13 novembre 2006
New studies reveal scientific miracles in the fly Hadith
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By Magdy Abd Al-Shafy The Holy Quran and the traditional sayings of prophet Mohummed are the two legs of the Religion of Islam , The Holy Quran contains scientific miracles that have been already confiremeds scientifically . These Holy Scientific verses were revealed more than 1400 years ago , at the time of prophet Mohummed there were many other different miracles to make people believe . Because Quran will be the last reveald Book till life ends , Gods has made it overflowing Book with miracles that suit every age and its kind of civilization . As we live now in the age of science , we find that there are a lot of scientific miracles in Quran in addition to the Hadiths (prophet's traditional sayings ) Here is a wonderful miracle : "Medically it is well known now that a fly carries some pathagens on some parts of its body as mentioned by the Prophet (before 1400 years. approx. when the humans knew very little of modern medicine.) Similarly Allah created organisms and other mechanisms which kill these pathagens e.g. penicillin Fungus kills pathogenic organisms like Staphalococci and others etc. Recently experiments have been done under supervision which indicate that a fly carries the disease (pathagens) plus the antidote for those organ-isms. Ordinarily when a fly touches a liquid food it infects the liquid with its pathogens, so it must be dipped in order to release also the antidote for those pathogens to act as a counter balance to the pathogens. The creation of the head of the fly reflesct God's greatness Prophet Mohummed says "If a fly falls into one of your containers [of food or drink], immerse it completely (falyaghmis-hu kullahu) before removing it, for under one of its wings there is venom and under another there is its antidote. " The Prophet Muhammad - upon him and his House blessings and peace - alluded to both facts 1,400 years ago when he said, as narrated from Abu Hurayra and Abu Sa`id al-Khudri by al-Bukhari and in the Sunan:
Only in modern times was it discovered that the common fly carried parasitic pathogens for many diseases including malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, and others. It was also discovered that the fly carried parasitic bacteriophagic fungi capable of fighting the germs of all these diseases.
The greatness of God's creation in the eyes of the fly The Prophet Muhammad - upon him and his House blessings and peace - alluded to both facts 1,400 years ago when he said, as narrated from Abu Hurayra and Abu Sa`id al-Khudri by al-Bukhari and in the Sunan: If a fly falls into one of your containers [of food or drink], immerse it completely (falyaghmis-hu kullahu) before removing it, for under one of its wings there is venom and under another there is its antidote.
It is established that house flies are carriers of dangerous pathogens of animals and humans. Even the muscaphobic critics of this hadith are forced to admit that no one at the time of the Prophet, upon him peace, knew that flies carry such harmful organisms. Whence the observation that "under one of its wings there is venom"? Second, from the perspective of logic, if the fly did not carry some sort of protection in the form of an antidote or immunity, it would perish from its own poisonous burden and there would be no fly left in the world. Further, the transmission of what the fly carries in or on its body is not an automatic fact. For example, the microbe responsible for ulcers and other stomach ailments can live on houseflies, although it remains to be seen whether flies transmit the pathogen. There has long been evidence of bacterial pathogen-suppressing micro-organisms living in houseflies. An article in Vol. 43 of the Rockefeller Foundation's Journal of Experimental Medicine (1927) p. 1037 stated: The flies were given some of the cultured microbes for certain diseases. After some time the germs died and no trace was left of them while a germ-devouring substance formed in the flies - bacteriophages. If a saline solution were to be obtained from these flies it would contain bacteriophages able to suppress four kinds of disease-inducing germs and to benefit immunity against four other kinds. Cited in `Abd Allah al-Qusami, Mushkilat al-Ahadith al-Nabawiyya wa-Bayanuha (p. 42). More recently, a Colorado State University website on entomology states, "Gnotobiotic [=germ-free] insects (Greenberg et al, 1970) were used to provide evidence of the bacterial pathogen-suppressing ability of the microbiota of Musca domestica [houseflies] .... most relationships between insects and their microbiota remain undefined. Studies with gnotobiotic locusts suggest that the microbiota confers previously unexpected benefits for the insect host." So then, flies are not only pathogenic carriers but also carry microbiota that can be beneficent. The fly microbiota were described as "longitudinal yeast cells living as parasites inside their bellies. These yeast cells, in order to perpetuate their life cycle, protrude through certain respiratory tubules of the fly. If the fly is dipped in a liquid, the cells burst into the fluid and the content of those cells is an antidote for the pathogens which the fly carries." Cf. Footnote in the Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari by Muhammad Muhsin Khan (7:372, Book 76 Medicine, Chapter 