Bone Fractures in Ibnu Sina's Medicine.
I have always been impressed with Ibnu Sina aka Avicenna as the West called him. I thought, he's the greatest physician ever exist. He described almost everything there is to consider in medicine, not only that, i daresay he's more than just a doctor, he's a great philosopher too, for example. Anybody would know his famous book-Qanun Fi At-tib- that covered what seems the entire field of medicine. I always wish that i could at least lay my hand on it, but that is too far from a dream, HA HA. But here's some of the extract from it, well at least it gave me some impression of what it looks like inside and the knowledges it contained.
Let us have some brief introduction of who Ibnu Sina really was....
Ibn-Sina, or Avicenna as he is known in the west, was born in the year 980 CE in Afshana near Bukhara in Turkistan, which is now called Uzbekistan. He left Bukhara when he was 21 years of age, and spent the rest of his life in various towns in Persia. When he died in the year 1037 he was known as one of the greatest philosophers in Islam, and in Medicine he was highly regarded and was compared to Galen, so he was known as the Galen of Islam. Because of his great celebrity, many nations disputed and competed to celebrate his anniversary. The Turkish were the first who revived his anniversary in 1937, when they held a great meeting for the occasion of nine hundred years since his death. Then Arabs and Iranians followed them by holding two festivals in Baghdad in 1952, then in Tehran in 1954. To appreciate his contribution in developing the philosophical and medical sciences, in 1978 UNESCO invited all its members to celebrate the anniversary of one thousand years since his birth. All the members participated in the celebration, which was held in 1980.
Ibn-Sina composed 276 works; all of them written in Arabic except very few small books written in his mother tongue Persian. Unfortunately, most of these works were lost, but there are still 68 books or treatises available in eastern and western libraries. He composed in all branches of science, but he was more interested in philosophy and medicine. Some recent historians consider him as a philosopher more than a physician, but others consider him as a prince of the physicians during the Middle Ages.
The classification of Ibn-Sina's works according to their contents is as follows:
43 works in medicine, 24 in philosophy, 26 in physics, 31 in theology, 23 in psychology, 15 in mathematics, 22 in logic, 5 in the Holy Koran interpretation. In addition he wrote many treatises in asceticism, love, music as well as some stories.
And here's some brief explaination about his most famous work...
First page of Qanun Fit-Tibb by Ibnu Sina
Al-Qanun fit-Tibb: (or Code of Laws in Medicine) represents the most important work of Ibn-Sina, which is written in Arabic, and as William Osler described it, is the most famous medical textbook ever written (1). This book is considered a unique reference or document containing all medical knowledge, as it accumulated through many civilizations until the time of Ibn-Sina himself.
In his way of explanation ibn-Sina was very close to the way which modern medical textbooks follow regarding classification, causes of diseases, epidemiology, symptoms and signs, treatment and prognosis. In this respect we can say that the excellence in its arrangement and comprehensiveness made this book the most widespread in Islamic and European countries.
The Qanun was known to the Europeans through the Latin translations of Gerard of Cremona, in the 15th century, and remained in use in medical schools at Louvain and Montpellier until the 17th century. According to the Journal of UNESCO, October issue, 1980, Al-Qanun remained in use in Brussels University until 1909.
By the 12th century awareness in the Muslim world set in that these compendia were too large to be really useful for ready reference. Consequently, epitomes of al-Qanun were produced to make the ideas more quickly accessible, and commentaries were written to clarify the contents. The most popular of all the epitome of al-Qanun was that called Kitab al-Mujaz fil Tibb or the Concise Book in Medicine. It was written in Syria by ibn-al-Nafis, who died in 1288.
Ibn-Sina begins his book al-Qanun by defining medicine by saying: Medicine is a science, from which one learns the states of the human body, with respect to what is healthy and what is not, in order to preserve good health when it exists, and restore it when it is lacking.
Al-Qanun consists of five books, the first is concerned with general medical principles, the second with materia medica, the third with diseases occurring in a particular part of the body, the fourth on diseases not specific to one bodily part (such as fevers), in addition, to traumatic injuries such as fractures and dislocations of bones and joints And the final book contains formulas giving recipes for compound remedies.
Ibn-Sina devoted two treatises in the fourth book of al-Qanun, to fractures. The first treatise is entitled: "Fractures as a Whole", and the second is "Fractures of Every Bone Separately".
In the first treatise, he described the causes, types, forms, methods of treatment, and complications of fractures. While in the second treatise, he determined the special characteristics of fractures of each bone. Alright....now its time for burying ur head under this Qanun Fi At-Tib.... =)
The first treatise: Fractures as a Whole
Ibn Sina defined a fracture as a loss of continuation in the bone (2). Then, he determined the types of fractures such as transverse, longitudinal, or comminuted. When he talked about symptoms and signs of a fracture, he considered the pain, swelling, and deformity of the limb to be of great importance to the diagnosis.
In this chapter, Ibn-Sina distinguishes the fractures that reach the joint line. He says:
"If the fracture was at the joint line and healed, the movement of the joint could be difficult as the rigidity of the callus needs more time to become soft,"(3).
It is well known now that fractures which occupy the joint line, cause stiffness of that joint after they heal, unless appropriate physiotherapy is applied to the limb.
Factors that stimulate and inhibit bone healing
Ibn Sina mentions that fractures of children heal more rapidly than those of adults. He determined the time span necessary for bone to heal.
He said, for example, a nose bone fracture needs 10 days to heal, a rib needs 20 days, a forearm needs 30 to 40 days, and a femur needs 50 to 120 days. It is clear that these figures are similar to those written in modern medical textbooks.
At the end of the chapter, he pointed out the factors that affect negatively bone healing, such as the lack of a splint at the site of the fracture, quickness in moving the affected limb, loss of blood (anemia), and the existence of a disease in the body (4). These factors, and others, are now considered to have a considerable role in delaying bone healing.
Principles of splinting the bone
In this chapter, Ibn Sina talked about treating a bone fracture by splinting it. He warned the physician against over-tightening the affected limb, which could cause gangrene.
In respect to what is called now open fracture, he pointed out the importance of taking care of the wound more than the fracture. If the fracture was complicated by hematoma formation, Ibn Sina advises the bone setter to make an incision at the site of swelling to allow the blood to get out.
In this chapter, Ibn Sina also focuses on a very important issue in the treatment of comminuted fractures. He said if the fracture is associated with a sequestrum, and is painful, it has to be mended and reduced into its position. If this is impossible, the sequestrum has to be excised using a thin saw or by drilling many holes at the base. Whatever the method, the physician has to be very careful not to injure an important structure. Sometimes the sequestrum is not visible; remarking the discharge from the wound can identify its position. In such cases, the wound must be enlarged to allow the removal of sequestrum (5).
Recommendations to the bone setter
Before treating any fracture, Ibn Sina advised that the physician should inspect and examine the fracture accurately and splint it quickly, because fracture reduction will be more difficult and complications may develop if there is a delay.
At the same time, Ibn Sina drew attention to the necessity of not splinting the fracture immediately. He advised postponing it beyond the fifth day or more, until the swelling disappearing. This is called now the Theory of Delayed Splintage, and Professor George Perkins is considered the pioneer of this theory today (6).
Fractures associated with a wound (open fractures)
In this chapter, Ibn Sina talked about treating fractures associated with a wound. He stressed the necessity of not applying a splint to the wound; ointment should be put on first, then the wound may be covered by a special dressing that would let out the wound discharges, and allow the physician to apply medicine.
This method of treating open fractures as described by ibn-Sina is similar, in many aspects, to that used today, except the use of antiseptic procedures during the course of treatment.
Mal-union fractures
What ibn-Sina meant by mal-union fracture was a fracture that is joined in a nonsuitable position, allowing the limb to become deformed. To treat this case, he suggested breaking the bone again at the site of old fracture and splinting it properly. If the callus is hard, this method should be avoided, otherwise a fracture may occur elsewhere. In such cases, ibn-Sina advised the bone setter to apply a material that softens the callus until the limb can be splinted in the correct position.
Today, all types of mal-union are treated surgically.
The second treatise-- Fractures of every bone separately
Skull fracture
Ibn Sina clarified that a skull fracture may happen even if the skin above it is still intact. In such cases, a hematoma may develop under the skin. The physician should not omit fracture treatment because this may lead to bone decay. The patient may complain of tremors and mind loss. In such cases, ibn Sina advised the operator to make an incision at the site of fracture to treat it. Next, he described the signs of skull fracture such as unconsciousness, dizziness, and speech loss.
At the end of this chapter, ibn Sina said: "If the fracture is severely comminuted it should be completely excised, but if is linear and distended you should not widen the incision, as no damage could result from the fracture."(7)
Mandible fracture
The method Ibn Sina described for treating these fractures resembles what is used today, except in some modern special surgical techniques. In this respect, he said that if the fracture is in the right side and displaced internally, the physician must insert his left index and middle fingers into the patient's mouth to elevate the fracture edge outward. The complete reduction could be identified by a good occlusion of teeth.
If the fracture is comminuted or associated with a wound, ibn Sina said to make an incision at the fracture site, and remove any sequestrum that may be present. He advises the physician to suture the teeth using a gold wire in order to stabilize the correct position of the mandible. The patient is asked to remain at rest and avoid speaking. His diet should be liquids. The mandibular bone needs three weeks to heal; it is filled with bone marrow.
Nose-bone fractures
Ibn Sina stated that a delay in treating a nose-bone fracture may lead to tilting of this bone, and anosmia may develop. So, he insisted on treating this fracture during the first 10 days. If the fracture is comminuted, and the reduction is impossible, the bone setter should incise the skin and remove all the comminuted bone.
Clavicle fracture
Ibn Sin's treatment of clavicle fracture is extremely different from those known today. He considered clavicle fractures difficult to splint. He described a long method to achieve a complete reduction. Today, this fracture is considered easy to treat, and complete reduction is not required to achieve healing.
Shoulder fractures (fracture of scapula)
Ibn Sina said: "The shoulder is rarely fractured in its broadest part, but its borders and sides are commonly affected . . . The most common signs are pain and crepitation on palpation, and the patient may complain of anesthesia in the hand . . . This fracture is treated by pushing the shoulder from the anterior aspect as a trial to reduce it; otherwise, the physician has to use cupping glasses in order to tract the fractured part posteriorly . . . In cases of existence of some painful bone fragments, they should be excised. . . . After the treatment the patient is asked to sleep on the intact side."(8)
Now all types of scapular fractures needs no more treatment than rest until the pain subsides.
Fractures of the sternum
Ibn Sina classified this fracture into types:
1. An isolated splitting fracture, which is diagnosed by the existence of crepitation on palpation.
2. A fracture that is displaced anteriorly and may cause bad symptoms such as difficulty in breathing, dry cough, and, sometimes, hemoptysis.
The treatment of this fracture is similar to that of the shoulder.
