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Philosophy, Religion & Society / Creatures that defy Evolution.
« on: February 21, 2009, 07:53:15 PM »Quote
Creationists used to bug Jobe Martin, until a bug helped make Jobe Martin a creationist. Only half an inch long, the Bombardier Beetle may not be very big, but it helped chew great big holes in his long-held views on evolution. Or, more accurately, burn them.
For on closer inspection the modest beetle is a marvel of nature, a sort of six-legged tiny tank. It defends itself by mixing chemicals that explode; firing through twin tail tubes that can swivel like gun turrets. The bubbling liquid that shoots out at 212 degrees Fahrenheit is enough to deter most predators.
The force of the "round" fired should be enough to blast the little beetle into orbit,if not pieces, and it would be if it was discharged at one time. But slow motion photography has revealed that the crafty beetle actually lets go with a stream of up to 1,000 little explosions. Together they are enough to put off would-be attackers while leaving the small defender with its feet still on the ground.
As Martin marveled at the intricate design, he realized that there was simply no way the Bombardier Beetle could have evolved its sophisticated defense system over time, adding swiveling "gun barrels" or its "repeater" firing mechanism at different stages. It needed them all in one package, at the same time. A beetle that blew itself up would not be around to develop a more refined firing system. A beetle that could not keep the enemy in firing range would not survive to work on more maneuverable firepower. "There's simply no way a slow, gradual process will produce this beetle," says the former science major who, over a five-year, period made a complete about-face in his beliefs about the origins of the earth. Now in an entertaining and enlightening new video he shows how the Bombardier Beetle and a host of other remarkable members of the animal kingdom undermine Darwin's widely accepted theory.
The Bombardier Beetle is one of the unlikely stars of "Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution," a 50-minute Discovery Channel-style documentary that encapsulates Martin's years of research for church, school and family viewing. Host David Hames, who experienced firsthand the firepower of the Bombardier Beetle and said, "It felt like someone put a cigarette out on my leg!" guides the film crew as they capture animals on film and as Martin explains their various intricacies.
There is the giraffe, whose long neck necessitates a powerful heart to pump blood all the way to the brain. By rights the blood flow should blow its brains out when it bends to drink water, but the lofty animal has a delicate series of spigots and a sponge that dissipate and absorb the rush of blood. "How could that evolve?" muses Martin. "He needs all these parts there all the time, or he is dead..."
Then there's the woodpecker, whose rat-a-tat hunt for tree grubs should send it home each night with a mighty migraine. Instead it is studied by surgeons who want to learn more about head trauma in humans. The bird has a piece of cartilage that acts as a shock absorber and an extra-long tongue that can reach into the tree to pluck out its meal. It also has a glue factory that makes the bug stick until it is in the woodpecker's throat and produces another secretion to dissolve the glue on swallowing.