58, Hadith 5782). These fly microbiota are bacteriophagic or "germ-eating". Bacteriophages are viruses of viruses. They attack viruses and bacteria. They can be selected and bred to kill specific organisms. The viruses infect a bacterium, replicate and fill the bacterial cell with new copies of the virus, and then break through the bacterium's cell wall, causing it to burst. The existence of similar bacteria-killing mechanisms in two bacteriophages suggests that antibiotics for human infections might be designed on the basis of these cell wall-destroying proteins. Science 292 (June 2001) p. 2326-2329. Bacteriophagic medicine was available in the West before the forties but was discontinued when penicillin and other "miracle antibiotics" came out. Bacteriophages continued to flourish in Eastern Europe as an over-the-counter medicine. The "O1-phage" has been used for diagnosis of all Salmonella types while the prophylaxis of Shigella dysentery was conducted with the help of phages. Annales Immunologiae Hungaricae No. 9 (1966) in German. "Phage therapy" is now making a comeback in the West: First named in 1917 by researcher Felix d'Herelle at France 's Pasteur Institute, bacteriophages (or just phages for short) are viruses that prey upon bacteria. They have a simple structure - a DNA-filled head attached by a shaft to spidery "legs" that are used to grip onto the surface of a bacterium. Once a phage latches onto a bacterium, it injects its payload of genetic material into the bacterium's innards. The bacterium then begins to rapidly produce "daughter" copies of the phage -- until the bacterium becomes too full and ruptures, sending hundreds of new phage particles into the open world. Doctors used phages as medical treatment for illnesses ranging from cholera to typhoid fevers. In some cases, a liquid containing the phage was poured into an open wound. In others, they were given orally, via aerosol, or injected. In some cases, the treatments worked well - in others, they did not. When antibiotics came into the mainstream, phage therapy largely faded in the west. However, researchers in eastern Europe, including the former Soviet Union , continued their studies of the potential healing properties of phages. And now that strains of bacteria resistant to standard antibiotics are on the rise, the idea of phage therapy has been getting more attention in the worldwide medical community. Several biotechnology companies have been formed in the U.S. to develop bacteriophage-based treatments - many of them drawing on the expertise of researchers from eastern Europe." Research on the medical application of bacteriophages is now considered to be in its most promising stage. A University of Pittsburgh researcher said in June 2001, "Given the sheer number and variety of bacteriophages lurking on the planet, the viruses may represent a sizable untapped reservoir of new therapeutics." Science 292 (June 2001) p. 2326-2329. Possibilities for use of bacteriophages in disease control is discussed in the article "Smaller Fleas... Ad infinitum: Therapeutic Bacteriophage Redux" in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [PNAS] Vol. 93 No. 8 (April 16, 1996), 3167-8. The fact that the fly carried pathophagic or germ-eating agents was known to the ancients, who noticed that wasp and scorpion stings are remedied by rubbing the sore spot with a decapitated fly as mentioned in al-Antaki's Tadhkira (1:140), al-`Ayni's citation of Abu Muhammad Ibn al-Baytar al-Maliqi's (d. 646) al-Jami` li-Mufradat al-Adwiya wal-Aghdhiya in `Umdat al-Qari (7:304), and al-Sha`rani's Mukhtasar al-Suwaydi fil-Tibb (p. 98). Avicenna preferred the use of a live chicken slit in two and applied to the wound cf. Ibn al-Azraq, Tas-hîl al- Manafi` (1306 ed. p. 171=1315 ed. p. 147). A similar use is current even today for camel urine according to a University of Calgary website. In the two world wars the wounds of soldiers exposed to flies were observed to heal and scar faster than the wounds of unexposed soldiers. Even today, fly larvae, or maggots, are used medicinally to clean up festering wounds. They only eat dead tissue and leave healthy tissue alone. Is the fly ritually filthy (najis)? No. The Jurists concur that the fly is pure (al-dhubab tahir) and does not defile a liquid even if its quantity is small and even if it dies in it except, according to al-Shafi`i, if one of the aspects of the liquid is affected (smell, color, taste) cf. al-Baghawi, Sharh al-Sunna (11:260-261) and al-Qastallani, Irshad al-Sari (5:304-305). The Prophetic Sunna is an endless manual of healthy living and practical husbandry for people of all walks of life, especially the poor. The Prophet, upon him peace, at all times directed his Umma to avert waste and penury even in unsanitary conditions. Just as the hadith on camel milk and urine reveals knowledge of dietetics and natural medicine, so does the hadith of the fly reveal knowledge of preventive medicine and immunology. In this respect the command in these hadiths, as in many others, denotes an advisory Sunna of permissibility, not a literal obligation. "The command [of immersing the fly] denotes counsel (al-amru lil-irshad) so as to counter disease with cure." Al-Qastallani, Irshad al-Sari (5:304). Despite the abundance of supporting evidence for the authenticity of these medicinal narrations (camel and fly) on the one hand and for their scientific viability on the other, certain