Rib fractures
In this chapter, Ibn Sina stated that the seven true ribs are fractured at their lateral sides, while the false ribs are fractured at their medial sides. The diagnosis of a rib fracture is very easy to determine by palpation, which allows the physician to feel abnormal movement at the fracture site. The patient may complain of pleurisy and hemoptysis. The treatment is accomplished by using cupping glassing to tract fractured rib. If the bone is compressing the diaphragm, the skin must be incised to excise carefully that bone.
Vertebral fractures
Ibn Sina talked about vertebral fractures very briefly, perhaps because of the rarity of information about these fractures at that time. He attributed all this information to Paulus Egine (who is famous surgeon from the Alexandria school who lived in the 7th century and wrote a medical book containing seven treatises on surgery and obstetrics, translated into Arabic by Hunin ibn Ishaq).(9)
Ibn Sina drew the physician's attention to the danger of this type of fracture that could cause death if the cervical vertebrae were involved.
Finally, he described the method for reducing coccygeal fractures by inserting the left index finger into the patient's rectum.
Humeral fractures
Ibn Sina elucidated that this fracture often tilts outside, so the physician must reduce it according to this tilting. It should be stabilized by using three bandages; the first one is ascending while the second is descending and the third is ascending. The upper limb must be stabilized in an angular shape with a sling. It is better to stabilize it to the chest to prevent movement.
After seven to 10 days, the bandages should be released and replaced by applying suitable splints for another 40 days.
Forearm fractures
Ibn Sina said: "Both of ulnas or one of them may be fractured. The fracture of the inferior one is worse, while the fracture of the superior one is easier to treat."(10) At that time, the bones of the forearm were called the superior ulna (radius) and the inferior ulna (ulna).
Ibn Sina explained the methods for stabilizing the fractured forearm. He said not to tighten the bandage too much, otherwise severe swelling of the fingers may develop, and not to loosen it, so no swelling at all may appear. After that, he explained a very important item that still occupies a considerable role in the field of treatment of forearm fractures: the necessity of not applying the splints so they extend beyond the base of the fingers, which may cause these fingers to become stiff.
After accurate reduction and complete stabilization are achieved, ibn Sina advised the physician to sling the affected forearm to the neck in an angular shape by using a wide rag so that it cover the whole length of the forearm. Forearm fractures heal quickly (within 28 days).
Wrist fractures
Ibn Sina said: "These bones rarely fracture, as they are very hard. And if they severely injured, dislocation may result, which could be treated as we had said in the dislocation section."(11)
It is well known today that wrist fractures are extremely rare, except for scaphoid fractures, which can not be diagnosed without performing an X-ray on the wrist joint.
Finger bone fractures
In this chapter, ibn Sina said that finger bones are affected more by dislocation than by fractures. To treat finger fractures, the patient is seated on a high chair and is told to put his hand on a flat chair, an assistant should extend the fracture bones, and the physician reduce them with his thumb and index fingers.
Ibn Sina pointed to what is called "Bennet's fracture 1982" when he said, "If the fracture was in the thumb and was displaced inferiorly, then you have to use the broad bandage from above to prevent the occurrence of the hot tumor."(13)
Ibn Sina said if the fracture is in the thumb, it should be bound to the hand; If it is in the index or small finger, it should be bound to the nearest finger.
Broad bones and hip fractures
This chapter represents the cases of central hip fracture-dislocation and fracture of the sacrum, which was called the broad bone at that time.
Ibn Sina said a central hip fracture-dislocation rarely occurs. The injured patient may complain of severe pain and anesthesia in his leg and thigh, resembling that of an arm or shoulder fracture.
In order to achieve a good reduction in broad bone fractures, he said the physician should put the patient in a prone position, and two strong people should tract the patient's two thighs while two other people use splints to try to reduce the fracture and put on the bandages.
Femur fractures
Ibn Sina said: "If the femur fracture needs severe traction to reduce it to the normal position, which is convex in its lateral side and concave in its medial side, the traction should be upward to be more effective."(14)
He said that when this fracture occurs, the distal fragments displace anteriorly and outside because the femur is broader at that side.
After the reduction is achieved by applying severe traction, a bandage should be applied above the fracture and another one below it if the fracture is in the middle of the femur.
Femur fractures heal within 50 days. The most common complication is deviation at the fracture site.
Patella fractures
Ibn Sina said: "The patella is rarely fractured, but it is sprained frequently. The fracture is diagnosed by the presence of crepitation, which can be palpated or heard. In respect to treatment, the leg should be extended, then the patella be reduced. But if the fracture was comminuted, the fragments should be gathered first then reduced."(15)
Al-Razi (who lived before ibn Sina) is considered the first who pointed to excision of patella before Brook (1903).(16)
Leg fractures
Ibn Sina stated that fractures of the small bone of a leg (which is now called the fibula) are better than fractures of the big bone (tibia). If the fracture is in the upper part of the tibia, the deformity is outside and anterior, and walking is possible. If the fracture is in the lower part of the tibia, the deformity is posterior and outside. If the fracture is in both bones, the situation is bad and the deformity may be at any direction.
He said the physician should apply traction to reduce the fracture in the same method used for forearm fractures.
Talus fractures
In this chapter, Ibn Sina said the talus is protected against fracture because it is solid and surrounded by structures that guard it. This bone may be dislocated.
Today, this fracture may happen rarely; its diagnosis is difficult unless an X-ray is performed.
Calcaneus fractures
Ibn Sina said: "Calcaneus fracture is a bad case as its treatment is difficult. It occurs when a person falls down on his feet from a high place . . . It may cause severe signs like fever, confusion, tremor, and spasm . . . . After Calcaneus fracture unites walking becomes difficult."(17)
This fracture now is called now parachutist's fracture. The most important complication of this fracture is difficulty it causes in walking, due to the development of osteoarthritis in the talo-calcaneal joint after the union of this fracture.
Toe fracturesThis is the last chapter on fractures. In this chapter, ibn Sina pointed out that the treatment of toe fractures is like that of the fingers.
And that is why i love Surgery classes....There is a bit different between what i learn in class and Ibnu Sina's, but the basic is quite the same.See here some conclusion they made: Conclusion.A survey was conducted to find out the most important points related to fractures as described by ibn Sina in his medical book, al-Qanun-fit-Tibb.
From this survey we can conclude:1. Ibn Sina played an important role in keeping the medical heritage that developed over thousands of years. His medical book, al-Qanun-fit-Tibb. represents a unique reference document containing medical knowledge in general and traumatology in particular as it accumulated through many civilizations until the age of ibn Sina.
2. In his way of explanation, ibn Sina was very close to the way modern medical textbooks follow. At the beginning, he talked about fractures in general. He described their cause, types, forms, methods of treatment, and complications. Then he described the fractures that occur in every bone.
In this respect, one can say that the excellence in its arrangement and comprehensiveness made al-Qanun the most widely used medical textbook in Islamic and European countries until the 17th century.
3. Ibn Sina drew attention to the necessity of not splinting the fracture immediately, advising postponing it beyond the fifth day. Today, this is called the Theory of Delayed Splintage; now Professor George Perkins is considered the pioneer of this theory.
That is why i admired him...Hope one day i'll be a great surgeon like him.(there's already two teachers who said that i will be a very good surgeon in the future, i hope so very much)=>
Biomimetics - Technology Imitates Nature
This article has nothing to do with medicine, but still have something to do with us, human. I'm interested in this matter because before i am a medical student, i used to like bioengineering or rather genetic engineering. I almost become one, but fate put me here. If u're gonna read this article, well it's interesting of course, but pay attention to every little things human try to create, somehow they just can't run from the fact that whatever or how great the things they do or create, there's always the greatest Creator above them all who give them brain and mind to THINK! Owh mind u, i never like physics, never! So, forgive me if there's some physics formula or whatever related to it in this article. by Harun YahyaCompositesMost of the materials in nature consist of composites. Composites are solid materials that result when two or more substances are combined to form a new substance possessing properties that are superior to those of the original ingredients.23
The artificial composite known as fiberglass, for instance, is used in boat hulls, fishing rods, and sports-equipment materials such as bows and arrows. Fiberglass is created by mixing fine glass fibers with a jelly-like plastic called polymer. As the polymer hardens, the composite substance that emerges is light, strong and flexible. Altering the fibers or plastic substance used in the mixture also changes the composite’s properties.24
Composites consisting of graphite and carbon fibers are among the ten best engineering discoveries of the last 25 years. With these, light-structured composite materials are designed for new planes, space shuttle parts, sports equipment, Formula-1 racing cars and yachts, and new discoveries are quickly being made. Yet so far, manmade composites are much more primitive and frail than those occurring naturally.
Like all the extraordinary structures, substances and systems in nature, the composites touched on briefly here are each an example of God’s extraordinary art of creation. Many verses of the Qur’an draw attention to the unique nature and perfection of this creation. God reveals the incalculable number blessings imparted to mankind as a result of His incomparable creation:
If you tried to number God’s blessings, you could never count them. God is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Qur’an, 16: 18)
Fiberglass Technology in Crocodile Skin The fiberglass technology that began to be used in the 20th century has existed in living things since the day of their creation. A crocodile’s skin, for example, has much the same structure as fiberglass.
Until recently, scientists were baffled as to why crocodile skin was impervious to arrows, knives and sometimes, even bullets. Research came up with surprising results: The substance that gives crocodile skin its special strength is the collagen protein fibers it contains. These fibers have the property of strengthening a tissue when added to it. No doubt collagen didn’t come to possess such detailed characteristics as the result of a long, random process, as evolutionists would have us believe. Rather, it emerged perfect and complete, with all its properties, at the first moment of its creation.
Steel-Cable Technology in Muscles Another example of natural composites are tendons. These tissues, which connect muscles to the bones, have a very firm yet pliant structure, thanks to the collagen-based fibers that make them up. Another feature of tendons is the way their fibers are woven together.
Ms. Benyus is a member of the teaching faculty at America’s Rutgers University. In her book Biomimicry, she states that the tendons in our muscles are constructed according to a very special method and goes on to say:
The tendon in your forearm is a twisted bundle of cables, like the cables used in a suspension bridge. Each individual cable is itself a twisted bundle of thinner cables. Each of these thinner cables is itself a twisted bundle of molecules, which are, of course, twisted, helical bundles of atoms. Again and again a mathematical beauty unfolds, a self-referential, fractal kaleidoscope of engineering brilliance.25
In fact, the steel-cable technology used in present-day suspension bridges was inspired by the structure of tendons in the human body. The tendons’ incomparable design is only one of the countless proofs of God’s superior design and infinite knowledge.
Multi-Purpose Whale Blubber A layer of fat covers the bodies of dolphins and whales, serving as a natural flotation mechanism that allows whales to rise to the surface to breathe. At the same time, it protects these warm-blooded mammals from the cold waters of the ocean depths. Another property of whale blubber is that when metabolized, it provides two to three times as much energy as sugar or protein. During a whale’s nonfeeding migration of thousands of kilometers, when it is unable to find sufficient food, it obtains the needed energy from this fat in its body.
