the locations of the joists holding up a building. That reason alone removes any possibility of "chance" development.

The hair has to form on the surface of the cell. If it formed inside, its motion would damage the cell, or would even destroy it. This again pre-supposes a planned design and eliminates all possibility of chance.

When you mount the proteins comprising the hairs—tubulin, dynein, nexin and the others—onto a cell, these will not suddenly transform into tiny, moving hairs. In order for a cell to possess these hairs, a great deal more is necessary. Detailed biochemical analysis reveals that there are more than 200 proteins in the hairs in a cell.

These are just a few details, all of vital importance, of the complex system that allows these tiny hairs to function. Any deficiency or error in the system will mean the hair attaching to another structure inside the cell, or a difference in the hair's elasticity, or a change in the length of time the tail moves, or a change in the nature of the membrane belonging to the hair. There is thus no room for the slightest mistake.

In order for more than 200 proteins to combine to produce all these characteristics, they must have emerged in exactly the right place and in exactly the right sequence. This clearly exposes such meaningless evolutionist scenarios as "formation over time" and shows that the structure comprising the cells was created.

The design in these tiny hairs that cause cells to move is just one example clearly revealing the illogical nature of evolutionists' claims. In a hardware store with a great quantity of electrical and mechanical items, is it possible for cogs to fit themselves to a pivot; for wires to wind themselves round to form a coil; and for the electrical switch and cables to power the engine's motor all by themselves? You needn't be an electrical or mechanical engineer to realize just how nonsensical that idea is, just as you needn't be a biochemist to realize that the hairs' movement system couldn't have arisen by chance.

Micro-tubules are also present in the body of the cell, quite apart from the hairs. In the cell, their main function is to support the cell's shape and structure. Furthermore, what we have described as motor proteins have other functions in the cell, too. For example, they travel the length of the micro-tubules for the transportation of various components within the cell, using the micro-tubules like highways to go from one point to another.

Every detail of the special structure in the tiny hairs is the product of separate engineering and reveal the knowledge of their designer. The intelligence manifested in the micro-hairs belongs to God. God has created all entities with a perfect and incomparable design. Contemplating them will be an important help to comprehending the greatness of God. In one verse it is revealed:

Say: "Am I to desire other than God as Lord when He is the Lord of all things?" What each self earns is for itself alone. No burden-bearer can bear another's burden. Then you will return to your Lord, and He will inform you regarding the things about which you differed. (Surat al-An'am : 164)

CAN A WINCH CAPABLE OF LIFTING A TREE PICK PEAS OFF THE GROUND?

With its trunk, the elephant can pick up and carry a tree trunk, as well as pick a pea off the ground and lift it to its mouth. In its trunk, it can carry up to four liters of water for drinking or washing, and spurt that water out like a hose. It can also use its trunk as a means of communication to gather the herd together or warn them to flee. Thanks to this organ's perfect design with its 50,000 muscles, it can perform actions requiring the greatest strength and sensitivity.

Computer and electronic technology have seen enormous advances in recent years. Yet we have not yet managed to produce machines strong as a winch, yet capable of such sensitive actions as picking up a pea.

The elephant's trunk is an organ with a special design, each of its features showing the flawless and incomparable nature of God's creation.

With their strong trunks, elephants can tear a tree out of the ground and carry it along. Yet they can also perform tasks requiring the greatest sensitivity, such as picking off the ground a small bunch of grass, or even a single pea. If the muscles comprising the trunk numbered fewer than 50,000, it would not be this functional. Almighty God, the Lord of the Worlds, has determined the number, location and strength of the elephant's muscles.

THE WORLD'S THINNEST FEEDING TUBE

For a female mosquito, it's vitally important to be able to suck blood very quickly. Her suction system must therefore be 100% compatible with the structure of her host's blood.