voices continue to reject them on both counts. Principle skepticism of authentically transmitted narrations that pertain to facts demonstrated by ancient and modern science, or whose scientific worth is just now coming into view, is the wont of stagnant minds and diseased hearts for which there is no cure save the mercy of our Lord. Now researchers are developing a new antibiotic made of the antidode living on the fly's surface here is a new research titled "The new buzz on antibiotics" that was done only a weak ago ...read this study:The surface of flies is the last place you would expect to find antibiotics, yet that is exactly where a team of Australian researchers is concentrating their efforts "Our research is a small part of a global research effort for new antibiotics, but we are looking where we believe no-one has looked before,” said Ms Joanne Clarke, who presented the group’s findings at the Australian Society for Microbiology Conference in Melbourne this week. The project is part of her PhD thesis. Flies go through the life stages of larvae and pupae before becoming adults. In the pupae stage, the fly is encased in a protective casing and does not feed. "We predicted they would not produce many antibiotics," said Ms Clarke. They did not. However the larvae all showed antibacterial properties (except that of the Queensland fruit fly control). As did all the adult fly species, including the Queensland fruit fly (which at this point requires antibacterial protection because it has contact with other flies and is mobile). The fly carries a disease and the cure on both its wings: Mentioned in Islam and confirmed by Science (Bacteriophages): By Magdy Abd Al-Shafy Abd AL-Gawad Refrences http://www.answering-christianity.com/hadiths_of_the_fly.htm http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s689400.htm http://www.55a.net/firas/arabic/index.php?page=show_det&id=1048&select_page=5 God's greatness in the creation of the hose of the fly The latest research calls for a new antibody from the fly antidote | |||
17 juin 2006
Ants self-defence
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Anew miracle in the Holy Quran
In the above mentioned verses , the ant reported the imminent danger facing them through four successive stages as follow :
This essay says that the chemical communication is the most important method of communication in the time of danger and in reporting this danger as well , in this process ants give out different kinds of these substances , each substance has a different code denoting certain kind of speech . If we pursue the emission of the substances by the ant that reported that danger in the above mentioned essay , we will find that it is the same as the ant did in the Holy verse ,number eighteen ,( Sura Al-Naml) .
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25 mars 2006
The Miraculous Design in the Flight of Insects
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CHAPTER 1 Evolutionists claim that insects started flying 300 million years ago. Nonetheless, they are not able to provide any conclusive answers to fundamental questions such as: how did the first insect develop wings, take flight or keep suspended in the air? Evolutionists only claim that some layers of skin on the body probably could have turned into wings. Aware of the unsoundness of their claim, they also assert that the fossil specimens to verify this assertion are not available yet. Nevertheless, the flawless design of insect wings leaves no room for coincidence. In an article entitled "The Mechanical Design of Insect Wings" the English biologist Robin Wootton writes: The better we understand the functioning of insect wings, the more subtle and beautiful their designs appear... Structures are traditionally designed to deform as little as possible; mechanisms are designed to move component parts in predictable ways. Insect wings combine both in one, using components with a wide range of elastic properties, elegantly assembled to allow appropriate deformations in response to appropriate forces and to make the best possible use of the air. They have few if any technological parallels-yet.4 On the other hand, there is not a single fossil evidence for the imaginary evolution of insects. That is what the famous French zoologist Pierre Paul Grassé referred to when he stated, "We are in the dark concerning the origin of insects."5 Now let us examine some of the interesting features of these creatures that leave the evolutionists in complete darkness.
The Inspiration for the Helicopter: The Dragonfly The wings of the dragonfly cannot be folded back on its body. In addition, the way in which the muscles for flight are used in the motion of the wings differs from the rest of insects. Because of these properties, evolutionists claim that dragonflies are "primitive insects". In contrast, the flight system of these so-called "primitive insects" is nothing less than a wonder of design. The world's leading helicopter manufacturer, Sikorsky, finished the design of one of their helicopters by taking the dragonfly as a model.6 IBM, which assisted Sikorsky in this project, started by putting a model of a dragonfly in a computer (IBM 3081). Two thousand special renderings were done on computer in the light of the manoeuvres of the dragonfly in air. Therefore, Sikorsky's model for transporting personnel and artillery was built upon examples derived from dragonflies.