Alongside this, whale blubber is a very flexible rubberlike material. Every time it beats its tail in the water, the elastic recoil of blubber is compressed and stretched. This not only provides the whale with extra speed, but also allows a 20% energy saving on long journeys. With all these properties, whale blubber is regarded as a substance with the very widest range of functions.
Whales have had their coating of blubber for thousands of years, yet only recently has it been discovered to consist of a complex mesh of collagen fibers. Scientists are still working to fully understand the functions of this fat-composite mix, but they believe that it is yet another miracle product that would have many useful applications if produced synthetically.26
Mother-of-Pearl’s Special Damage-Limiting Structure The nacre structure making up the inner layers of a mollusk shell has been imitated in the development of materials for use in super-tough jet engine blades. Some 95% of the mother-of-pearl consists of chalk, yet thanks to its composite structure it is 3,000 times tougher than bulk chalk. When examined under the microscope, microscopic platelets 8 micrometers across and 0.5 micrometers thick can be seen, arranged in layers (1 micrometer = 10-6 meter). These platelets are composed of a dense and crystalline form of calcium carbonate, yet they can be joined together, thanks to a sticky silk-like protein.27
This combination provides toughness in two ways. When mother-of-pearl is stressed by a heavy load, any cracks that form begin to spread, but change direction as they attempt to pass through the protein layers. This disperses the force imposed, thus preventing fractures. A second strengthening factor is that whenever a crack does form, the protein layers stretch out into strands across the fracture, absorbing the energy that would permit the cracks to continue.28
The structure that reduces damage to mother-of-pearl has become a subject of study by a great many scientists. That the resistance in nature’s materials is based on such logical, rational methods doubtlessly indicates the presence of a superior intelligence. As this example shows, God clearly reveals evidence of His existence and the superior might and power of His creation by means of His infinite knowledge and wisdom. As He states in one verse:
Everything in the heavens and everything in the earth belongs to Him. God is the Rich Beyond Need, the Praiseworthy. (Qur’an, 22: 64)
The Hardness of Wood Is Hidden in Its Design In contrast to the substances in other living things, vegetable composites consist more of cellulose fibers than collagen. Wood’s hard, resistant structure derives from producing this cellulose—a hard material that is not soluble in water. This property of cellulose makes wood so versatile in construction. Thanks to cellulose, timber structures keep standing for hundreds of years. Described as tension-bearing and matchless, cellulose is used much more extensively than other building materials in buildings, bridges, furniture and any number of items.
Because wood absorbs the energy from low-velocity impacts, it’s highly effective at restricting damage to one specific location. In particular, damage is reduced the most when the impact occurs at right angles to the direction of the grain. Diagnostic research has shown that different types of wood exhibit different levels of resistance. One of the factors is density, since denser woods absorb more energy during impact. The number of vessels in the wood, their size and distribution, are also important factors in reducing impact deformation.29
The Second World War's Mosquito aircraft, which so far have shown the greatest tolerance to damage, were made by gluing dense plywood layers between lighter strips of balsa wood. The hardness of wood makes it a most reliable material. When it does break, the cracking takes place so slowly that one can watch it happen with the naked eye, thus giving time to take precautions.30
Wood consists of parallel columns of long, hollow cells placed end to end, and surrounded by spirals of cellulose fibers. Moreover, these cells are enclosed in a complex polymer structure made of resin. Wound in a spiral, these layers form 80% of the total thickness of the cell wall and, together, bear the main weight. When a wood cell collapses in on itself, it absorbs the energy of impact by breaking away from the surrounding cells. Even if the crack runs between the fibers, still the wood is not deformed. Broken wood is nevertheless strong enough to support a significant load.
Material made by imitating wood’s design is 50 times more durable than other synthetic materials in use today.31 Wood is currently imitated in materials being developed for protection against high-velocity particles, such as shrapnel from bombs or bullets.
As these few examples show, natural substances possess a most intelligent design. The structures and resistance of mother-of-pearl and wood are no coincidence. There is evident, conscious design in these materials. Every detail of their flawless design—from the fineness of the layers to their density and the number of vessels—has been carefully planned and created to bring about resistance. In one verse, God reveals that He has created everything around us:
What is in the heavens and in the earth belongs to God. God encompasses all things. (Qur’an, 4: 126)
Spider Silk Is Stronger Than SteelAccording to scientists, spider thread is one of the strongest materials known. If we set down all of a spider web’s characteristics, the resulting list will be a very long one. Yet even just a few examples of the properties of spider silk are enough to make the point:32
The silk thread spun by spiders, measuring just one-thousandth of a millimeter across, is five times stronger than steel of the same thickness.
It can stretch up to four times its own length.
It is also so light that enough thread to stretch clear around the planet would weigh only 320 grams.
These individual characteristics may be found in various other materials, but it is a most exceptional situation for them all to come together at once. It’s not easy to find a material that’s both strong and elastic. Strong steel cable, for instance, is not as elastic as rubber and can deform over time. And while rubber cables don’t easily deform, they aren’t strong enough to bear heavy loads.
How can the thread spun by such a tiny creature have properties vastly superior to rubber and steel, product of centuries of accumulated human knowledge?
Spider silk’s superiority is hidden in its chemical structure. Its raw material is a protein called keratin, which consists of helical chains of amino acids cross-linked to one another. Keratin is the building block for such widely different natural substances as hair, nails, feathers and skin. In all the substances it comprises, its protective property is especially important. Furthermore, that keratin consists of amino acids bound by loose hydrogen links makes it very elastic.
On the underside of the tip of the spider's abdomen are three pairs of spinnerets. Each of these spinnerets is studded with many hairlike tubes called spigots. The spigots lead to silk glands inside the abdomen, each of which produces a different type of silk. As a result of the harmony between them, a variety of silk threads are produced. Inside the spider’s body, pumps, valves and pressure systems with exceptionally developed properties are employed during the production of the raw silk, which is then drawn out through the spigots.34
Most importantly, the spider can alter the pressure in the spigots at will, which also changes the structure of molecules making up the liquid keratin. The valves’ control mechanism, the diameter, resistance and elasticity of the thread can all be altered, thus making the thread assume desired characteristics without altering its chemical structure. If deeper changes in the silk are desired, then another gland must be brought into operation. And finally, thanks to the perfect use of its back legs, the spider can put the thread on the desired track.
Once the spider’s chemical miracle can be replicated fully, then a great many useful materials can be produced: safety belts with the requisite elasticity, very strong surgical sutures that leave no scars, and bulletproof fabrics. Moreover, no harmful or poisonous substances need to be used in their production.
Spiders’ silk possesses the most extraordinary properties. On account of its high resistance to tension, ten times more energy is required to break spider silk than other, similar biological materials.35
As a result, much more energy needs to be expended in order to break a piece of spider silk of the same size as a nylon thread. One main reason why spiders are able to produce such strong silk is that they manage to add assisting compounds with a regular structure by controlling the crystallization and folding of the basic protein compounds. Since the weaving material consists of liquid crystal, spiders expend a minimum of energy while doing this.
The thread produced by spiders is much stronger than the known natural or synthetic fibers. But the thread they produce cannot be collected and used directly, as can the silks of many other insects. For that reason, the only current alternative is artificial production.
The Constantly Self-Cleaning Lotus The lotus plant (a white water lily)grows in the dirty, muddy bottom of lakes and ponds, yet despite this, its leaves are always clean. That is because whenever the smallest particle of dust lands on the plant, it immediately waves the leaf, directing the dust particles to one particular spot. Raindrops falling on the leaves are sent to that same place, to thus wash the dirt away.
This property of the lotus led researchers to design a new house paint. Researchers began working on how to develop paints that wash clean in the rain, in much the same way as lotus leaves do. As a result of this investigation, a German company called ISPO produced a house paint brand-named Lotusan. On the market in Europe and Asia, the product even came with a guarantee that it would stay clean for five years without detergents or sandblasting.40
Of necessity, many living things possess natural features that protect their external surfaces. There is no doubt, however, that neither the lotus’s external structure nor insects’ chitin layer came about by themselves. These living things are unaware of the superior properties they possess. It is God Who creates them, together with all their features. One verse describes God’s art of creation in these terms:
He is God—the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Qur’an, 59: 24)
Plants and New Car Design When designing its new ZIC (Zero Impact Car) model, the Fiat motor company copied the way trees and shrubs divide themselves into branches. Designers built a small channel along the middle of the car, in a similar way as in a plant's stem, and placed in that channel batteries to provide the car with the energy it requires. The car seats were inspired by the plant in the illustration and, just as in that original plant, the seats were attached directly to the channel. The car’s roof featured a honeycomb structure similar to that in seaweed. This structure made the ZIC both light and strong.41
In a field like automobile technology that freely displays the very latest innovations, a simple plant, living in nature since the very first day it came into being thousands of years ago, provided engineers and designers with a source of inspiration. Evolutionists—who maintain that life came about by chance and whose forms developed over time, always moving in the direction of improvement—find this and similar events difficult to accept.
How can human beings, possessed of consciousness and reason, learn from plants—devoid of any intelligence or knowledge, which cannot even move—and implement what they learn to achieve ever more practical results? The features that plants and other organisms display cannot, of course, be explained away as coincidences. As proofs of creation, they represent a serious quandary for evolutionists.
Plants that Give Off Alarm Signals Nearly everyone imagines that plants are unable to combat danger, which is why they easily become fodder for insects, herbivores, and other animals. Yet research has shown that on the contrary, plants use amazing tactics to repel, even overcome their enemies.
To keep leaf-chewing insects at bay, for example, plants sometimes produce noxious chemicals and in a few cases, chemicals to attract other predators to prey on those first ones. Both tactics are no doubt very clever. In the field of agriculture, in fact, efforts are going on to imitate this very useful defense strategy. Jonathan Gershenzon, researching the genetics of plant defenses at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, believes that if this intelligent strategy can be imitated properly, then in the future, non-toxic forms of agricultural pest control could be provided.42
When attacked by pests, some plants release volatile organic chemicals that attract predators and parasitoids, which lay their eggs inside the living body of pests. The larvae which hatch out inside the pest grow by feeding on the pest from within. This indirect strategy thus eliminates harmful organisms that might damage the crop.
Fiber Optic Design in the Ocean Depths
Rossella racovitzae, a species of marine sponge, possesses spicules guiding light as optic fibers do, which of course is employed in the very latest technology. The optical fibers can instantly transport vast amounts of information encoded as light pulses across tremendous distances. Transmitting laser light down a fiber-optic cable makes possible communications unimaginably greater than with cables made of ordinary materials. In fact, a strand no thicker than a hair, containing 100 optical fibers, can transmit 40,000 different sound channels.
This species of sponge which lives in the cold, dark depths of Antarctic seas is easily able to collect the light it requires for photosynthesis thanks to its thorn-shaped protrusions of optical fibers, and is a source of light for its surroundings. This enables both the sponge itself and other living things that benefit from its ability to collect and transmit light to survive. Single-celled algae attach themselves to the sponge and obtain from it the light they need to survive.
