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By William Van Zyl.
Published on January 16, 2023.
Bang! Firing a devastating shot from its one large claw, the shrimp stuns it prey. The heat generated by the blast – momentarily – reaches 4,800 degrees Celsius (8672 Fahrenheit).
“What will we do if all these discoveries influence the people in our congregation?” asked Reverend Patchuppa.
“Yes, what will we do?” replied elder Dubb.
“If people start believing in Science, they could question the existence of God. Our church could be empty soon,” said the reverend.
“All the scientific terminology, jargon, and talk is over the heads of many of our members. All they see and hear is ‘Scientific Facts,’ “ said the elder.
“We have to do something.”
“But what can we do?”
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This fictional introduction represents what the talk could have been in some churches during the 1800s.
I remember viewing 3 documentaries about 3 very important events. The clergy were whispering behind closed doors. The Christian Faith was at ‘stake.’ Three times during the 18th century, some Church members feared scientific discoveries. The nervous conversations of the clergy in these documentaries stayed with me. Their fears of science destroying thousands of years of beliefs and values were immanent. They were unsettled.
There could have been more similar events during the 1800s. However, I list the 3 most important ones.
Table of Contents
The 3 important historical events.
- The Deciphering of the Rosetta Stone.
On September 27, 1822 (Cairo, Egypt), French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs after studying the Rosetta Stone for years.
- The Leviathan of Parsonstown (Rosse Reflection Telescope).
Situated in the grounds of Birr Castle in the Irish midlands sat the Leviathan of Parsonstown, a 72-inch reflecting telescope the like of which had never been seen before. The telescope was built by William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse, and completed in 1845.
- Darwin publishes his influential work: The Origin of Species.
In 1859 Darwin published his scientific work, namely The Origin of Species. He was proposing the continual Evolution of Species. The first printing of Charles Darwin’s book, on the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, sold out in only a few days.
Timeline: The 3 scientific events which are the focus of this article:
Intelligent Design.
Today Intelligent Design is an area of interest. Science has uncovered layer after layer of the codes, the intent, and the Design behind the species; revealing the Design behind food chains, migration, adaptations, intelligent decision making, reproduction, DNA of seeds, and so much more has many guessing. With all the new knowledge, we know so much more. We stand in awe as we watch BBC Earth, The Discovery Channel and National Geographic programs.
In this article, I also look at the concept of Intelligent Design. There are so many intelligent designs in nature it will take a very long time to list them. We live in a brilliantly well-designed natural world!
Let’s look at one example: The Pistol Shrimp.
According to scientists, the Pistol Shrimp survived and evolved for millions of years before it could stun its prey with a single shot from its claw. Almost as hot as the sun’s surface: The pistol shrimp’s claws “shoot” tiny bubbles that produce incredible energy. They can reportedly reach temperatures of nearly 4,800 degrees Celsius! That’s slightly less than the sun’s surface temperature of 5,600 Celsius.
Are you serious? Yes, I am serious. The design of the mechanism, firing the shot is brilliant. See the video and the diagram below. According to scientists, the species took 150 million years to evolve into what they are today. A shooting shrimp. When did the Shrimp fire its first successful shot? How many shots misfired before the Shrimp got it right? It will take many zeros to try and explain it here. However, let’s imagine that Shrimp started evolving millions of years ago. When was the first shot successfully shot fired? How long did it take for the pistol mechanism to develop? How many misfires did it take to create a functioning pistol? The Shrimp must have received lots and lots of feedback from its evolving gun to get it right. Let us assume 75 million years at 365 days per year x 10 shots of practice every day. I have allowed 75 million years for the mechanism to evolve (not shooting at all – just changing). That totals up to 150 million years. I have calculated the number of shots needed to develop the pistol fully. Here are the numbers, just for fun: 273, 750,000,000. In other words, over two hundred and seventy-three billion times (nearly 274 billion). Stunning evolution of the pistol shrimp’s weapon.
Diagram: The Pistol Shrimp’s shooting mechanism.
See the 2 short videos of the pistol in action.
See the firing of the pistol.
Slow motion video: Firing pistol
According to scientists the evolutionary ‘Pistol Design’, took 150 million years to evolve:
“We realised that this spectacular ability to break water by making cavitation bubbles had to have been preceded by maybe millions of years of shrimp just shooting water. Somehow as they continued to shoot water, they got faster and faster, eventually breaking the cavitation threshold to produce these snaps. It’s pretty extreme biology,” said Palmer (2018). Link: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-million-years.html
Are more information available to explain the pistol-phenomena?
The question is now raised that the design – and others – are too intelligent to have evolved all by itself. Some believe that there could be an Intelligent Design behind it.
I’ve been reading. The Young Earth Creationists believes that the Pistol Shrimp was created in a single day and fired its first shot on the same day. Which means the shrimp had its first meal on day one. It stunned its prey with the very first shot. Perfectly designed to perform its intended function.
And, it is so extravagantly designed – when the sonic bubbles are fired – it almost reaches the temperature of the Sun’s surface. Wow! The temperature of the surface of the Sun is around 5,520 degrees Celsius (9,980 degrees Fahrenheit [5,800 kelvins ]). Another interesting fact is that the hottest part of the Sun is its core, where temperatures top 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius). As mentioned, the bubbles fired by the shrimp reaches temperatures of 4,800 degrees Celsius. Amazing!
As I am continuing to watch more documentaries on our natural world, I stand in awe of the extravagant, beautiful, and perfectly functional designs. So much intelligence in design cannot not be ignored.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Dear reader, what are your thoughts?
References:
Palmer R. (2018). An adaptation 150 million years in the making. Phys Org. Article – January, 3 2018. Link: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-million-years.html
More information on Snapping Shrimp Claws: Tomonari Kaji et al, Parallel Saltational Evolution of Ultrafast Movements in Snapping Shrimp Claws, Current Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.11.044
Just for fun: Pistol Shrimp called PINK FLOYD. Are you serious?
Rock giants Pink Floyd honored in naming of newly discovered, bright pink—pistol shrimp
by University of Oxford
A strikingly bright pink-clawed species of pistol shrimp, discovered on the Pacific coast of Panama, has been given the ultimate rock and roll name in recognition of the discoverers’ favourite rock band – Pink Floyd. Credit: Phys Org. University of Oxford. Published April 11, 2017 – https://phys.org/news/2017-04-giants-pink-floyd-honored-newly.html
Copyright © 2023 by William Van Zyl
Pistol Shrimp’s blast almost reaches temperature of the sun.
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Published by Five House Publishing (New Zealand)
First Publishing, January 2023
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Fascinating. Well done. Coupla typos btw
Thanks, John. I really appreciate your feedback! You can be more specific in your comments and feedback – I will not be offended. Please identify and point the typos out! I would appreciate that! Regards. William