Gilles Martin, a nature photographer, has done a two year study examining dragonflies, and he also concluded that these creatures have an extremely complex flight mechanism. The body of a dragonfly looks like a helical structure wrapped with metal. Two wings are cross-placed on a body that displays a colour gradation from ice blue to maroon. Because of this structure, the dragonfly is equipped with superb manoeuvrability. No matter at what speed or direction it is already moving, it can immediately stop and start flying in the opposite direction. Alternatively, it can remain suspended in air for the purpose of hunting. At that position, it can move quite swiftly towards its prey. It can accelerate up to a speed that is quite surprising for an insect: 25mph (40km/h), which would be identical to an athlete running 100 metres in the Olympics at 24.4mph (39km/h). At this speed, it collides with its prey. The shock of the impact is quite strong. However, the armoury of the dragonfly is both very resistant and very flexible. The flexible structure of its body absorbs the impact of collision. However, the same cannot be said for its prey. The dragonfly's prey would pass out or even be killed by the impact. Following the collision, the rear legs of dragonfly take on the role of its most lethal weapons. The legs stretch forward and capture the shocked prey, which is then swiftly dismembered and consumed by powerful jaws.
The sight of the dragonfly is as impressive as is its ability to perform sudden manoeuvres at high speed. The eye of the dragonfly is accepted as the best example among all the insects. It has a pair of eyes, each of which features approximately thirty thousand different lenses. Two semi-spherical eyes, each nearly half the size of the head, provide the insect a very wide visual field. Because of these eyes, the dragonfly can almost keep an eye on its back. Therefore, the dragonfly is an assemblage of systems, each of which has a unique and perfect structure. Any malfunction in any one of these systems would derail the other systems as well. However, all of these systems are created without flaw and, hence, the creature lives on. The Wings of the Dragonfly The most significant feature of the dragonfly is its wings. However, it is not possible through a model of progressive evolution to explain the flight mechanism that enables the use of the wings. First, the theory of evolution is at a loss on the subject of the origin of wings because they could only function if they developed altogether at once, in order to operate correctly. Let us assume, for a moment, that the genes of an insect on land underwent a mutation and some parts of the skin tissue on the body showed an uncertain change. It would be quite beyond reason to suggest that another mutation on top of this change could "coincidentally" add up to a wing. Furthermore, neither would the mutations to the body provide a whole wing to the insect nor would it do any good but decrease its mobility. The insect, then, needs to carry extra load, which does not serve any real purpose. This would put the insect at a disadvantage against rivals. Moreover, according to the fundamental principle of the theory of evolution, natural selection would have made this handicapped insect and its descendants extinct.
Mutations, moreover, occur very seldom. They always harm the creatures, leading to deadly sicknesses in most cases. This is why it is impossible for small mutations to cause some formations on the body of a dragonfly to evolve into a flight mechanism. After all this, let us ask ourselves: even if we assume, against all odds, that the scenario suggested by evolutionists might have been real, why is it that the "primitive dragonfly" fossils which would give substance to this scenario do not exist?
There is no difference between the oldest dragonfly fossils and the dragonflies of today. There is no remains of "a half-dragonfly" or a "dragonfly with newly emerging wings" that predates these oldest fossils. Just as the rest of the life forms, the dragonfly, too, appeared all at once and has not changed to this day. In other words, it was created by Allah and never "evolved". The skeletons of insects are formed by a tough, protective substance, called chitin. This substance was created with enough strength to form the exoskeleton. It is also flexible enough to be moved by the muscles used for flight. The wings can move back and forth or up and down. This motion of wings is facilitated by a complex joint structure. The dragonfly has two pairs of wings, one in a forward position with respect to the other. The wings operate asynchronously. That is, while the two frontal wings ascend, the back pair of wings descend. Two opposing muscle groups move the wings. The muscles are tied to levers inside the body. While one group of muscles pull up a pair of wings by contracting, the other muscle group opens the other pair by reflexing. Helicopters ascend and descend by a similar technique. This allows a dragonfly to hover, go backward, or quickly change direction.