Fiber optics is one of the most advanced technologies of recent years. Japanese engineers use this technology to transmit solar rays to those parts of skyscrapers that receive no direct light. Giant lenses sited in a skyscraper’s roof focus the sun’s rays on the ends of fiber optic transmitters, which then send light to even the very darkest parts of the buildings.
This sponge lives at some 100 to 200 meters depth, off the shores of the Antarctic Ocean, under icebergs in what is virtually total darkness. Sunlight is of the greatest importance to its survival. The creature manages to solve this problem by means of optical fibers that collect solar light in a most effective manner.
Scientists are amazed that a living thing should have used the fiber optic principle, utilized by high-tech industries, in such an environment for the past 600 million years.
100-Million-Year-Old Technology Under the Sea When a submarine fills its ballast tanks with water, the ship becomes heavier than water and sinks toward the bottom. If water in the tanks is emptied out by means of compressed air, then the submarine surfaces. The nautilus employs the same technique. In its body there is a 19-cm (7.48 in) spiral organ rather like a snail’s shell, inside which are 38 interconnected “diving” chambers. To empty out the water; it also needs compressed air—but where does the nautilus find the air it needs?
By biochemical means, the nautilus produces a special gas in its body and transfers this gas to the chambers, expelling water from them to regulate its buoyancy. This allows the nautilus to dive or surface when hunting or chased by predators.
A submarine can only venture safely to a depth of about 400 meters (1,310 feet), whereas the nautilus can easily descend to a depth of 450 meters (1,500 feet).49
Such a depth is very dangerous to many living things. But despite this, the nautilus remains unaffected, its shell is not crushed by the pressure and its body suffers no harm.
Another very important point needs to be considered here. The nautilus has possessed this system, which can withstand the pressure at some 450 meters, since the day it was created. How can it have designed this special structure all by itself? On its own, could the nautilus have developed the gas to obtain the necessary compressed air to empty out the water in its shell? It is definitely impossible for the creature to know how to create the chemical reaction to produce gas, much less build the structures in its body necessary to bring that chemical reaction about, nor to structure a shell capable of withstanding tons of water pressure.
This superior design is the work of God, Who flawlessly created everything, with no prior models. God’s title of al-Badi’ (the Innovative Creator), is revealed in the Qur’an:
He is the Originator of the heavens and the Earth... (Qur'an, 6: 101)
Bats’ Sonar Goes Far Beyond the Bounds of Human Technology It has long been known that bats use their sonar system to find their way around in the pitch dark. Recently, researchers have uncovered new secrets of how they do it. According to their research, the brown insectivorous bat, Eptesicus fuscus, can process two million overlapping echoes a second. Furthermore, it can perceive these echoes with a resolution of only 0.3 millimeters (1/80th of an inch). According to these figures, bat's sonar is three times more sensitive than its man-made equivalent.50
Bats' sonar navigational skills teach us a great deal about flying in the dark. Research carried out with infrared thermal imaging cameras and ultrasound detectors afforded considerable information about how bats fly in search of prey at night.
Bats can seize an insect from mid-air as the insect rises from the grass. Some bats even plunge into bushes to capture their prey. It’s no easy task to seize an insect buzzing in the air using only reflected sound waves. But if you consider that the insect is among the bushes, and sound waves bounce back from all the leaves surrounding it, you will grasp what an impressive task the bat actually performs.
In a situation like that, bats reduce their sonar squeals, to prevent their becoming confused by echoes from the surrounding vegetation. Yet by itself, this tactic isn’t enough to enable bats to perceive the objects individually, because they also need to distinguish the arrival time and direction of the overlapping echoes.51
Bats also use their sonar when flying over water to drink, and in some cases, to capture prey from the ground. Their expert maneuverability can best be seen when one bat chases another. Understanding how they can do this will let us produce a wide range of technological products, especially equipment for sonar navigation and detection. Moreover, bats’ broad-band sonar system is also imitated today in mine-sweeping technology.52
As we have seen, the properties of living things benefit us in a very large number of ways. In one verse, God draws attention to the uses in animals:
And there is certainly a lesson for you in your livestock. We give you to drink from what is in their bellies and there are many ways in which you benefit from them... (Qur’an, 23: 21)
Dolphin Sound Waves and Sonar Technology From a special organ known as the melon in its head, a dolphin can sometimes produce as many as 1,200 clicks a second. Simply by moving its head, this creature is able to transmit the waves in the direction it wishes. When the sound waves strike an object, they are reflected and return to the dolphin. The echoes reflected from the object pass through the dolphin's lower jaw to the middle ear, and from there to the brain. Thanks to the enormous speed at which these data are interpreted, very accurate and sensitive information is obtained. The echoes let the dolphin determine the direction of movement, speed and size of the object that reflects them.53
The dolphin sonar is so sensitive that it can even identify one single fish from among an entire shoal.54 It can also distinguish between two separate metal coins, three kilometers away in the pitch dark.55
In the present day, the instrument known as SONAR56 is used to identify targets and their directions for ships and submarines. Sonar works on exactly the same principle as that employed by the dolphin.
At Yale University, a robot was developed to be used for exploring new environments. An electrical engineering professor Roman Kuc equipped the robot with a sonar system imitating the one used by dolphins. Professor Kuc, who spent 10 years working on ultrasound sensors and robotics research, admitted, “We decided to take a closer look at how echolocation is used in nature to see if we might be missing something.”57
Imagine that someone told you that under the sea, sound waves travel at 1,500 meters a second; then asked you to calculate, if your submarine sent out sound waves that came back in four seconds’ time, how far away was the object that reflected them.
You would calculate that you were three kilometers away. Dolphins are also capable of comfortably performing similar calculations, but they know neither the speed at which their sound waves travel through the water, nor how to multiply and divide. They don’t carry out any of these functions; all the animals do is behave the way God inspires them.
A Fish’s Detector Against PollutionThe West African elephant nose fish (Gnathonemus petersii) lives in 27oC (80oF) muddy waters of Nigeria. This 10 cm (3.9 in) fish uses its eyes very little in the muddy water. It finds its way by means of the electrical signals constantly given off by muscles in its tail. Under normal circumstances, it emits 300-500 signals a minute. As the pollution levels rise, however, the number of signals emitted per minute can exceed 1,000.
Detectors that make use of elephant nose fish are used to measure pollution levels in the British city of Bournemouth. A water company in the city gave specimens of water from the River Stour to be checked by 20 elephant nose fish. Each fish lives in an aquarium filled with water from the river. The receptor signals in the aquarium are forwarded to computers to which they are linked. If the water is polluted the increased numbers of signals emitted by the fish are identified, and the alarm signal is given by means of the computer.60
The New Objective in Aeronautics: A Wing that ChangesShape According to Prevailing Conditions
As they fly, birds can use their wings in the most efficient way possible, automatically changing to deal with factors like temperature and wind. Currently, companies engaged in airplane technology are actively seeking to develop designs that make use of these features.
NASA, Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have designed a flexible wing, made of glass fibers, that can change its shape according to data from a computer inside the plane. This computer will also be able to process data from measuring equipment regarding flight conditions such as temperature, wind force, etc.64
Airbus, another firm working in this field, is trying to build adaptive wings that can change shape according to prevailing conditions, in order to reduce fuel consumption as much as possible.65
In short, birds’ wing structures are literally a marvel of design. For many years, their matchless ability in flying has been a source of inspiration for engineers. God has equipped these creatures in the best possible manner for flight. He draws attention to them in the following verse:
Haven't they looked at the birds above them, with wings outspread and folded back? Nothing holds them up but the All-Merciful. He sees all things. (Qur’an, 67: 19)
In Aviation Research, the Vulture’s Feathers Show the WayDuring a plane’s flight, pressure changes at the wing’s edge can form small vortexes—air currents at the edges of the wings that can impede flight performance.
Aviation research studies have revealed that when vultures fly, they open their quill feathers—the large feathers at the edge of the wing—like the fingers of a hand. From this observation, researchers thought of taking it as a model to make small metal ailerons and test them in flight. Using these, they hoped it would be possible to reduce the vortexes’ unwelcome effects on a plane by setting up a series of smaller vortexes to replace the large ones that had previously been causing problems. Experiments proved this idea to be correct, and they are now seeking to implement it in real aircraft.
20th-Century Science Failed to Unravel the Aerodynamic Techniques That Insects Use to FlyAs an insect flies, it beats its wings an average of several hundred times a second. Some insects can even flap and rotate their wings 600 times a second.67
So many movements are carried out with such extraordinary rapidity that this design can’t possibly be reproduced technologically. In order to reveal the flight techniques of fruit flies, Michael Dickinson, a professor in the department of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues constructed a robot, called Robofly. Robofly imitates the insect's flapping motion, but on a 100-fold larger scale and at only a 1,000th of the fly’s speed. It can flap its wings once every five seconds, driven by six computer-controlled motors.68
For years, many scientists like Professor Dickinson have been carrying out experiments hoping to discover the details of how insects flap their wings back and forth. During his experiments on fruit flies, Dickinson discovered that insect wings do not merely oscillate up and down, as if attached by a simple hinge, but actually use the most complex aerodynamic techniques. Moreover, the wings change orientation during each flap: The wing’s top surface faces up as the wing moves downwards, but then the wing rotates on its axis so that the underside faces up as the wing rises. Scientists trying to analyze these complex motions say that the conventional steady-state aerodynamics, the approach that works for airplane wings, is insufficient.
Fruit flies actually make use of more than one aerodynamic feature. For example, when they flap their wings, they leave behind them a complicated whirlpool of air currents, rather like the wake of a ship. As the wing reverses direction, it passes back through this churning air, recovering some of the energy lost beforehand. The muscles that allow the fruit fly's only 2.5 mm wings to flap 200 times a second are considered as the most powerful of all insects’ flight muscles.69
Many other details in addition to their wings, the flies’ sharp eyes, their small rear wings (known as halteres) aiding balance, and the sensors organizing the timing of the flapping motion, all testify to the perfection of their design.
Flies have been using these aerodynamic rules for millions of years. That today’s scientists, equipped with the most advanced technology, can’t fully account for insects’ flying techniques is one of the evident proofs of creation. For those who are able to think, God reveals the incomparable nature of His wisdom and knowledge in the tiny fly. In one verse, He reveals:
Humanity! An example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides God 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! (Qur’an, 22: 73)
Surface Drag and Swimsuits Inspired by Shark Skin In Olympic swimming competitions, 1/100th of a second can make the difference between winning and losing. Because the resistive drag opposing the motion of swimmers’ bodies is of great importance, many swimmers choose newly-designed swimsuits that reduce the drag. These tightly fitting suits, covering a rather large area of the body, are made out of a fabric which was designed to mimic the properties of a shark's skin by superimposing vertical resin stripes.
Scanning electron microscope studies have revealed that tiny "teeth" (riblets) cover the surface of a sharks’ skin that produce vertical vortices or spirals of water, keeping the water closer to the shark’s body and thus reducing drag. This phenomenon is known as the Riblet Effect, and research into shark skin is ongoing at NASA Langley Research Center.
