Cicadas – Are An Intelligent Design

Is there more to the appearance to these insects than they pop out of the ground and fly around for up to six weeks … every 17 years? Did they evolve or is there something about these lifeforms that have a higher function than what you may first think … well, a scientist has written this blog post to get you to think beyond the ordinary explanations! Read on!

Cicada – Nymph (shell on right) and Adult (winged on left)

Darwin’s hypotheses that certain insects have corresponding relationships and even mimic plants in ways that identify a functional relationship is often taught in college textbooks. Coevolution seems the term of art–but is this the full and true explanation? But if you have been reading the books recommended here at this WindowView blog, then you realize that life is obviously exhibiting design features. In fact, information that is at the root of every organism’s existence is complex, specific, and far beyond the reach of appearing by chance and then natural selection steps in and as Darwin says lends to the survival of the fittest. But chance and natural selection fail to explain life.

Design in an emerging truth … but the root of what is fascinating is further down … keep reading

Information and the first origin of life on Earth, plus fine tuning of Earth and universe lend strong evidence to design and as you may come to realize the complexity of design really requires mind … and if that mind is behind the origin of the universe and life … then the existence of Cicadas–that now appear after 17 years of development as nymphs below ground and living on tree roots–brings up an even more fascinating observation.

As the nymphs arise out of the ground, they bore holes that end up aerating tree roots.

Cicadas by their life cycle design bury themselves underground and the nymphs live on tree roots for 17 years and then emerge from the ground. The result is the holes all around the base of trees. The real point that should be stressed is these holes aerate the soil and allow more air to reach tree roots in this 17 year cycle. Trees and shrubs benefit from air reaching roots and that this happens periodically is the key to a cyclical design.

The lack of periodic aeration plus soil compaction over time will dwarf a tree or shrub, even cause a limit to growth and a shorter life span for the plant. Insect and plant together make a design system requiring two sophisticated life forms–tree and cicada together are a complex system, even if it never occurred to you until now!

Director, WindowView.org

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Planthopper by Design … Just Look At This!

We are certain that this blog will not be the only place where a claim of design in nature will be linked to the handy work of an Intelligent Designer. No matter where you are in terms of thinking about design being a cause for our lives … the picture of gears presented below is remarkable. Take a look, but then read the quote to follow!

Planthopper Gears on Rear legs

Planthopper Gears on Rear legs

The photo above is of a page from the September 13, 2013 Washington Post. The article states: “Its remarkable that these gears look so similar to the gears man has designed, even the individual teeth are so similar,” said Burrows, author of a study that was published online Thursday in the journal Science.’

Well, we have examples of macro-molecules at the cell level acting and functioning like machines. Too often structures like feathers seem to be accepted as the result of evolution, yet historical commentaries even back to Darwin’s contemporaries likened feathers and even metamorphosis (of a caterpillar to a butterfly) as examples of [intelligent] design. All this with good reason due to specificity, complexity, and design features that chance just does not adequately explain.

Today the argument from design holds water in many ways … only the unwillingness to venture into exploring the relevance of design and the designing intelligence behind the scenes holds us back from a full exploration of who we are and how we got here!

Could we … should we … add this to Darwin’s list of doubts? (see our article on Darwin’s Doubts)

Think about it! Enjoy! This is a wonderful example.

A Washington Post video of the gears in motion may still be viewed at this link.

Director, WindowView.org

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