Unlike most liquids, blood changes its viscosity according to the diameter of the tube through which it flows. In wide tubes, the alluvia can move easily since they are randomly distributed in the liquid plasma. Yet in minute tubes smaller than a tenth of a millimeter across, the viscosity of blood starts to increase. In tubes of that size, the red blood cells flatten out and concentrate in the middle of the tube. In tubes smaller than a hundredth of a millimeter in diameter, the viscosity of the blood reaches its highest level, because the diameter of the blood cells has approached that of the tube itself. Sucking blood has become as difficult as sucking peas through a straw.

Creatures that feed by sucking blood display a most surprising compatibility. The feeding tubes of mosquitoes and other blood-sucking creatures never falls below one hundredth of a millimeter in diameter.43 Thanks to this they never experience any difficulty in ingesting blood.

It's worth noting that there are no exceptions in this regard: The same perfection is evident in all blood-sucking creatures. Could all of them have measured the diameter of blood cells and designed their feeding tubes accordingly? Or could they have carried out various experiments to determine a tube wide enough to allow blood cells to pass, but small enough not to restrict the cells' movement capacities? If so, then how did those individuals who were successful at the first attempt manage to transmit that information and thus save subsequent generations from extinction?

Of course, none of these things could possibly have happened. No insect can be aware of the structure of another living thing's blood, and that various cells within that blood affect the blood's viscosity.

No rational person would ever imagine such things upon learning that the mosquito's bodily structure is entirely compatible with blood sucking, or imagine that some insect discovered all this for itself one day. It is clear that such compatibility could not come about by chance.

In order for the mosquito to suck blood, it's not sufficient for it to possess a tube through which blood cells can pass. Above all it needs a force to make the blood move through the tube, and a way to produce that force. There are muscles in the mosquito's head, and as the muscles expand and contract, there is a fall in pressure. As a result, blood begins moving up the feeding tube.

There is only one explanation for the mosquito's perfect mechanisms: It is God Who creates them. The blood cell and the tube through which it passes were both created by a power, together with all the properties they possess. That power is God, the omniscient and flawless Creator.

CREATURES WITH PRESSURE-RESISTANT TISSUES

Another blood-sucker, the "assassin bug," also known by the scientific name of Rhodnus prolixus, possesses a most perfect pumping mechanism. The insect's head is almost entirely composed of cavities and muscles. Thanks to this design, the insect is able to create a pressure differential between the two ends of its feeding tube. Due to that difference, blood moves up the tube at 5 meters per second—a particularly fast speed that would cause damage under normal conditions. Yet no damage is inflicted on the insect's feeding tube or any other tissue through which the blood moves, because they are all resistant to its speed and pressure. Thanks to this system, the insect is able to ingest up to 300 micro-liters of blood in 15 minutes—the equivalent of a human being drinking 200 liters (52 gallons) of water.44

These insects are similar to mosquitoes, in that they're able to expand their bodies considerably as they drink. For example, a mosquito that ingests 4 micro-liters of blood consumes a great deal more than the volume of its own body. So what is it that prevents the mosquito from bursting as a result of such enormous consumption?

As with other blood-suckers, working in tandem with the mosquito's digestive system are tension sensors that tell them when to drink blood and when to stop. Human beings use similar systems to those in the mosquito and the assassin bug in water- storage facilities. The water drawn up by pumps is transferred into tanks, where special sensors control the water level. When water in the tanks reaches the maximum level, the pump shuts down automatically.

A diagram of the electrical circuit of a detector controlling water levels, which contain a great deal of information about where the electronic components are to be connected to one another. The detector can work only if the plan is completely adhered to, in every detail. If just one component is removed, or if you alter its connections, the machine cannot work. Similarly, the slightest deficiency in the mosquito's tension detectors system will mean that its entire sucking system will fail to function. Thus, mosquitoes could not have attained their present structure by a series of consecutive stages. In a single action, God has created mosquitoes and all other living things perfectly, with all their present features..

To make a crude comparison of the two systems, water pumps usually weigh tens of kilos or more, are very loud, and require large amounts of energy. In time, the pipes and the gaskets wear out, and water begins to escape, unless they are maintained to prevent corrosion and rust.