Swimsuits made with new fibers and weaving techniques are produced to cling tightly to the swimmer’s body and reduce drag as much as possible. Research has shown that such garments can reduce drag by 8% over ordinary swimsuits.70
Chameleons and Clothes that Change Color
The impressive ability that chameleons have to change colors to match their surroundings is both astonishing and aesthetically pleasing. The chameleon can camouflage itself at a speed that quite amazes people.
With great expertise, the chameleon uses its cells called chromatophores which contain basic yellow and red pigments, the reflective layer reflecting blue and white light, and the melanophores containing the black to dark brown pigment melanin, which darkens its color.74
For instance, place a chameleon into a bright yellow environment, and it quickly turns yellow. In addition, the chameleon can match not only one single color, but a mixture of hues. The secret behind this lies in the way pigment-containing cells under this master of camouflage’s skin expand or contract to match their surroundings.
Current research under way at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, is aimed at making clothes, bags and shoes able to change colors the same way as the chameleon does. Researchers envision clothing made from the newly developed fiber, which can reflect all the light that hits it, and equipped with a tiny battery pack. This technology will allow the clothing to change colors and patterns in seconds by means of a switch on the pack.75 Yet this technology is still very expensive. For instance, the cost of a color-changing man’s jacket is around $10,000.
What would you think if someone showed you a jacket and claimed, “This can change color. Yet nobody prepared the jacket, nor its ability to change color. It all just happened by itself.” Probably you’d imagine that person to be mad or else very ignorant. Quite clearly, there must have been a tailor to put it together, and even before that, engineers to create its ability to change color.
So, how can the chameleon carry out these impeccable changes? Did it design the systems that permit the change, install them inside its own body, and carry out the processes all by itself? Of course it would be most irrational to claim that the chameleon did this all of its own free will. Since even human beings find it definitely impossible to bring about such a change, how can a reptile install a system capable of changing its own body’s appearance? To claim that such a superior ability came about by chance is nonsensical and invalid.
No natural mechanism has the power to form such impeccable abilities and bestow them on the living things that need it. A superior power rules the atoms, molecules, and cells in the creature’s body and arranges them as it wishes. God, Who created the chameleons, reveals to us the incomparable nature of His creation in such examples. As is revealed in the Qur’an, God is All-Powerful:
Everything in the heavens and the earth glorifies God. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. The kingdom of the heavens and the Earth belongs to Him. He gives life and causes to die. He has power over all things. (Qur’an, 57: 1-2)
515-Million-Year-Old Optic Design
Andrew R. Parker states that he and his colleagues examined a mummified fly preserved in amber resin for 45 million years. There was a periodic grating structure on the curved surfaces of the fly ommatidia (individual visual organs composing the fly's compound eye). Analyzing the reflective properties of this structure, they realized that the fly-eye structure was a very efficient antireflector, particularly at high angles of incidence. This hypothesis was indeed confirmed in later studies.
Thanks to these findings and others, today’s scientists have determined how to greatly increase the efficiency of solar absorbers and solar panels used to provide energy for satellites. Work is currently under way to reduce the angular reflection of infrared (heat) and other light waves by mimicking the fly-eye structure. Most suitable for use in solar panel surfaces, the fly-eye grating has also done away with the necessity for expensive equipment to ensure that these panels are always directly facing the Sun.76
Only recently have space technologists discovered and imitated this design, but flies have possessed it for millions of years. Similar structures have recently been discovered also on some Burgess Shale fossils, 515 million years old. Permitting very acute and color vision, this design shows just what a superior product of creation it really is. But such evidence can be comprehended only by believers—those who can use their reason to comprehend that everything that exists is under God’s control.
One verse describes how similar proofs mean nothing to those who deny God:
God is not ashamed to use the example of a mosquito or of an even smaller thing. As for those who believe, they know it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who do not believe, they say, “What does God mean by this example?” He misguides many by it and guides many by it. But He only misguides the deviators. (Qur’an, 2: 26)
Stenocara: A Fully-Fledged Water Capturing Unit
In the desert, where few living things are to be found, some species possess the most astonishing designs. One of these is the tenebrinoid beetle Stenocara, which lives in the Namib Desert, in Southern Africa. A report in the November 1, 2001, edition of Nature describes how this beetle collects the water so vital to its survival.
Stenocara’s water capture system basically depends on a special feature of its back, whose surface is covered with tiny bumps. The surface of the regions between these bumps is wax-coated, though the peaks of the bumps are wax-free. This allows the beetle to collect in a more productive manner.
Stenocara extracts from the air the water vapor that occurs only rarely in its desert environment. What is remarkable is how it separates out the water from the desert air, where tiny water droplets evaporate very quickly due to heat and wind. Such droplets, weighing almost nothing, are borne along parallel to the ground by the wind. The beetle, behaving as if it knew this, tilts its body forwards into the wind. Thanks to its unique design, droplets form on the wings and roll down the beetle's surface to its mouthparts.77
The article about Stenocara included the following comment: “The mechanism by which water is extracted from the air and formed into large droplets has so far not been explained, despite its biomimetic potential.”78
Examining the features of this beetle’s back under an electron microscope, scientists established that it’s a perfect model for water-trapping tent and building coverings, or water condensers and engines. Designs of such a complex nature cannot come about just by themselves or through natural events. Also, it’s impossible for a tiny beetle to have “invented” any system of such extraordinary design. Just Stenocara alone is sufficient to prove that our Creator designed everything that exists.
100% Efficient Light-Generating FirefliesFrom the tip of their abdomens, fireflies produce greeny-yellow light. This light is produced in cells containing a chemical called luciferin, which reacts with oxygen and an enzyme known as luciferase. The beetle can turn the light on and off by varying the amount of air entering its cells from its breathing tubes. A normal household bulb has a productivity level of 10%, the other 90% of the energy being wasted as heat. But in a firefly, almost 100% of the energy produced is light, representing with this very efficient process, a target for scientists to aim for.79
What force allows fireflies to engage in such a high level of efficiency? According to evolutionists, the answer lies in unconscious atoms, happenstance, or other external factors with no propulsive force; none of which can possess the power to actually initiate such productive activity. God’s art is infinite and incomparable. In many verses of the Qur’an, God speaks of the need for people to use reason to consider and draw lessons from what He has created. Therefore, man’s responsibility is to consider God's miracles and turn only towards Him.
A Solution to Traffic Problems from Locusts! Auto accidents cost millions of lives every year. In its search for a solution, the scientific world now believes that locusts might offer just such a remedy. Even though locusts travel in swarms of millions, research has shown that they never collide with one another. The answer to how locusts avoid doing so led to the opening of a whole new scientific horizon.
Experiments determined that locusts send out an electronic signal to any body approaching them to identify that body’s location, and then change direction accordingly.80 Inventors are now trying to implement the method locusts employ in order to resolve a problem that has remained intractable for years. These creatures, behaving in the way God inspires them to, are among the clearest proofs of creation.
Birds’ Flight Methods as a Model for High-Speed Trains
When Japanese engineers and scientists were designing their high-speed 500-Series electric trains, they encountered a major problem: Examining wild birds for the perfect solution, soon they found the design they were seeking and implemented it successfully.
Owl Flight and High-Speed Train Noise
In the high-speed trains developed by the Japanese, safety is one of the most important factors. A second is compatibility with Japanese environmental standards. Japan’s noise regulations regarding railway operators are the strictest in the world. Using current technology, it’s not actually that difficult to go faster, though it’s hard to eliminate noise while doing so. Under Japanese Environment Agency regulations, a railway’s noise levels must not exceed 75 decibels at a point 25 meters (82 feet) away from the center of railway track in urban areas. At a crossing in a town, when cars start to move all at once on the green light, they create more than 80 decibels. This goes to show just how quiet the high-speed Shinkansen train must be.
The reason for the noise that a train produces up to a certain operation speed is the rolling of its wheels on the tracks. At speeds of 200 kmph (125 mph) or over, however, the sound source becomes the aerodynamic noise caused by its movement through the air.
The major sources of aerodynamic noise are the pantographs, or current collectors, used to take in electricity from overhead catenary. Engineers, realizing that they couldn’t reduce noise levels with the conventional rectangular pantographs, concentrated their research on animals that move quickly, yet silently.
Of all birds, owls make the least noise during flight. One of the ways they manage this is through the plumes of their wings. In addition, an owl’s wings have many small saw-toothed feathers (serrations) visible even to the naked eye, which other birds lack. These serrations generate small vortexes in the air flow. Aerodynamic noise stems from vortexes forming in the air flow. As these grow in size, the noise increases. Since owls’ wings feature many saw-toothed projections, they form smaller vortexes instead of large ones, and the owls can fly very quietly.
When Japanese designers and engineers tested stuffed owls in a wind tunnel, they once again witnessed the perfection of these birds’ wing design. Later, they succeeded in efficiently reducing train noise by using wing-shaped pantographs based on the principle of the owl’s serrations. Thus the pantograph system developed by the Japanese, inspired by nature, became the quietest functioning.81
The Kingfisher’s Dive and High-Speed Trains’ Entry into Tunnels
The tunnels on the lines used by high-speed trains represented another problem for engineers to solve. When a train enters a tunnel at a high speed, atmospheric pressure waves rise up and gradually grow up to be like tidal waves that approach the exit of the tunnel at the same sonic speed. At the exit, the waves then return. At the tunnel’s exit, part of the pressure waves is released with a sometimes explosive noise.
Since the pressure of the waves is about one thousandth of atmospheric pressure or less, they're referred to as tunnel micro-pressure waves, which form as shown in the diagram.
The very disturbing noise created under the influence of the pressure waves can be reduced by widening the tunnel, but the task of altering the cross-sectional area of tunnels is very difficult and expensive.
At first, engineers thought that reducing the cross-sectional area of trains and making the forefront shape sharp and smooth might be a solution. They put these ideas into action in an experimental train, but remained unable to eliminate the micro-pressure waves it created.
Wondering if similar dynamics arose in nature, the designers and engineers thought of the kingfisher. In order to hunt its prey, the kingfisher dives into water, which has greater fluid resistance than air, and it experiences sudden changes in the resistance like a train does when it enters a tunnel.
Accordingly, a train traveling at 300 kmph (186 mph) needs to have a forefront shape like a kingfisher’s beak, which facilitates the bird’s diving.
Studies conducted by the Japanese Railway Technical Research Institute and the University of Kyushu revealed that the ideal shape to suppress tunnel micro-pressure waves was a shape of revolving paraboloid or a wedge. A close-up cross-section of a kingfisher’s upper and lower beak form precisely this shape.82 The kingfisher is yet another example of how all living things are created with exactly what they need to survive—and whose designs can serve as models for human beings.
Peacock Feathers and Self-Changing Display Signs
In a peacock's feathers, the keratin protein together with the brown feather pigment melanin, the only pigment these feathers contain, allow light to refract so that we can see the color. The light and dark colors we see in feathers derive from the directional layering of keratin. Peacock feathers' exceedingly bright hues stem from this structural feature.