Metamorphosis of the Dragonfly
Female dragonflies do not mate again after fertilisation. However, this does not create any problem for the males of the Calopteryx Virgo species. By using the hooks on its tail, the male captures the female by the neck (1). The female wraps her legs around the tail of the male. The male, by using special extensions on its tail (2), cleans any possible sperm left from another male. Then, he injects his sperm into the female's reproductive cavity. Since this process takes hours, they sometimes fly in this clenched position. The dragonfly leaves the mature eggs in the shallows of a lake or a pool (3). Once the nymph hatches from the egg, it lives in water for three to four years (4). During this time, it also feeds in water (5). For this reason, it was created with a body capable of swimming fast enough to catch a fish and jaws powerful enough to dismember a prey. As the nymph grows, the skin wrapping its body tightens. It sheds this skin at four different times. When it is time for the final change, it leaves the water and starts climbing a tall plant or a rock (6). It climbs until its legs give in. Then, it secures itself by help of clamps at the tips of its feet. One slip and a fall means death at that point. This last phase differs from the previous four in that Allah moulds the nymph into a flying creature through a wonderful transformation. The back of the nymph cracks first (7). The crack widens and becomes an open slot through which a new creature, totally different from the preceding, struggles to get out. This extremely fragile body is secured with ties that stretch from the previous creature (8). These ties are created to have ideal transparency and flexibility. Otherwise they would break and not be able to carry it, which could mean that the larva could fall into the water and perish.
In addition, there are a series of special mechanisms that help the dragonfly to shed its skin. The body of the dragonfly shrinks and becomes wrinkled in the old body. In order to "open" this body, a special pump system and a special body fluid are created to be used in this process. These wrinkled body parts of the insect are inflated by pumping body fluid after getting out through the slot (9). In the meantime, chemical solvents start to break the ties of the new legs with the old ones without damage. This process takes place perfectly even though it would be devastating if only one of the legs were stuck. The legs are left to dry and harden for about twenty minutes before any testing.
The wings are fully developed already but are in a folded position. The body fluid is pumped by firm contractions of the body into the wing tissues (10). The wings are left drying after stretching (11).
After it leaves the old body and dries out completely, the dragonfly tests all the legs and wings. The legs are folded and stretched one by one and wings are raised and lowered.
Finally, the insect attains the form designed for flight. It is very hard for anyone to believe that this perfectly flying creature is the same as the caterpillar-like creature that left the water (12). The dragonfly pumps the excess fluids out, to balance the system. The metamorphosis is complete and the insect is ready to fly. One faces the impossibility of the claims of evolution again when one tries by reasoning to find the origin of this miraculous transformation. The theory of evolution claims that all creatures came about through random changes. However, the metamorphosis of the dragonfly is an extremely intricate process that leaves no room for even a small error in any phase. The slightest obstacle in any one of these phases would cause metamorphosis to be incomplete resulting in the injury or death of dragonfly. Metamorphosis is truly an "irreducibly complex" cycle and therefore is an explicit proof of design. In short, the metamorphosis of dragonfly is one of the countless evidences of how flawlessly Allah creates living things. The wonderful art of Allah manifests itself even in an insect. Mechanics of Flight The wings of flies are vibrated according to the electric signals conducted by the nerves. For example, in a grasshopper each one of these nerve signals results in one contraction of the muscle that in turn moves the wing. Two opposing muscle groups, known as "lifters" and "sinkers", enable the wings to move up and down by pulling in opposite directions.
Grasshoppers flap their wings twelve to fifteen times a second but smaller insects need a higher rate in order to fly. For instance, while honeybees, wasps and flies flap their wings 200 to 400 times per second this rate goes up to 1000 in sandflies and some 1mm long parasites.7 Another explicit evidence of perfect creation is a 1mm long flying creature that can flap its wings at the extraordinary rate of one thousand times a second without burning, tearing or wearing out the insect. When we examine these flying creatures a little closer, our appreciation for their design multiplies. It was mentioned that their wings are activated by means of electrical signals conducted through the nerves. However, a nerve cell is only capable of transmitting a maximum of 200 signals per second. Then, how is it possible for the little flying insects to achieve 1000 wing flaps per second? The flies that flap wings 200 times per second have a nerve-muscle relationship that is different from that of grasshoppers. There is one signal conducted for each ten wing flaps. In addition, the muscles known as fibrous muscles work in a way different from the grasshopper's muscles. The nerve signals only alert the muscles in preparation for the flight and, when they reach a certain level of tension, they relax by themselves. There is a system in flies, honeybees, and wasps that transforms wing flaps into "automatic" movements. The muscles that enable flight in these insects are not directly tied to the bones of the body. The wings are attached to the chest with a joint that functions like a pivot. The muscles that move the wings are connected at the bottom and top surfaces of the chest. When these muscles contract, the chest moves in the opposite direction, which, in turn, creates a downward pull. Relaxing a group of muscles automatically results in contraction of an opposite group followed by relaxation. In other words, this is an "automatic system". This way, muscle movements continue without interruption until an opposite alert signal is delivered through the nerves that control the system.8 A flight mechanism of this sort could be compared to a clock that works on the basis of a wound spring. The parts are so strategically located that a single move easily sets the wings in motion. It is impossible not to see the flawless design in this example. The perfect creation of Allah is evident.
