Conchs In Space!
The shell of the giant pink queen conch is made of such remarkable material that scientists speak of its design, even while they say that it is a product of evolutionary chance. The beautiful shell is made of a form of calcium carbonate called aragonite. Yet it is structured in such a way that it resists fractures 100 to 1,000 times better than aragonite ordinarily would.
The conch's secret is that it combines the aragonite with protein. Further, its shell is made up of three layers of aragonite. The middle layer is structured around a rectangular beam of aragonite sheathed in protein. This duplex rod is then bundled with others into a larger beam. The larger beam is in turn bundled with others to produce a larger beam. This complex arrangement gives the shell its extraordinary strength. Pressure that ordinarily causes a catastrophic crack in the aragonite merely scatters the pressure into thousands of tiny cracks.
Materials scientists studying the conch shell refer to this as a high-performance composite structure. They hope to apply the principles learned from the conch shell to make stronger building materials, bridges and even space vehicles.
If such sophisticated design could arise without a Designer, modern companies would surely be wasting their time hiring highly trained designers to improve their products.
Ephesians 6:11
"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Prayer: Protect me, dear Lord, within the armor of Your perfect Truth. Amen.
Ref: Science News, "Conch yields clues for future materials." Image: Researcher holding juvenile queen conch, Jennifer Doerr, NOAA SEFSC Galveston, PD, Wikimedia Commons.
Mark W. Cadwallader: What seashell is stronger than modern buildings? Find out next on today's Creation Moments. And now, here's our Creation Moments host, Ian Taylor.
Ian T. Taylor: The shell of the giant pink queen conch is made of such remarkable material that scientists speak of its design even while they may say that it is a product of evolutionary chance.
The beautiful shell is made of a form of calcium carbonate called aragonite. Yet it is structured in such a way that it resists fractures 100 to 1,000 times better than aragonite normally would.
The conch's secret is that it combines the aragonite with protein. Further, its shell is made up of three layers of aragonite. The middle layer is structured around a rectangular rod of aragonite sheathed in protein.
This duplex rod is then bundled with others into a larger beam, and the larger beam is in turn bundled with others to produce an even larger beam than that. This complex arrangement gives the shell its extraordinary strength.
Pressure that would normally cause a catastrophic crack in normal aragonite merely scatters the pressure into thousands of tiny cracks. Material scientists studying the conch shell refer to this as a high-performance composite structure.
They hope to apply the principles learned from the conch shell to make stronger building materials, bridges, and even space vehicles. If such sophisticated design could arise without a designer, modern companies would surely be wasting their time hiring highly paid designers to improve their products.
Mark W. Cadwallader: To read thousands of short radio scripts like the one you heard today, ask us about our popular line of devotional books, Letting God Create Your Day.
Call us toll-free at 1-800-42-BIBLE. That's 1-800-422-4253. Or visit our online store at creationmoments.com. And be sure to join us next time for another Creation Moment.
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Featured Offer
This wonderful resource is perfect for kids, ages 8 and up. It’s the first of a series for young readers, adapted from Creation Moments’ radio broadcasts and Letting God Create Your Day: Vol. 1, written by Rev. Paul Bartz. Beautifully illustrated and intentionally crafted to reach your child with creation and gospel truth, awe and wonder, prayer and Scripture!
About Creation Moments
Founded in 1963, Creation Moments remains committed to building up the Church and enlightening the world to the wonders of God's creation. For more than sixty years, this ministry has proclaimed the truth of biblical creation and provided irrefutable evidence that the Bible can be trusted from the very first verse to the last. In addition to its international creation-evangelism and radio outreach, Creation Moments offers hundreds of free resources on the Bible and science at its website: CreationMoments.com.
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About Ian T. Taylor & Mark W. Cadwallader
Ian T. Taylor
For most people, Ian Taylor will always be the voice of Creation Moments. He was born in the UK and lived in Canada until his passing. We were honored and blessed to have such a wonderful and dedicated creationist as part our ministry for so many years. Even now, his radio broadcast programs endure to reach others with the message about the awesome and intricate creation of an awesome and loving God.
Mark W. Cadwallader
Mark is Board Chairman of Creation Moments and has served on the Board since 1996. He holds a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston and has worked as an applied materials scientist and engineer in plastics, specialty chemicals, oil additives, and pollution control for over 30 years. Mark credits the ministry for opening his faith as a young man to the unerring credibility of the Bible in all areas including science, and thus helping to transform his life. Mark has published over 100 articles and conference papers in his scientific field of expertise as well as in Creation Science and apologetics. He writes the Creation Moments monthly newsletter as well as most of the blog articles posted on the ministry’s website. He has also authored books, including “Creation Spelled Out for Us All” and “The Beauty of Truth”.
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