The sucking system in the mosquito's head is less than 1mm3 in size. It makes no noise as it works, and neither is there ever any leakage. Never does it need to be maintained even once over the course of the insect's life.

Mosquitoes and other insects cannot create by themselves the perfect systems they possess. All are the products of a special design. These systems, with their features far superior to those created by man, could not have come about by chance. The suction and storage systems of both the mosquito and the assassin bug constitute a technical whole, right down to the tiniest detail. A single error in the system, or any deficiency in its components, could cost these creatures their lives. Thus these creatures cannot have acquired these features as the result of a string of coincidences, as the theory of evolution maintains.

It is God, the Omniscient and Almighty, Who meets all living things' needs, Who created all things on Earth, living and non-living. God is the Almighty, and there is no other Creator than Him. In one verse our Lord reveals:

This is God's creation. Show me then what those besides Him have created! The wrongdoers are clearly misguided. (Surah Luqman: 11)

The more one researches, the greater the perfection one encounters.

THE GECKO AND MOLECULAR GRAVITY

The gecko, a small, harmless lizard that lives in tropical regions, possesses a characteristic which distinguishes it from other lizards. It can walk on walls, or even ceilings, as easily as if walking on the ground. It can even run upside down on varnished surfaces.45

What is this system that permits the gecko's feet to cling so tightly to the surface and move so astonishingly?

The gecko does not cling to the ceiling by secreting an adhesive substance, since the lizard has no glands with which to do such a thing. Furthermore, such a system might also stick the gecko to a surface, but not allow it to move.

Nor does the reptile's ability stem from a structure like a suction cup. The gecko's feet also work perfectly in a vacuum, and a suction cup cannot attach itself to the ceiling in such an environment.

Neither is there any question of electrostatic attraction. Experiments have proven that the gecko's feet function even in ion-charged air. Were electrostatic attraction being used, the ions added to the air diminish the force of attraction and prevent the lizard holding on.

Research has shown that the mechanism in the gecko's feet is an example of superior engineering. In fact, the lizard's entire foot has been designed for climbing.

Kellar Autumn, an environmental physiologist from the Lewis & Clark High School in Portland, and the California Berkeley University bio-engineer Robert Full, and supported by Massachusetts IS Robotics, set up a team to perform a microscopic study of the gecko's climbing ability.46

The results revealed that in the gecko's feet is a force of which perhaps only nuclear physicists are aware.

Special Feet Consisting of Thousands of Micro-Hairs

The tips of the gecko's toes are covered with thin leaves of skin, just like the pages of a book. Every leaf, in turn, is covered in a special tissue known as setae, hair-like protuberances, whose ends are divided into thousands of microscopic tips.

On the gecko's toe, an area the size of a pinhead contains an average of 5,000 micro-hairs. That means each of the animal's feet contains around half a million hairs.

Every single hair consists of between 400 and 1,000 protrusions, all located in such a way as to face the animal's heels. The tip of each one is about 5,000th of a millimeter thick. The millions of microscopic tips on the gecko's feet use the gravitational force of the atoms in the surface it walks on to firmly adhere to that surface.

As the gecko walks, it places the soles of its feet on the surface and pulls them slightly backwards, ensuring maximum contact between the hairs and the surface. Its hairs cling tightly to microscopic protrusions and cavities on the surface, too small to be seen with the naked eye. Thus on the molecular level, a slight gravitational attraction forms between the foot and the surface, known as the Van der Waals Force in quantum physics.47

This force is also present when you place your hand on the wall, but it is very weak. If you were to view your hand at the atomic level, you would see that its surface is covered in tiny crests, and only the few atoms at the tops of these crests make actual contact with the wall. However, the thousands of spatulate tips on the gecko's feet stick to the wall with greater force.