System Behind the Thrusting Force
It is not enough to flap wings up and down in order to maintain smooth flight. The wings have to change angles during each flap to create a force of thrust as well as an up-lift. The wings have a certain flexibility for rotation depending on the type of insect. The main flight muscles, which also produce the necessary energy for flight, provide this flexibility. For instance, in ascending higher, these muscles between wing joints contract further to increase the wing angle. Examinations conducted utilising high-speed film techniques revealed that the wings followed an elliptical path while in flight. In other words, the fly does not only move its wings up and down but it moves them in a circular motion as in rowing a boat on water. This motion is made possible by the main muscles. The greatest problem encountered by insect species with small bodies is inertia reaching significant levels. Air behaves as if stuck to the wings of these little insects and reduces wing efficiency greatly.
Therefore, some insects, the wing size of which does not exceed one mm, have to flap their wings 1000 times per second in order to overcome inertia. Researchers think that even this speed alone is not enough to lift the insect and that they make use of other systems as well. As an example, some types of small parasites, Encarsia, make use of a method called "clap and peel". In this method, the wings are clapped together at the top of the stroke and then peeled off. The front edges of the wings, where a hard vein is located, separate first, allowing airflow into the pressurised area in between. This flow creates a vortex helping the up-lift force of the wings clapping.9
There is another special system created for insects to maintain a steady position in the air. Some flies have only a pair of wings and round shaped organs on the back called halteres. The halteres beat like a normal wing during flight but do not produce any lift like wings do. The halteres move as the flight direction changes, and prevent the insect from losing its direction. This system resembles the gyroscope used for navigation in today's aircraft.10
The Respiratory System Special to Insects Flies fly at extremely high speeds when compared to their size. Dragonflies can travel as fast as 25 mph (40 km/h). Even smaller insects can reach up to 31 mph (50km/h). These speeds are equivalent to humans travelling at the speed of thousands of miles per hour. Humans can only reach these speeds using jet planes. However, when one considers the size of jet planes in comparison to the size of humans it becomes clear that these flies actually fly faster than aeroplanes. Jets use very special fuels to power their high-speed engines. The flight of flies, too, requires high levels of energy. There is also a need for large volumes of oxygen in order to burn this energy. The need for great amounts of oxygen is satisfied by an extraordinary respiratory system lodged within the bodies of flies and other insects.
This respiratory system works quite differently from ours. We take air into our lungs. Here, oxygen mixes with the blood and then is carried on to all parts of the body by the blood. The fly's need of oxygen is so high that there is no time to wait for the oxygen to be delivered to the body cells by the blood. To deal with this problem, there is a very special system. The air tubes in the insect's body carry the air to different parts of the fly's body. Just like the circulatory system in the body, there is an intricate and complex network of tubes (called the tracheal system) that delivers oxygen-containing air to every cell of the body. Thanks to this system, the cells that make up the flight muscles take oxygen directly from these tubes. This system also helps to cool down the muscles which function at such high rates as 1000 cycles per second. It is evident that this system is an example of creation. No coincidental process can explain an intricate design. It is also impossible for this system to have developed in phases as suggested by evolution. Unless the tracheal system is fully functional, no intermediate stage could be to the advantage of the creature, but on the contrary, would harm it by rendering its respiratory system non-functional. All of the systems that we have explored so far uniformly demonstrate that there is an extraordinary design to even the least significant of creatures such as flies. Any single fly is a miracle that testifies to the flawless design in the creation of Allah. On the other hand, the "evolutionary process" espoused by Darwinism is far from explaining how a single system in a fly develops. In the Qur'an, Allah invites all humans to consider this fact: Mankind! An example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides Allah are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought! (Surat al-Hajj: 73) "…THEY ARE NOT EVEN ABLE TO CREATE A SINGLE FLY…" Even a single fly is superior to all the technological devices that mankind has produced. Furthermore, it is a "living being". Aircraft and helicopters are of use for an appointed time after which they are left to rust. The fly, on the other hand, produces similar offspring.
