Sunspots 959

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*

Computing: A Christianity Today author warns of the danger of spending time in cyberspace. In addition to pornography and misinformation, internet use distorts the importance of the real world.

(or something:) NPR tells what happens to lost luggage. There's a lot of it!

Science: ScienceAlert describes an amazing newly found area on the ocean bottom.

A Conversation writer discusses genetic and other changes in species, which help them avoid extinction, due to climate change. Most of these strategies are not enough.

NPR reports on an attempt to grow food plants on simulated Martian soil.

(or something): NPR tells us about big tumbleweeds, lots of them.

Sports:

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view

Thanks for reading.

Water, Hydrogen, and Oxygen, and where we get our energy

 

The above equation is a simple way of showing what happens during photosynthesis. There are more detailed ways to show it. Photosynthesis is a complicated process, or processes. But, at its heart, it may be summarized simply.

As you know, there's a lot of water on the earth. As you also know, water consists of two elements, Hydrogen and Oxygen. As you may not know, the energy you need is intimately connected to water. I'm using energy to type this, and you are using energy to move your eyes as you read it. What's that got to do with water?

Our food comes from photosynthesis. Green plants absorb light, and produce various molecules that we use as food, such as starches, sugars, several vitamins, and proteins.

 Light energy is used to split water, and the Hydrogen split off is then available for the manufacture of Carbon-containing molecules, like glucose, food molecules, which can be stored, broken down to release energy, or moved to parts of the organism where they are needed. Some of the need is to release energy. Most foods you buy at a grocery store, or a restaurant, come with a calorie number. That number indicates the amount of energy you would expect to get if you ate and digested that food. The energy comes from energy-storing molecules, like glucose. The Carbon-containing molecules, which have Hydrogen added to the Carbon, may also be used to produce important molecules like enzymes, vitamins, hormones and proteins. (Oxygen, Nitrogen, Sulfur and other elements may be added to a Carbon-based structure.)

Organic molecules, like glucose, will burn. Burning uses Oxygen to carry on combustion. There is a process, used by nearly all organisms, called cellular respiration. That process also uses Oxygen to create water, and, in the process, releases energy for use in our cells. So, putting it very simply, photosynthesis uses light energy to break water, and cellular respiration puts water back together, and releases energy.

I'm bald-headed. So lots of light hits my head. My cells, like yours, have lots of water. So why doesn't that light, on my scalp cells, split water and make glucose? The answer is that various helping molecules, molecular tools, as it were, are necessary for photosynthesis to occur. These include chlorophyll and several enzymes, which I don't have in my scalp cells.

Isn't God great? Thanks for reading.

Cheese in the Bible

According to the Wikipedia, cheese-making goes back perhaps as much as 10,000 years. During that time, several methods and materials have been used -- just look at the cheese display in a good grocery store. (Maybe you should wait a while to do this.)

I did a search for "cheese" in the Bible, and found just three mentions, as follows:

1 Samuel 17:18 ... and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand; and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news.” (This is part of the story of David and Goliath. All scripture from the World English Bible, public domain.)

2 Samuel 17:29 ... honey, butter, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.” (This is when David and those loyal to him left Jerusalem to escape Absalom and his followers. A rich man fed the group.)
 
Job 10:10 Haven’t you poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese? (Part of Job's long complaint.)

I expected to find more references, but that was it. As far as I know, no one knows for sure what kind of cheese is referred to in any of these verses.

Thanks for reading! Eat some cheese.

Sunspots 706

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:


Christianity: Comedian Stephen Colbert on how he found his faith again, through a New Testament (Gideon?) given to him on the street.
A BioLogos writer discusses how evil can be in the world, in spite of God's existence and power.
(And politics) Relevant reports on Pastor Tim Keller points out the dangers of nationalism, applying the book of Jonah.


Computing: Gizmodo reports on 22 apps for Android devices that drain batteries rapidly, and may contain malware.

Education: Grammarphobia explains the use of "clear" and "clearly."

Health: (And politics) Michael Gerson on the anti-vaccination movement in Italy (and the U.S.).

