Category: Science

Putting Our Toe in the Water of the Universe

kevingdrendel1 Comment

NASA’s Voyager I probe left our solar system this past week, thirty-six (36) years after lifting off from the earth in 1977. I was still in high school then. In that time, it has traveled 11.5 billion miles and is just now pulling away from the influence of our sun. (See Fox News and voyager.jpl.nasa.gov) There are 200 billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, but we have only begun to look for and research other solar systems. We do not have any idea how many solar systems exist in our galaxy. We confirmed the first planets outside our solar system for the first time in the mid-1990’s; and then we only detected them by the “gentle tugs” caused by those planets as they orbit their stars. (See Nasa’s spaceplace.nasa.gov)

Today, scientists have discovered more than 500 solar systems in the Milky Way. They estimate there might be tens of billions of solar systems, maybe even 100 billion more than our solar system!

Astronomers estimate there are at least one hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe! Imagine one hundred billion galaxies, each with 100 billion solar systems! And that is all we can see! According to physics.org, a grain of sand held up to the sky would cover 10,000 galaxies (not solar systems, but galaxies – like our Milky Way).

We live in a vast universe. More vast than most of realize or think about on a regular basis, other than the NASA scientists and quantum physicists among us. The Voyager I probe is going where no man-made object has gone before, but we are only now putting our toe in the water of the universe.

Intellectuals May Enter

kevingdrendelLeave a comment

There is a common perception among “intellectuals” that religion is for simpletons and faith requires abandoning the intellect. Nothing could be further from the truth in my opinion. I graduated 2nd in my class in law school. I am smarter than the average bear. I do not mean to boast. There are far smarter people than I in the world. One of those people was a good friend in college. She graduated #1 in our class with a perfect 4.0 GPA. She was a triple major, including Physics, Math and Russian studies. She has a PhD in Astrophysics. She was also a leader in a campus ministry in college.

You do not have to leave your brain at the door of faith, and you should not feel like a second class intellectual citizen to be a Christian. Intellect is not the sole province of the irreligious. Do not buy into that lie.

And for those thinking that Atheists are smarter than people who believe in God, think again:

 

The DNA of Words

kevingdrendel1 Comment

I am fascinated by the thought that God spoke the world into existence. In the Gospel of John, who was easily the most revelatory of the New Testament writers, I have always been intrigued by the statement: In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. That explains why I was drawn to the following headline: Russian Scientists Reprogram Human DNA Using Words and Frequencies.

Apparently, Russian scientists have found that our DNA stores data like a computer and uses grammar and syntax rules like language. More incredible, they discovered that human DNA can be “changed and rearranged with spoken words and phrases!” These scientists have changed frog embryos to salamander embryos without physical contact by use of vibration and language.

Aside from the ethical quandaries the discovery might pose, the fact that human and other DNA, the building blocks of life, have language-like characteristics and respond to language is just another example of the wonder of God’s creation. It is another indication of the truth of the Bible, which claims to be the inspired Word of God. (2 Tim. 3:16) The statement God spoke the world into existence, words written well over 2500 years ago, at a minimum, and the statement that the Word was in the beginning of the creative process, written about 2000 years ago, make more sense in light of the apparent discovery that the building blocks of life, DNA, have language-like characteristics and respond to language.