"Mankind! An example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides Allah are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it... They do not measure Allah with His true measure. Allah is All-Strong, Almighty." (Surat al-Hajj: 73-74) The flight of a housefly is an extremely complex phenomenon. First, the fly meticulously inspects the organs to be used in navigation. Then, it takes position ready for flight by adjusting the balancing organs in front. Lastly, it calculates the angle of take-off, dependent on wind direction and velocity, by means of the sensors on its antennae. Then it takes flight. But, all of these happen within one hundredth of a second. Once airborne, it can accelerate rapidly and reach a speed of 6 mph (10 km/h). For this reason, we could well use the nickname "master of acrobatic flight" for it. It can fly in extraordinary zigzags through the air. It can take off vertically from where it stands. No matter how slippery or uninviting the surface, it can land successfully anywhere.
Another feature of this magical master of flight is its ability to land on ceilings. Because of gravity it shouldn't hold on but fall down. However, it has been created with certain systems to render the impossible possible. At the tip of its legs, there are minute suction pads. In addition, these pads exude a sticky fluid when in touch with a surface. This sticky fluid enables it to remain attached to a ceiling. While approaching ceiling, it stretches its legs forward and as soon as it senses the touch of a ceiling it flips around and takes hold of the ceiling's surface. The housefly has two wings. These wings, that are halfway merged in the body and are comprised of a very thin membrane intersected by veins, can be operated independently from one another. However, while in flight they move back and forth on one axis just as in single-winged planes. The muscles enabling movement of the wings contract at take-off and relax on landing. Although controlled by nerves at the beginning of flight, these muscles and wing movements become automatic after a while. Sensors under the wings and on the back of its head send information about the flight immediately to its brain. If the fly encounters a new airflow during flight, these sensors promptly send the necessary signals to the brain. The muscles, then, start to direct the wings according to the new situation. That is how a fly can detect another insect creating extra airflow and can escape to safety most of the time. The housefly moves its wings hundreds of times a second. The energy spent during flight is roughly a hundred times that spent during rest. From this point of view, we can say that it is a very powerful creature because human metabolism can only spend ten times as much energy in emergency situations in comparison to during the normal tempo of life. In addition, a human can maintain this energy expenditure for a maximum of only a few minutes. In contrast, the housefly can sustain that rhythm for up to half an hour and it can travel up to a mile at the same speed.12
References: http://www.harunyahya.com/designinnature01.php 4. Robin J. Wootton, "The Mechanical Design of Insect Wings", Scientific American, Volume 263, November 1990, page 120. When the subject of flight is considered, birds immediately come to mind. However, birds are not the only creatures that can fly. Many species of insects are equipped with flight capabilities superior to those of birds. The Monarch butterfly can fly from North America to the interior of Continental America. Flies and dragonflies can remain suspended in the air. The Design in Nature (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 janvier 2006
The Miracle in Ants
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With their various communication methods, ants may be compared to men who can speak several foreign languages. They are able to communicate with 3-4 different languages among themselves and they are able to pursue their lives in the least problematic manner. They are able to subsist their colonies with populations of hundreds of thousands or sometimes millions, and survive all their lives without causing any confusion. Yet this communication system we have been describing so far is just one of the miraculous features of the animal world. When we analyse both people and also all other living beings (From single-celled to multi-celled) we can discover characteristics that are different from each other, with each being a separate and individual miracle with its place in an ecological order. For an eye that can notice all these miracles that are created around it, and a heart that can feel, it will be sufficient to look at the extraordinary communication system of the ant of millimetric dimensions to appreciate the infinite power, knowledge and wisdom of Allah Who is the sole Owner and Sovereign of all living things. In the Qur'an, Allah refers to these people who do not have this capability and who may not appreciate His might: (Have they not travelled about the earth and do they not have hearts to understand with or ears to hear with? It is not their eyes which are blind but the hearts in their breasts which are blind) (Surat al-Hajj:46) Communication in society The Qur'an supplies an interesting piece of information when talking about Prophet Sulayman's armies and mentions that there is an advanced "communications system" among the ants. The verse is as follows: (Then, when they reached the valley of the ants, an ant said,'Ants! Enter your dwellings so that Sulayman and his troops do not crush you unwittingly.) (Surat an-Naml: 18) The scientific research made on ants in this century has shown that there is an incredible communications network among these creatures. In an article published in the National Geographic magazine, this point is explained: Huge and tiny, an ant carries in her head multiple sensory organs to pick up chemical and visual signals vital