Nature inspired one Japanese company to develop reusable display signs, whose surfaces are structurally altered under ultraviolet light which changes the materials’s crystalline alignment, thus eliminating certain colors so as to display the desired message. These signs can be used over and over and imprinted with new images. This eliminates the cost of producing new signs, as well as the need for using toxic paints.83
A Computer Solution from Butterflies
We use computers so extensively that they’ve become part of every moment of our lives 24 hours a day—at home, at work, even in our cars. Computer technology is developing rapidly day by day, and increasing living standards require of computers’ functioning to increase at the same pace, growing faster all the time. The latest models can achieve breathtaking speeds, and faster chips mean that computers can carry out more tasks in less time. However, faster chips lead to greater consumption of electricity, which warms up the chips as a result. It is essential for computer chips to be cooled down to prevent them from melting. The existing fans are no longer sufficient to cool down the latest generation of chips. Designers seeking a solution to this problem eventually declared that they had found a solution in nature.
Butterfly wings contain a perfect structure in their design. Research carried out at Tufts University has revealed that there is a cooling system in butterfly wings. When this system is compared to that in computer chips, it has a much better performance. A team headed by assistant research professor of mechanical engineering Peter Wong was funded by the American National Science Foundation to study how iridescent butterflies control heat.
Since butterflies are cold-blooded, they have to constantly regulate their body temperatures. This is a serious problem, because friction during flight leads to considerable quantities of heat. This heat needs to be cooled down at once. Otherwise, the butterfly will not survive. The solution is provided by the millions of microscopic scales, called thin-film structures, clinging to their wings. The heat generated is thus dispersed.84
The team estimates that this research will become useful for chip manufacturers like Intel and Motorola in the near future. But in butterflies, this matchless design has been around for as long as they have. That butterfly wings embody such a flawless solution introduces us to the wisdom and power of the Creator. That power belongs to God, Who has dominion and power over all.
From the Immune System, a Solution to the Computer Virus MenaceOnce a single computer is affected by a virus, this means that other computers in the world may soon be contaminated as well. Many companies, therefore, have seen it necessary to set up an “immune system” to protect their network systems from viruses and continue to carry out intensive research in this area. IBM is only one of the firms trying to construct a worldwide immune system to protect its existing computer systems from virus threats in the cyberspace.
Pursuing this analogy between the computer and living things, researchers have begun producing protective programs that function like our own immune systems. They believe what we have learnt from epidemiology (the branch of science which studies contagious diseases) and immunology (which deals with the immune system) will be able to protect electronic programs from new threats in the same way that antibodies protect living organisms.
Computer viruses are clever self-replicating programs designed to infiltrate computers, multiply by copying themselves and damage or “hijack” the computers they enter. Indications that such viruses are present include a slowing down of the computer system, occasional mysterious damage to files, and sometimes, complete failure or “crashing” of the computer itself—much as with the various diseases that affect human beings.
To protect our computers against the menace of viruses, identification programs search every code in the computer’s memory to find traces of viruses that have previously been identified and stored in the programs’ memory. Computer viruses carry traces of the signature of the software writer that let them be recognized. When the computer’s search program recognizes that telltale signature, it warns that the computer has been infected with a virus.
From the Eye to the Camera: the Technology of Sight
The eyes of vertebrates resemble spheres with openings called pupils through which light enters. Behind the pupils are lenses. Light passes first through these lenses, then through the fluid that fills the eyeball, finally striking the retina. In the retina there are some 100 million cells known as rods and cones. The rod cells distinguish between light and dark, and the cones detect colors. All these cells turn the light falling onto them into electrical signals and send them to the brain via the optic nerve.
The eye regulates the intensity of the light entering it by means of the iris, surrounding the pupil. The iris is able to expand and contract, thanks to its tiny muscles. Similarly, the amount of light entering a camera is restricted by a device known as a diaphragm.
FocusingThis is the first step in taking a photograph. The same kind of focusing of an image is also necessary in order for it to fall clearly onto the sensitive retina in the eye. With cameras, this is done by hand or automatically in more sophisticated models. Microscopes and telescopes, used to see up close and far away, can also be focused, yet this process always involves a certain loss of time.
The human eye, on the other hand, performs this process constantly by itself, and very quickly. Furthermore, the method it employs is so superior that it cannot possibly be imitated. Thanks to the muscles around it, the lens sends the image onto the retina. Very flexible, this lens easily changes shape, sharpening the point on which light falls by expanding or contracting.
If the lens didn’t do this automatically—for instance, if we had to consciously focus on the object of our attention—then we’d have to make a constant effort to be able to see. Images in our sight would blur in and out of focus. We would require time to see anything properly and as a result, all of our actions would be slowed down.
Because God has made our eyes flawless, however, we experience none of these difficulties. When he wants to see anything, no one has to wrestle with setting his eyes’ focus and make various optical calculations. In order to see an object clearly, it is sufficient to look at it. The rest of the process is handled automatically by the eye and the brain—moreover, it all takes place in the space of time it takes to wish to do it.
Light SettingsA photograph taken in the daytime will be very clear, but not when the same film is used to take a picture of the night sky. Yet even though our eyes open and close in less than one-tenth of a second, we can see the stars quite clearly, because our eyes automatically set themselves according to various intensities of light. Muscles around the pupil allow this to happen. If our surroundings are dark, these muscles expand, the pupil widens and more light is allowed into the eye. With plenty of light, the muscles contract, the pupil shrinks and less light is permitted to enter. That is why we enjoy clear vision both night and day.
A Window on a Colored WorldThe eye “snaps” both a black-and-white picture and a colored one at the same time. These two pictures are later combined in the brain, where they take on a normal appearance, in much the same way as four-color photography combines black with red, yellow, and blue to produce a realistic full-color image.
The rod cells in the retina perceive objects in black and white, but in a detailed manner. The cone cells identify the colors. As a result, the signals received are analyzed, and our brains form a colored image of the outside world.
The Eye’s Superior TechnologyCompared with the eye, cameras possess a very primitive structure. Visual images are many times more precise than those obtainable with even the most highly developed camera. As a result, images perceived by the eye are of much higher quality than those provided by any man-made equipment.
This whole idea can be better grasped if we examine the principles of a TV camera, which operates by transmitting numerous dots of light. During broadcast, a scanning procedure is applied, and the object before the camera is thus divided into a specific number of lines. A photocell lamp scans all the dots in each line consecutively, from left to right. Having finished scanning one line, it moves on to the next, and the process continues. The light values of each dot are analyzed, and the resulting signal is emitted. This photocell scans 625 or 819 lines in one-twenty fifth of a second. When one entire image is complete, a new one is transmitted. In this way the quantity of signals emitted is very high, all created at a dazzling speed.
The eye’s mechanism is much more functional. One can clearly understand the astonishing perfection of its structure when one considers that it never needs to repair or replace any parts.
As medical science advances, the human eye’s miraculous nature is being ever better understood. By applying to technology the knowledge we’re acquiring about the eye, ever more advanced cameras and countless optical systems are being developed. But no matter how much technology advances, the electronic devices manufactured so far remain a primitive copy of the eye itself. No computer-supported camera or other man-made gadget can rival the human eye.92
Computer Circuitry Imitates Nature
The retinal cells in our eyes recognize and interpret light, then send this information to other cells to which they are connected. All these visual processes have inspired a new model for computers.
The retina, consisting of nerve cells tightly linked to one another, is not restricted to only perceiving light. Before signals from the retina are transmitted to the brain, they undergo a huge number of processes. For instance, cells that compose the retina process information to accentuate the edges of objects, called "edge extraction," boost the power of the electrical signal and carry out adjustments, depending on whether the ambient illumination is dark or bright. Yes, powerful modern computers are capable of carrying out similar functions, but the retina’s neural network uses a relatively much smaller amount of energy.
The Fly’s Ear Will Cause a Revolution in Hearing Devices
the ear of Ormia ochracea, and its extraordinary design could lead to a revolution in hearing aids. The ear of this species of fly can identify a sound’s direction in a most accurate manner.
Ormia has very sensitive ears designed to establish the location of a chirping cricket. It can pinpoint sounds exceptionally well.
For locating sounds, the human brain uses a similar method to that of Ormia. For this purpose, it’s enough for sound to reach the closer ear first, then the more distant one. When a sound wave strikes the eardrum’s membrane, it is converted into an electrical signal and immediately transmitted to the brain. The brain calculates the milliseconds of difference between the sound’s reaching both ears and thus determines the direction it came from. The fly, whose brain is no larger than a pinhead, performs this calculation only in 50 nanoseconds, 1,000 times faster than we can.
Scientists are trying to use the exceptionally functional design of this small fly’s ear in the manufacturing of hearing and listening devices under the brand name of ORMIAFON. As we have shown, even the tiny fly possesses a superior structure and design that demolishes evolution’s nonsensical theory of "coincidence." In the same way, this minute creature’s every organ and feature display the infinite might and knowledge of our Creator. It is impossible for such a tiny yet complex creature to be recreated even by skillful scientists working together and employing the most advanced technology, let alone through an imaginary "evolutionary" process.
Even this tiny fly constitutes a self-evident proof of God’s superior creation.
BIOMIMETICS AND ARCHITECTURE
Oyster Shells—a Model for Light, Sturdy Roofs
The shells of mussels and oysters resemble wavy hair because of their irregularly shapes. This shape allows the shells, despite being very lightweight, to withstand enormous pressure. Architects have employed their structure as a model for designing various roofs and ceilings. For example, the roof of Canada’s Royan Market was designed with the oyster shell in mind.97
From the Water Lily to the Crystal Palace
Built for the first World’s Fair in London in 1851, the Crystal Palace was a technological marvel of glass and iron. Some 35 meters (108 feet)high and covering an area of approximately 7,500 square meters (18 acres), it featured more than 200,000 panes of glass, each 30 by 120 centimeters (12-by-49 inches) in size.
The Crystal Palace was designed by landscape designer Joseph Paxton, who drew inspiration from Victoria amazonica, a species of water lily. Despite its very fragile appearance, this lily possesses huge leaves that are strong enough for people to stand on.
When Paxton examined these leaves’ undersides, he found they were supported by fibrous extensions like ribs. Each leaf has radial ribs stiffened by slender crossribs. Paxton thought these ribs could be duplicated as weight-bearing iron struts, and the leaves themselves as the glass panes. In this way, he succeeded in constructing a roof made of glass and iron, which was very light yet still very strong.98
The water lily begins growing in the mud at the bottom of Amazonian lakes, but in order to survive, it needs to reach the surface. When it comes to the surface of the water it stops growing, then starts forming thorn-tipped buds. In as little as a few hours, these buds open into enormous leaves up to two meters across. The more area they cover on the surface of the river, the more sunlight they can obtain with which to carry out photosynthesis.
Another thing the root of the water lily requires is oxygen, of which there is little in the muddy bottom where the plant is rooted. However, tubes running down the long stems of the leaves, which can reach as much as 11 meters (35 feet)in height, serve as channels that carry oxygen from the leaves down to the roots.99
As the seed starts to grow in the depths of the lake, how does it know that it will soon need light and oxygen, without which it can’t survive, and that everything it requires is at the surface of the water? A plant that has only just begun to germinate is unaware that the water around has a surface up above, and knows nothing of the Sun or oxygen.