If the gecko's toes really were covered with an adhesive (or with suction caps, as scientists once believed) then every time it lifted its feet the lizard would have to expend considerable energy to break that adhesion. According to the findings of the research team, however, in order for the gecko to lift its feet, it needs only to change the angle at which it makes contact with the wall.48

The position and concentration of the micro-hairs on the gecko's feet give rise to the Van der Waals Force, which overcomes the force of gravity. When it wishes to take another step, the reptile bends the sole of its foot forward and raises it by expending a greater molecular force than that of gravity.49

Clearly, the number and angle of the hairs on the creature's feet are based on sensitive engineering. Were the density of the hairs any greater, the animal would stick to the ceiling; any less, or if the hairs were located at a different angle, it would fall off.

Yet such a thing never happens. The density of the hairs that give rise to the Van der Waals force is exactly right.

If a gecko that had 2,000 hairs per square millimeter instead of 2 million, an insufficient Van der Waals force would form, and it would fall off as it attempted to walk on the ceiling. The existence of the whole elaborate hair structure would be to no avail.

The Coordination in the Gecko's Feet

In addition to all this, the gecko lizard must also enjoy perfect coordination in its four feet to move over surfaces, climb walls with ease, and walk on the ceiling without falling off.

As it walks swiftly across the ceiling, the animal makes completely different movements with all its feet, simultaneously and without error, without its feet becoming tangled up.

Bear in mind how difficult it is to make opposite movements with your opposite hand and foot at the same time, you can better understand the difficulty of the gecko's moving all four feet.

Research reveals facts that are quite astonishing in all regards. First of all, the gecko needs to be aware of the function the Van der Waals force serves. Yet how did it come by this information, which even a great many university undergraduates have never heard of?

Is it possible for a lizard to "evolve" these tiny hairs, and to calculate their numbers and angles in such a way as to enable their weight-bearing capacities? No doubt, the location of the hairs on the sole of the gecko's foot—in the ideal numbers, at the ideal angle and order—could not have come about as a result of the gecko's own reasoning abilities.

In addition, the gecko also needs a skeleton, and nervous and muscular systems capable of coordinating its four feet so perfectly. It is of course out of the question for a lizard to design all of these itself and to create them within its own body.

Only in the last century have human beings discovered the structure and nature of the atom. The gecko, on the other hand, is a species of reptile that can't conceivably know about the atom and its force of gravity.

Every person of common sense knows that these features cannot have come about on their own, and that all are products of a special design. Moreover, all the geckos that have ever lived have possessed these features, which goes to show that God created geckos in a single moment, together with all their characteristics.

Both their bodies and their behavior reveal that God created all living things, together with all their attributes. Thinking people view the design in the gecko as one of the proofs of God's omniscience and flawless creation. In one verse it is revealed that God is the Creator of all living things:

God created every animal from water. Some of them go on their bellies, some of them on two legs, and some on four. God creates whatever He wills. God has power over all things. (Surat an-Nur: 45)

38. James L. Gould & Carol Grant Gould, Olagan Disi Yasamlar, TUBITAK, 5.th edition, p. 114.
39. Ibid., p. 122.
40. Ibid., p. 125.
41. Ibid., pp/ 117-118.
42. Voet, D. Ve J.G. (1995) Biochemstry, 2nd edition., John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 1253-1259.
43. "Boceklere Ziyafet" (A Feast for Insects), Bilim ve Teknik, October 1997, p. 63.
44. Ibid.
45. "Geckos Climb by the Hairs of Their Toes", Elizabeth Pennisi, Science magazine, June 30, 2000.
46. "Robo-Geckos", Fenella Saunders, Discover, vol. 21, no. 9, September 2000; "Sticky Secrets of the Gecko Researchers have finally unlocked the mystery of the small lizard's remarkable climbing ability", Carl T. Hall, San Fransico Chronicle Science Writer, Monday, June 19, 2000; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/06/19/MNC1005.DTL
47. "Bonding", www.ider.herts.ac.uk /school/courseware/materials/bonding.html
48. "Biomechanics: Gripping feat", Henry Gee, Nature, June 8, 2000; "Adhesive Force of a single gecko foot-hair", Kellar Autumn, Nature, June 8, 2000.
49. "Adhesive Force of a single gecko foot-hair", Kellar Autumn, Nature, June 8 ,2000.