Scientists Overcome Nanotechnology Hurdle

While the field of nanotechnology is growing and making key advances, we should recognize that biological systems are highly advanced when it comes to operating at the tiniest scale.

"Engineering new materials through assembly of complex, but tiny, components is difficult for scientists. However, nature has become adept at engineering nanoscale building blocks, e.g. proteins and RNA. These are able to form dynamic and efficient nanomachines such as the cell's protein assembly machine (the ribosome) and minute motors used for swimming by bacteria."

Detailed Analysis of Salamander Regeneration

This is more evidence showing that junk DNA is a failing notion.

"Scientists also sequenced random chunks of the salamander genome. At about 30 billion bases and 10 times the size of the human genome, it is one of the largest among vertebrates. Most scientists expected that the extra DNA would be made up of junk DNA, long stretches of bases between genes. But initial findings were surprising. "Genes are on average 5 to 10 times larger than those in other vertebrates," says Voss. "The region of the genome containing genes is estimated to be more than two gigabases, which is as big as some entire genomes."

Mirror test shows magpies aren't so bird-brained

Some argue that convergent evolution is suggestive that evolution is not as random as people think. Here we see a case of convergence with respect to self-recognition.

"Self-recognition, once thought to be an ability enjoyed only by select primates, has now been demonstrated in a bird..."

"The authors suggest that self-recognition in birds and mammals may be a case of convergent evolution, where similar evolutionary pressures result in similar behaviours or traits, although they arrive at them via different routes."

What Your Boss Can Learn From Birds and Bees

In this article you'll see that biomimicry is reaching beyond component design -- and into the realm of "organizational biomimetics."

"According to author Ken Thompson, geese and other animals that naturally form groups have a lot to teach us about business. In a theory he calls organizational biomimetics, Thompson lays out the principles underlying nature's management strategies."

Why not every scientist worships at Darwin's feet

This is an interesting read from Professor John Lennox regarding the implications of Darwinism.

"Indeed, the fact that there are brilliant scientists who believe in God and brilliant scientists who don't makes it clear that the conflict is not a simplistic one between science and religion, but between opposing world views - naturalism and theism..."

"In 2009, when the champagne is uncorked in celebration of Darwin's legacy, we might pause to consider the presuppositions we bring to the question of what his theory tells us about God. There are essentially only two options. Either the wonder of human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter; or there is a creator. It remains a mystery to me why some people claim it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second."

Royal Seal of Prophet Jeremiah’s Accuser Found

Several of you science oriented Christians like to read about Biblical archaeology. You'll find this one to be interesting.

"During the last days of the kingdom of Judah, the Prophet Jeremiah warned the residents of Jerusalem of their impending captivity at the hands of the Babylonian army. But instead of heeding that warning message, the princes of King Zedekiah’s administration attacked the messenger and plunged him into the depths of a miry dungeon (Jeremiah 38:1-6).

One of Jeremiah’s accusers, Gedaliah the son of Pashur, had his name stamped on a small clay seal that was recently discovered about 600 feet south of the Temple Mount. Dr. Eilat Mazar, one of Israel’s top archaeologists, found the bulla earlier this year, in mint condition, while wet-sifting debris excavated under a tower at the north end of the City of David—the original site of ancient Jerusalem."

Scientists find way to harness nanomotors to engineer nanosystems for transport and assembly

Which theory of origins best explains the existence of "design principles" found in biological systems? Is evolution a theory of design? Or is there something else at work? Think about it.

"The paper extracts seven key engineering design principles that enable nanomotors moving along linear templates to perform a myriad of tasks. Equally complex biomimetic tasks have not yet been mastered ex vivo, either by harnessing biological motors or via synthetic analogues. "These engineering insights into how such tasks are carried out by the biological nanosystems will inevitably inspire new technologies that harness nanomotor-driven processes to build new systems for nanoscale transport and assembly," Dr. Goel said. Sequential assembly and nanoscale transport, combined with features currently attributed only to biological materials, such as self-repair and healing, might one day become an integral part of future materials and bio-hybrid devices. "Understanding the details of how these little nanomachines convert chemical energy into controlled movements will nevertheless inspire new approaches to engineer synthetic counterparts that could some day be used under harsher conditions, operate at more extreme temperatures, or simply have longer shelf lives."

Peach Blossom Jellyfish found in Sichuan

This creature is the king of stasis -- having remained unchanged for 650 million years.

"A shoal of Peach Blossom Jellyfish in rarely seen numbers was found for the first time in Dazhou City, Sichuan, on July 29, 2008. The Peach Blossom Jellyfish evolved about 650 million years ago, is ranked as the most endangered species in the world, and is one of China's aquatic treasures."

Being A Control Freak Aids Dividing Cells

As we see in this article, the cell goes to great lengths to ensure that high quality cell replication takes place.

"New data indicate that a dividing cell takes micromanagement to the extreme, tagging more than 14,000 different sites on its proteins with phosphate, a molecule that typically serves as a signal for a variety of biological processes..."This discovery implies that we've severely underestimated the scope of regulation in cell division for decades, which has implications for our understanding of a wide-range of diseases and developmental defects linked to the cell cycle, from cancer to holes in the heart."

Structure of hydrogen splitting enzyme revealed

Consider what Simon Conway Morris writes in Life's Solution concerning convergent evolution, "During my time in the libraries I have been particularly struck by the adjectives that accompany descriptions of evolutionary convergence. Words like 'remarkable', 'striking', 'extraordinary', or even 'astonishing' and 'uncanny' are commonplace. It is well appreciated that seldom are the similarities precise, and this in itself is as concrete a piece of evidence for the reality of evolution as can be provided. Even so, the frequency of adjectival surprise associated with descriptions of convergence suggests to me that there is almost a feeling of unease in these similarities. Indeed, I strongly suspect that some of these biologists sense the ghost of teleology looking over their shoulders. The eerinees of convergence is central to how evolution navigates across the combinatorial immensities of biological 'hyperspace'."

In this linked article, you'll see more *remarkable* convergent evolution taking place.

'It seems that nature came three times to the same solution for cleaving hydrogen,' says team member Ulrich Ermler.

'The work highlights the remarkable convergent evolution that has given us three hydrogenases with a similar active site,' says David Evans of the John Innes Centre in the UK. 'It is also interesting that all three enzymes have iron atoms bound by toxic groups such as carbon monoxide and cyanide - the only examples in biology where these play a role in an enzyme's active site.'

U.S. engineers study ancient fish for future body armor

Here's a case of both stasis and biomimicry.

The 16-inch (40-centimer) long dinosaur eel, or scientifically named Polypterus senegalus (and sometimes also called gray bichir, Cuvier’s bichir, and Senegal bichir), is found on the muddy bottoms of freshwater in West Africa. Scientists already now that the ancient fish has lived for over 96 million years.

They stated in the abstract to their research paper, “Here, we present a multiscale experimental and computational approach that reveals the materials design principles present within individual ganoid scales from the 'living fossil' Polypterus senegalus. This fish belongs to the ancient family Polypteridae, which first appeared 96 million years ago during the Cretaceous period and still retains many of their characteristics.”