According to evolutionist logic, therefore, new water lilies should have drowned under several feet of water and become extinct long ago. Yet the fact is that these water lilies are still around today, in all their perfection.
Amazon lilies, after reaching the light and oxygen they need, curl their leaves upwards at the edges so that they do not fill with water and sink. These precautions may help them survive, but if the species is to continue, they need some insects to carry their pollen to other lilies. In the Amazon, beetles have a special attraction to the color white and therefore, select this lily’s flowers to land on. With the arrival of this six-legged guests, who will allow the Amazon lilies to survive down the generations, the petals close up, preventing the insects from escaping, while offering them large quantities of pollen. After holding them imprisoned for the whole night and throughout the next day, the flower then releases them, also changing color so that the beetles do not bring its own pollen back to it. The lily, formerly a shining white, now adorns the river in a dark pink.
No doubt that all these flawless, perfectly calculated, and consecutive steps are not the work of the lily itself, which has no foreknowledge or planning abilities, but flow from the infinite wisdom of God, its Creator. All the details summarized briefly here demonstrate that, like all things in the universe, God created them with all the necessary systems to ensure their survival.
A Structure that Makes Bones More Resistant
Even today, the Eiffel Tower is accepted as a marvel of engineering, but the event that led to its design took place back to 40 years before its construction. This was a study in Zurich aimed at revealing "the anatomical structure of the thigh bone."
In the early 1850s, the anatomist Hermann von Meyer was studying the part of the thigh bone that inserts into the hip joint. The thigh bone head extends sideways into the hip socket, and bears the body's weight off-center. Von Meyer saw that the inside of the thigh bone, which is capable of withstanding a weight of one ton when in a vertical position, consists not of one single piece, but contains an orderly latticework of tiny ridges of bone known as trabeculae.
In 1866, when the Swiss engineer Karl Cullman visited von Meyer’s laboratory, the anatomist von Meyer showed him a piece of bone he had been studying. Cullman realized that the bone’s structure was designed to reduce the effects of weight load and pressure. The trabeculae were effectively a series of studs and braces arranged along the lines of force generated when standing. As a mathematician and engineer, Cullman translated these findings into applicable theory and the model lead to the design of the Eiffel Tower.
As in the thigh bone, the Eiffel Tower’s metal curves formed a lattice built from metal studs and braces. Thanks to this structure, the tower was easily able to stand up to the bending and shearing effects caused by the wind.100
The Earthquake-Proof Design in Honeycombs
The construction of honeycombs offers a great many important advantages, including stability. As the bees in the hive give directions to one another in the so-called “waggle dance,” they set up vibrations that, in a structure of such small dimensions, can be equated to an earthquake. The walls of the comb absorb these potentially damaging vibrations. Nature magazine stated that architects could use this superior structure in designing earthquake-proof buildings. Included in the report was the following statement by Jurgen Tautz of the University of Wurzburg, in Germany:
Vibrations in honeybee nests are like miniature earthquakes generated by the bees, so it’s very interesting to see how the structure responds to it... Understanding the phase reversal could help architects predict which parts of a building will be especially vulnerable to earthquakes... They could then strengthen these areas, or even introduce weak spots into non-critical areas of buildings to absorb harmful vibrations.102
As this all shows, the combs that bees construct with such flawless precision expertise are marvels of design. This structure within the comb thus paves the way for architects and scientists, giving them new ideas. It isn’t chance that allows bees to construct their combs so perfectly, as evolutionists claim, but God, the Lord of infinite might and knowledge, Who gives them that ability.
Architectural Designs Drawn from Spider Webs
Some spiders spin webs that resemble a tarpaulin covering thrown over a bush. The web is borne by stretched threads attached to the edges of the bush. This load-bearing system lets the spider spread its web wide, while still making no concessions as to its strength.
This marvelous technique has been imitated by man in many structures to cover wide areas. Some of these include the Jeddah Airport’s Pilgrim Terminal, the Munich Olympic Stadium, the Sydney National Athletic Stadium, zoos in Munich and Canada, Denver Airport in Colorado, and the Schlumberger Cambridge Research Centre building in England.
To learn these web-building techniques all by itself, any spider species would have to undergo a long period of engineering training. That, of course, is out of the question. Spiders, knowing nothing about load-bearing or architectural design, merely behave in the manner God inspires in them.
ROBOTS THAT IMITATE LIVING THINGS
Robotics Is Imitating Snakes to Overcome the Problem of Balance
For those engaged in robotics, one of the problems they encounter most frequently is maintaining equilibrium. Even robots equipped with the very latest technology can lose their balance when walking. A three-year-old child can manage to regain balance with no difficulty, yet robots lacking this ability are, of necessity, stationary and of very little use. In fact, one robot that NASA prepared for duty on the planet Mars couldn’t be used at all, for that very reason. After that, robot experts abandoned attempts to build a balance-establishing mechanism and instead looked to a creature that never loses its balance—the snake.
Unlike other vertebrates, snakes lack a hard spine and limbs, and have been created in such a way as to enter cracks and crevices. They can expand and contract the diameter of their bodies, can cling to branches and glide over rocks. Snakes’ properties inspired for a new robotic, interplanetary probe developed by NASA's Ames Research Center which they called the "snakebot." This robot thus was designed to be in a constant state of balance, without ever getting caught up by obstacles.105
The Balance Center in the Inner Ear Astounds Robotics Experts
The inner ear performs a vital role in our system of balance, controlling our whole body at every moment and allows us to perform the delicate adjustments required by a tightrope walker, for example.
This center of balance in the inner ear, known as the labyrinth, consists of three small semicircular canals. They are 6.5 mm (0.26 in) in diameter and, in cross-section, the hollow space inside them measures 0.4 mm (0.016 in). The three are laid out in orthogonal planes. An individual canal senses rotations in one of three orthogonal directions. Thus the three canals combine their results and give the ability to sense rotations in any direction in three-dimensional space.
Inside each of these three canals is a viscous fluid. At one end of the tube is a gelatinous cap (cupula), which sits on a bulged area (crista)covered with sensory hair cells. When we turn our heads, walk, or make any movement, the fluid within these canals lags behind because of inertia. The fluid pushes against the cupula, deflecting it. This deflection is measured by the hair cells in the crista as the hairs’ vibration alters the ion balance in the cells connected to them, producing electrical signals.
These signals produced in the inner ear are transmitted by means of nerves to the cerebellum at the back of our brain. These transmitter nerves from the labyrinth to the cerebellum have been shown to contain 20,000 nerve fibers.
The cerebellum interprets this information from the labyrinth, but in order to maintain balance, it also needs other information. Therefore, the cerebellum receives constant information from the eyes and from muscles throughout the body, rapidly analyzing all this information and calculating the body’s position relative to gravity. Then, based on these instant calculations, it notifies the muscles via the nerves of the exact movements they should make to maintain balance.
These extraordinary processes occur in less than 1/100th of a second. We are able to walk, run, ride a bicycle, and play sports without even being aware all this is going on. Yet if were we to put down on paper all the calculations going on in our bodies at any one instant, the formulae would fill thousands of pages.
Totally flawless, our balance system functions by means of several very complex mechanisms, all interconnected and working together. Modern science and technology have yet to unravel all the details of their operative principles, let alone imitate them.
It is of course impossible for such a complex design to have come about by chance, as evolution theory would have us believe. Every design reveals the existence of a conscious designer. Our balance system’s superior design is one more proof of the existence of God, Who created that system so impeccably, and of His infinite wisdom.
In the face of this realization, man’s responsibility is to give thanks to God, Who gave him such a structure.
A Robot Scorpion Able to Withstand Harsh Desert Conditions
In the United States, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working to develop a robot scorpion. The reason the project selected a scorpion as its model is that the robot was to operate in the desert. Scorpions have been able to survive harsh desert conditions ever since their creation. But another reason why DARPA selected a scorpion was that along with being able to move over tough terrain very easily, its reflexes are much simpler than those of mammals—and can be imitated.106
Before developing their robot, the researchers spent a long time observing the movements of live scorpions using high-speed cameras, and analyzed the video data.107 Later, the coordination and organization of the scorpion’s legs were used as a starting point for the model’s creation.
DARPA’s objective is to have its 50 cm (20 in)robot scorpion reach a target 40 km (25 miles)away in the desert and then return—entirely on its own, without receiving any directions.108
Designed by Frank Kirchner and Alan Rudolph at Northeastern University in Boston, the robot has no ability to “think through” complex problems. Upon encountering a difficulty, it merely relies on its reflexes. This allows it to overcome any obstacles that might impede its progress—a rock, for example. At the front, the robot has two ultrasonic sensors. Should it encounter an obstacle more than half its own height, it will try going around it. If the detector on the left identifies an obstacle, it will turn to the right. The robot can be asked to go to a specific region and, with a camera in its tail, send back to base images of the location.
The U.S. Army was greatly impressed by the trials held in Arizona. It is hoped that the robot’s ability to find its way to a target are could be particularly useful in cluttered battlefields such as towns.109
Just Like a Real Lobster, This Robot Will Identify Water Currents Even fully-equipped human divers have difficulty in moving through turbulent and murky waters, crawling along the bottom where it may be rough, sandy or covered with algae. Lobsters can, and very easily too. But so far, no robot made for use on the sea bed has been successful in such environments.
Joseph Ayers, Director of the Marine Science Center at Northeastern University in Boston is leading a project to develop a robot that imitates the lobster. As he describes it, the project’s “technical goal is to capture the performance advantages that the animal systems hold in the target environment.”110
They expect to use this “robo-lobster” in finding and disarming mines. Ayers says the robot will be ideally suited to this kind of work:
. . . the sequence of behavioral acts that a lobster performs when it searches for food is exactly what one would want a robot to perform to find and neutralize underwater mines.111
Lobsters’ shape helps them resist tumbling or moving in fast-moving water. They are able to proceed in the direction they want under the most difficult conditions, even over very rough terrain. In the same way, the robo-lobster will use its tail and claws for stability.
On the robot, micro-electro-mechanical sensors (MEMS) imitate the lobster’s sensory organs. Equipped with water current sensors and antennae, the robot can adapt its movements to the currents of the water around it. A live lobster uses hairs to determine the direction of currents, and the robot lobster’s electro-mechanical sensors are intended to do the same thing.112
The Lobster’s Technique for Identifying Scents
Underwater creatures such as crabs and lobsters use their sense of smell to find food, mates or to flee from predators. One study carried out by researchers from the Universities of California at Berkeley and Stanford revealed how lobsters smell the world around them.
Lobsters possess a very sensitive sense of smell, whose features will open up new horizons for robot engineers trying to build new odor sensors.
Lobsters and other crustaceans smell by flicking a pair of antennules toward the source of the odor, so that the chemosensory hairs on the ends of the antennules come into contact with the water-borne odor molecules. The spiny lobster Panulirus argus, which lives in the Caribbean Sea, has antennules 30 cm (3 to 4 inches) in length. On the outer edge of one of the split ends of its antennules are hairs resembling a brush—a region particularly sensitive to chemicals.