Humor: One of my Flickr contacts has been imagining really big helpings of several kinds of food.


Politics: Scientific American reports that the Department of Interior is not protecting the environment -- quite the opposite.

FiveThirtyEight asks whether the Republican Party has given up on attracting black voters, and discusses the history of the question.

Science: Relevant reports on studies that show that almost all old ice in the Arctic is gone.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 700

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

 
Computing: National Public Radio on the question of whether self-driving cars should have ethics built in.

Food: National Public Radio reports on the likely effect of climate change on five important crops. All five will be impacted negatively.

Health: (or something) Gizmodo reports that families have been scattering the ashes of their loved ones at Disney theme parks.

Politics: Gizmodo discusses a case, from the 19th Century (!) on the question of whether people can use photographs of individuals without their permission.

National Public Radio discusses the meaning of "nationalism," and the history of the use of that word.

Earther reports that the newly elected President of Brazil wants to turn the rain forest into a soybean field.

Earther also reports that President Trump has designated a new national monument, with significance for African-American history.

Science: Science Magazine reports that there is considerable variety in the shape of women's birth canals, which means that fetuses have different challenges when being born, depending on their mother's anatomy.

New Scientist has posted winners of an astronomy photo contest.

Scientific American reports that tiny bits of plastic are commonly found in people's poop.

Scientific American discusses the determination of sex, which is complicated and difficult to predict, and may even change as the individual matures.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 698

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Christianity Today reports that many US Christians hold heretical beliefs about the gravity of sin, the importance of worshiping with others, and the nature of the Holy Spirit.


Finance: (or something) Scientific American reports that there are now a million electrically powered autos in the US.

Food: Listverse on the origins of 10 common foods (including bagels, ice cream cones, and others.)

Health: Scientific American on doctors being slow to use new technology. (The article says that thermometers were resisted for a long time!)

History: About the life of Ella Mae Wiggins, a textile worker who became a leader in the struggle for better pay and conditions for textile workers, but who was shot to death in 1929, by textile mill security employees.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight has a solid analysis of how the Supreme Court responds to resistance to its actions from Congress and/or the President, based on the history of such situations.

Science: Scientific American tells us the function of a horse's tail. Really.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.
Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 685

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: (Or Philosophy, or something) David Brooks, of the New York Times, tells us that there has been a cultural contest between Athens and Jerusalem, or myths versus parables, for a long time. He describes the characteristics of each, and the virtues that they celebrate. One amazing statistic: three times as many people watched a video gaming event than watched the recent Super Bowl. I thank one of my brothers for pointing me to this article.

Christianity: Christianity Today reports on a study that indicates that people are more likely to change churches because of changes in doctrine in the church than because of pastoral change, or music change.

(and politics) A number of Christian leaders, including the President of the National Association of Evangelicals, an official of the Southern Baptist Convention, and a spokeswoman for The Wesleyan Church, and others, issued a statement on immigration on July 3. "America can be great only if we are good." And, being "good" includes treating immigrants in a Christ-like manner. 
Food: ListVerse tells us how 10 popular foods, including potato chips and ice cream cones, were invented by accident.

Health: Gizmodo suggests that we not use spray sunscreen.

Gizmodo also reports that a government study says most of us don't wash our hands properly.

Humor: (And Food) NPR reports on a mostly friendly Twitter war between the Departments of Agriculture of South Carolina and Georgia over which state grows the most, and best, peaches.


Politics: National Public Radio and many other sources report that Scott Pruitt has resigned as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency. His acting replacement is an energy lobbyist. Sigh. Pruitt did several questionable things, and seemed determined to tear down environmental protections. See also Gizmodo. FiveThirtyEight says that President Trump's cabinet has had more changes than any President's in 40 years. Scientific American reports on Andrew Wheeler, the acting head of the EPA, who must be approved by the Senate to take that office.

FiveThirtyEight analyzes the politics of abortion. Not all Republicans are anti-abortion, and not all Democrats are pro-abortion.

Science: NPR reports on how some farmers are creating places for bees, other than honeybees, to live. They pollinate alfalfa, an important food for cows. There are signs up, in certain areas of Washington State, requiring drivers to slow to 20 mph, so as not to kill bees crossing roads.