to colonies that may contain a million or more workers, all of which are female. The brain contains half a million nerve cells; eyes are compound; antennae act as nose and fingertips. Projections below the mouth sense taste; hairs respond to touch. Even if we do not notice it, the ants have quite a different method of communication in virtue of their sensitive sensing organs. They employ these sense organs at every moment of their lives, from finding their prey to following each other, from building their nests to fighting. They have a communication system which astonishes us, as human beings with intellect, with their 500,000 nerve cells squeezed into their bodies of 2 or 3 millimetres. What we should keep in mind here is that the half a million nerve cells and the complex communication system mentioned above belongs to an ant which in bulk is almost one millionth of a human being. In research done on social creatures like ants, bees and termites, who live in colonies, the responses of these animals in the communication process are listed under several main categories: Alarm, recruitment, grooming, exchange of oral and anal liquid, group effect, recognition, caste determination… The ants, who constitute an orderly social structure with these various responses, lead a life based on mutual news exchange and they have no difficulty in achieving this correspondence. We could say that ants, with their impressive communication system, are hundred percent successful on subjects that human beings sometimes cannot resolve nor agree upon by talking (e.g. meeting, sharing, cleaning, defence, etc.). The Role of Touch in Chemical Communications The communications by ants by touching each other with their antennae in maintaining intra-colony organization proves that there is in use an "antennal language" in its fullest sense. The antenna signals created by touching in ants are used for various purposes like commencement of dinner, invitations and social meetings where nestmates get to know each other. For instance, in one type of worker ant species living in Africa, workers first touch by the antennae when they meet each other. Here, "antenna shaking" means just a salute and an invitation to the nest. This invitation behaviour is even more striking in certain ant species (Hypoponera) When a pair of workers meet face to face, the inviting ant tilts its head sideways 90 degrees and strikes the upper and lower surfaces of the nestmate's head with its antennae. Often the solicited ant responds with similar antennation. When the ants touch the bodies of their nestmates, the goal is not to give them information but to receive information by detecting the chemicals they secrete. One ant beats the nestmate's body very lightly and rapidly with its antennae. When it gets close to its nestmate, its goal here is to bring the chemical signals as close as possible to the other. As a result, it will be able to detect and follow the odor trail its friend has just laid and reach the food source. The most striking example that may be set forth for tactile communication is the exchange of liquid food from the crop of one ant to the alimentary tract of another. In an interesting test made on this subject, various parts of the bodies of worker ants of the Myrmica and Formica species were stimulated by human hair and were thus successfully induced to regugitate. The most susceptible ant was the one that had just finished a meal and was looking for a nestmate with whom to share its crop content. Researchers noted that certain insects and parasites were aware of such tactics and they were having themselves fed by practising this method. What the insect had to do to attract the ant's attention was just to touch the ant's body slightly with its antenna and its front leg. Then the touched ant would share its meal, even if the creature in contact with it is of a different type. The ability of an ant to understand what the other one wants by a short antenna contact shows that the ants may, in a sense, "speak" among themselves. How this "antennal language" used among ants is learned by all ants is another subject to think about. Are they undergoing training on this subject? To talk about the existence of such training, we must also talk about the existence of a superior Almighty Who provides it. Since it cannot be the ants who can provide such a training, this Almighty is Allah Who, by way of inspiration, teaches all ants a language with which to communicate. The sharing behaviour practised among ants is a specimen of self-sacrifice that cannot be explained by the theory of evolution. Some evolutionists who see the adage "Big fish swallow small fish" as the key to life on earth are forced to withdraw such words when confronted with such self-sacrifice as is displayed by ants. In an ant colony, instead of the "big ant" developing by eating the "small ant", it rather attempts to feed the "small ant" and make it grow. All ants are ready to accept the food - that is, the "provision" - given to them and definitely make sure to share the excess with other members of the colony. As a result, what all these examples show us is that the ants are a society of living beings who have submitted to the will of the Creator and who act under His inspiration. Therefore, it would not be right to regard them as organisms which are totally unconscious, because they do have a consciousness which reflects the will of their Creator. Indeed, Allah draws attention in the Qur'an to this interesting fact and notifies us that all living things are, in fact, a community among themselves, that is, they live under a Divine order and in accordance with inspiration. (There is not an animal that lives on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but forms communities like you. We have not omitted anything from the Book, and they will be gathered to their Lord.) (Surat al-An'am: 38) Reference : "The Miracle in the Ant" by Harun Yahya. |