A group of researchers led by Professor Koehl made a mechanical lobster that flicked its antennules in the same way. Tests and observations of this robot, dubbed Rasta Lobsta, were performed to study in detail the technique that lobsters employ in order to smell.
When the lobster wants to smell something, during the downstroke, it pushes the antennule through the water fast enough for the water bearing the odor to penetrate into the brush of sensory hairs. On the return stroke, however, it sweeps more slowly, so the water is unable to move between the hairs and the odor plume that penetrated between the hairs during the downstroke are trapped until the next rapid downstroke.
The antennules move forward and back at the ideal speed for the lobster to be able to smell. Tests have shown that if the antennules moved more slowly, the water would not flow between the hairs, reducing the crustacean’s ability to smell. Therefore, it uses its antennules in such a manner that it’s able to preserve and capture even small differences in odor concentration in a plume.114
Structure of Worm Muscles Lead the Way to New Mechanical Systems
The skin covering a worm’s cylindrical body consists of fibers that are wound in a crossed helical form around and along the body—a most impressive design. The contraction of muscles in the body wall leads to an increase in the internal pressure, and the worm is able to change shape as the fibers in the skin allow it to go from short and fat to long and thin. This is the basis of how worms move.
This matchless mechanical system is presently inspiring new projects at Reading University’s Centre for Biomimetics. In one experiment, cylinders of various fiber angles were arranged along the lines of the worm’s anatomy. The plan is to fill these cylinders with a water-absorbent polymer gel. Water causes this gel to expand. In this way, chemical energy is converted to mechanical energy in just the right place, and the resulting pressure will be contained safely inside the helically-wound bag. Once the swelling and contracting of the polymer gel is controlled, it is hoped that the resulting system will operate like an artificial muscle.115
Every living thing that man takes as a model, and every system in it, is a sign of God for those who believe. This truth is expressed in a verse:
And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about there are signs for people with certainty. (Qur’an, 45: 4)
The Gecko’s Feet Open New Technological Horizons
These small lizards are able to run very fast up walls and walk around clinging to the ceiling, very comfortably. Until recently, we didn’t understand how it could be possible for any vertebrate animal to climb up walls like the cartoon and film hero Spiderman. Now, years of research have finally uncovered the secret on which their extraordinary ability depends. Little steps by the gecko have led to enormous discoveries with tremendous implications, particularly for robot designers. A few can be summarized as follows:
- Researchers in California believe that the lizard’s “sticky” toes can help in developing a dry, and self-cleaning adhesive.116
- Geckos’ feet generate an adhesive force 600 times greater than that of friction. Gecko-like robots could climb up the walls of burning buildings to rescue those inside. Dry adhesives could be of great benefits in smaller devices, such as in medical applications and computer architecture.117
- Their legs act like springs, responding automatically when they touch a surface. This is a particularly appropriate feature for robots, which have no brain. Geckos’ feet never lose their effectiveness, no matter how much they are used; they are self-cleaning and they also work in a vacuum or underwater.118
- A dry adhesive could help hold slick body parts in place during nanosurgery.119
- Such an adhesive could keep car tires stuck to the road.120
- Gecko-like robots could be used to repair cracks in ships, bridges and piers, and in the regular maintenance of satellites.121
- Robots modeled after the geckos’ feet could be used to wash windows, clean floors, and ceilings. Not only will they be able to climb up flat vertical surfaces, but overcome any obstacles they meet on the way.122
TECHNOLOGY IN NATURE
Light Sensors in Plants
Some species of plants are acutely sensitive to changes in light intensity. When night falls, they close up their petals. Some flowering plants even do this in cloudy weather, in order—scientists believe—to protect their pollen from dew and approaching rain. We humans also use sensors that detect light intensity changes, and use them in lamps that go on when it gets dark at night and turn themselves off at dawn.124
The Eider Duck and Its Insulation System
Our bodies generate heat energy by digesting the food we’ve eaten during the day. The best way to prevent the loss of this warmth is to keep it from leaving our bodies too soon. That is why we wear varying layers of clothing, depending on the weather. Warm air, trapped between the layers, is unable to reach outside. Preventing energy loss in this way is known as insulation.
The eider duck employs the exact same method. Like many birds, its feathers enable it to fly and also keep it warm. It uses its soft and fluffy chest feathers in building its nest. This down protects the eggs and the emerging featherless chicks from the cold air. Since the eider’s feathers retain warm air, they exemplify the very best form of natural insulation.125
Modern mountain climbers keep their bodies warm by wearing special costumes filled with feathers with high heat-retaining properties, similar to those of eider feathers.
Fiber Optic Technology in Living CreaturesFiber optics are transparent glass cables capable of transmitting light. Since optical fibers can be easily bent and twisted, they can “pipe” light into even the most inaccessible locations. Fiber optic cables also possess the advantage of being able to carry coded messages loaded onto them, much better than other cables can.
The polar bear’s fur is very similar to an optical fiber, carrying the rays of the faint polar sun directly to the animal’s body. Since the fur possesses fiber optic capabilities, the sun’s rays make direct contact with the bear’s skin. So great is its fur’s capacity to transmit light that despite the harsh polar climate, the animal’s skin turns dark, as if sunburned. The light, converted into heat and absorbed, helps warm the bear’s body. Thanks to its fur’s unique feature, the bear is able to keep its body warm even under the freezing polar conditions.126
Bears’ fur is not their only feature that we can learn from. They can spend up to six months a year in hibernation, doing so by putting their excretory systems on hold and without suffering toxic buildups in their blood. Discovering how they do this will help in the fight against diabetes.127
Arctic Birds Using Counter-Current Heat Exchangers
In the coldest climates, local birds generally have their feet either in cold water or standing on ice. Yet there is no question of them ever freezing. All of them possess circulatory systems that reduce heat loss to a minimum. In these birds, heated and chilled blood circulate in different blood vessels, but these vessels run close together, however. In this way, warm blood flowing to the extremities downwards warms the cold blood circulating upwards. This also reduces the shock of cold blood returning to the body from the feet. This natural heat exchange mechanism, known as counter-current, is the same as that used in various machines.128
In these counter-current heat exchangers, as engineers refer them, two fluids (liquid or gas) flow in opposite directions in two separate but contiguous channels. If the fluid in one channel is warmer than in the other, heat passes from the warm fluid to the colder one.
Can Plants Use an Electrical Switch?
The carnivorous Venus flytrap catches insects that land on its hinged trap and trigger the hairs on it. These hairs act like electrical switches. The instant one is touched, it gives off electrical signals that change the water balance in the plant’s cells, and trigger the flow of water out of cells along the leaf midrib, closing the trap.129
The switches controlling the flow of current in electrical circuits operate in much the same way. When the switch is turned off, electric current cannot flow. As soon as it is turned on and the circuit is completed, however, electric current begins to flow along the wire once again. Similarly, animals and plants use a great many biological switches to initiate or halt the flow of electrical signals to the relevant parts of their bodies.130
The Venus flytrap’s circuit actually works like two electrical switches connected together in series. Two hairs must be stimulated before the trap to close.131 This precaution prevents unnecessary closing triggered by such phenomena as raindrops.
Of course, the Venus flytrap knows nothing about electric current or the switches that let these currents flow. Nor is it possible for the plant to receive any kind of training in these areas. That being so, how does it come by this knowledge, which even a human being can’t learn without special instruction, and how is it able to employ it so flawlessly? God, the Ruler of all, teaches the plants what to do. The Venus flytrap acts under His inspiration.
Prairie Dogs’ Ventilation Technology
Many animals build underground shelters that require special features to defend them from predators.
In such shelters, the tunnels need to be at a specific distance from the surface and parallel to the ground, or else they may easily be flooded. If the tunnels are dug at a sharp angle, that poses a risk of collapse. Another problem in tunnel construction is meeting the need for air and ventilation.
Prairie dogs are social animals, living in large groups in burrows they construct underground. As their population grows, they dig new burrows, joining them up with tunnels. The space that such complexes occupy can sometimes equal the size of a small city, and thus ventilation assumes a vital importance. Therefore prairie dogs build aboveground towers where their tunnels emerge, rather like volcanoes, which let air be drawn into the city below.
Air travels from regions of high pressure to areas of low. Some of the towers that prairie dogs build are taller than others. Their differences in height give rise to different levels of air pressure in the tunnel entrances. This way, air enters towers with low air pressure above them and emerges through ones with high pressure. Air drawn into the tunnels passes through all the nests, thus establishing an ideal air circulation system.133
To construct a ventilation system such as employed in prairie dogs' tunnels, knowledge of tunnel building, of high and low air pressure, and how they change with altitude are all essential. All these considerations require consciousness, and all these activities indicate the presence of reason and judgment. Therefore, we need to examine the source of this intelligence in the prairie dogs, since clearly it does not belong to the animals themselves—and, contrary to what evolutionists claim, cannot have resulted from blind chance.
God, Who provides countless examples in nature for mankind to ponder upon, created prairie dogs, like all living things on Earth. Every rational person needs to think, listen to the voice of his conscience and turn to God whenever he encounters an example of beauty; because God is the All-forgiving, the Lord of infinite justice. In the Qur’an, God gives glad tidings to servants who believe in Him:
Your Lord knows best what is in your selves. If you are righteous, He is Ever-Forgiving to the remorseful. (Qur’an, 17: 25)
Wasps and the Paper Industry
A series of chemical processes turn logs of wood into a kind of pulp that can later be made into paper. However, the natural inventors of paper are actually wasps.
To build their nests, wasps use paper that they make by mixing their saliva with shreds of chewed wood. Our furniture industry makes chipboard in exactly the same way, although using glue instead of saliva.134
Any wasp resembles a particularly efficient tree-processing and paper making factory. However, all of the processes carried out by large industrial complexes, wasps perform within their own tiny bodies. The paper industry still has a lot to learn from wasps!
A Robotic Arm Inspired by the Elephant’s Trunk
As scientists tried to design a robotic arm, one of the worst problems they faced was achieving freedom of movement. In order for a robot’s arm to serve any useful purpose, it must be able to perform all the movements required by that particular task. In nature, God has created all creatures with the ability to move their limbs in such a way as to meet all their needs. An elephant’s trunk, with its 50,000 or so muscles,135 is one of the most striking examples.
The elephant is able to move its trunk in any direction it wants and can perform tasks requiring the greatest care and sensitivity.
One robotic arm constructed in the U.S. at Rice University clearly reveals the elephant trunk’s superior design. There is no single skeleton-like structure in the trunk, thus endowing it with enormous flexibility and lightness. The robotic arm, on the other hand, does have a spine. The elephant’s trunk possesses a degree of movement which allows it to move in any direction, while the robotic arm is comprised of 32 degrees of freedom in 16 links.136
This only goes to show that the elephant trunk is a special structure, whose every particular feature reveals the nature of God’s flawless art in creation.