Sports: Steve Hartman, of CBS News, reports on a high school athlete who was put on the swimming team, even though he couldn't swim, and how the young man fared, and what he thinks of failure.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 665

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Gizmodo reports that Crayola is coming out with a pen that turns pieces of crayons into ink that will write on any surface.

Christianity: (Or, at least, outstanding generosity) Listverse tells 10 heartwarming stories of unselfishness, around the world.


Food: (and maybe Finance) Listverse tells us, and shows us, some really expensive desserts, such as a $1,685 Krispy Kreme doughnut.

Health: (and, maybe, humor) National Public Radio posts a poem about a woman who (really) had 14 roundworms in her eye.

Politics: Russian entities began sowing discord soon after the Florida school shooting, according to National Public Radio.

Science: (or something) Gizmodo reports that a California woman is suing her state for Bigfoot Denial.

Listverse has 10 facts about the Andromeda Galaxy. Gizmodo also has a post on this group of stars.

Gizmodo, and other outlets, report that some ants administer medical care to their wounded sisters.

Gizmodo also reports that we don't know when rabbits (some of them) became domesticated.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight examines what would happen if men and women skiers competed against each other.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 630

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant and other sources report that the US Government is rounding up Christians from Iraq and sending them back, which is probably putting them at risk to their lives.

Benjamin L. Corey tells us 5 things that he wishes conservative Christians knew about Muslims.


Food: The Associated Press tells you more than you knew about cucumber sex and edible cucumbers.

Listverse reports on 10 foods, most of which are regularly eaten elsewhere, but are banned in the US, for various reasons.

Health: UnDark reviews a book about the US health care system, and seriously questions the use of "system" and of "care," in describing it.

Statnews.com reports on a study that indicates that even a small amount of regular alcohol consumption causes some brain damage.

History: Listverse tells us about 10 American inventions that changed the world, mostly for good.
 
Politics: Wired reports that President Trump may be taken to court for blocking some users from his Twitter account, because they disagree with him, on free speech grounds. He IS the President, after all, hence his Tweets may be, legally, a public forum. (The courts may rule otherwise.)

Science: According to a review in Scientific American, some fish can solve fairly complex problems, and can use tools.

Scientific American also reports that asking someone for a favor, through e-mail, is not as effective as asking in person.

Listverse tells us how different colors affect our behavior.

Listverse also describes 10 geological oddities, all of them rather large.




Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 616

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: (and Sports) National Public Radio reports on how to practice effectively.

Christianity: A Relevant writer tells us that worship may be personal, but it isn't private.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware has posted about a utility which can find deleted files.

Ethics: National Public Radio reports that scientists have been able to culture human embryos for 14 days or more, and discusses the ethical implications of this.

Food: A Relevant writer says that 40% of the food in the US is thrown away, and that's a stewardship problem.

Health: NPR says that, if you wonder what happened to a supposed miracle cure of some kind, wonder no more. About half of news stories about medical breakthroughs are about items that are found not to really help us.

Politics: (sort of) Listverse discusses alternative facts.

Wired on Mr. Trump's accusation of illegal wiretaps by the Obama administration.

Science: Scientific American says that the District of Columbia cherry trees will probably bloom earlier this year than they ever have.

National Public Radio reports on possible finding of the oldest fossils ever found.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 596

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Stephen Burnett continues a series about "Christian White Magic," here and here.

Relevant reports that a missionary in Russia has been arrested and fined for holding a religious service in his home, and inviting others to attend.

A Relevant commentator says that Christianity is not just a relationship -- it's a religion.

Finance: Relevant reports that the Mall of America will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.

Health: (and food) A doctor tells why he eats dropped food off of his kitchen floor, even if it's been there more than five seconds.

History: Listverse sets the record straight on Pocohantas. She had a very hard life.

Humor: A Christianity Today contributor prays for certain characteristics of a possible future husband.

Literature: Morgan Busse, Christian writer of fantastic literature, asks "What if Only One Person Reads my Books?"


Politics: The New York Times reports on a study of the political leanings of doctors, and there are several interesting results. Surgeons, for example, are nearly three times more likely to be Republican than infectious disease specialists. Also, doctors in higher-paying specialties are more likely to be Republican.

Science: Scientific American reports that silkworms, fed mulberry leaves sprayed with solutions of certain artificial materials, produce silk which is stronger than normal silk, and such silk can conduct electricity.

Oh, oh. Scientific American reports that the Food and Drug Administration, important scientific journals, and universities exert considerable control over how news from these bodies is reported. One example -- Fox News is not invited to FDA press conferences. The reason for this is not clear.

And Scientific American says that ISIS gets quite a bit of money from agriculture.

Listverse grosses us out with photos and descriptions of the 10 creepiest fungi.

FiveThirtyEight tells us that rocks don't just sit there.






Image source (public domain)

Genetically Modified foods are safe to eat

Slate has published a thorough study of the opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food, and found that such foods are safe to eat, and, in some cases, safer than crops that haven't been so modified.

There has been at least one unfortunate case where anti-GMO activists have prevented poor people in poor countries from receiving health benefits easily and cheaply.

There are legitimate concerns about who sells GMOs, or herbicides designed to work with them, and about the development of resistant weeds, but neither of these have to do with the safety of GMOs in your morning cereal, etc.

Thanks for reading. Read Slate.

Sunspots 526

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: The History Blog tells us about the return of the best-known (and almost the only) picture of J. S. Bach to Leipzig
 
Christianity: An article on the errors the so-called Prosperity Gospel makes in interpreting the Bible.


Benjamin L. Corey thinks that John Calvin either didn't understand Christ's teaching, or deliberately disobeyed it, and explains his thinking.

Health: (or something) As of June 11, 2015, Amazon was offering a free book, in Kindle format (the price may go back up in the future) entitled How to Survive by Eating Insects and Learning Entomophagy [eating insects]. I didn't download it, but it caught my attention.


Science: Wired points out that the wings of the dinosaurs in Jurassic World aren't large enough.


The courtship display of a peacock spider, in a 3 minute 2 second video.


Wired also has an essay about dinosaurs in general. If we did produce one now, would it be like the extinct ones? How would we know? and other interesting questions.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 505

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Relevant has an opinion piece that says that Christians should care more about design -- in music, and in other arts, including book covers. There's a link to a compiled list of the worst Christian book covers of 2014, and yes, most of them are really awful.
Christianity: Relevant on "4 Ways the Modern Church Looks Nothing Like the Early Church." Pretty important ways, too.
Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reports on a free Windows program to list all your drivers, and their properties.
Health: National Public Radio reports on how difficult it is for veterans to get benefits. Shameful.
Politics: National Public Radio reports that the South Carolina Poet Laureate's poem was not read at the inauguration of Governor Nikki Haley, last week. The poem is included in the report.
Science: National Public Radio reports on the question of how humans come to like foods (like hot spices and coffee) that they didn't like when they were small children.
Wired tells us why squinting helps us see better.


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 502

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity (and Astronomy): Reviews of a book about "Blood Moons" by John Hagee, claiming that eclipses are a sign that something important is going to happen to Israel, and it's about to happen. The reviews demolish the book's thesis thoroughly.
Health: Walking is good for you. It's a lot easier in some places. You can determine the "Walk Score" of any address here.
Science: A reporter for National Public Radio had her gut bacteria, and those of her husband, mother, and dog, analyzed.
NPR reports on dwarf galaxies, some quite near (in astronomical terms) to us.
The University of Aberdeen has posted a video of creatures living in the Mariana Trench, which is as much as 10,000 meters (nearly 7 miles) below sea level.
NPR reports that there may be a connection between what we hear and how we taste food.


 Image source (public domain)

I'm thankful for Glucose! You should be, too.

I'm thankful for glucose. Why? It's the most important product of photosynthesis. In other words, all food comes from glucose, somehow. If you are hospitalized, and need to be given nutrition intravenously, you'll get glucose. That makes sense, because glucose is the main source of energy in our cells. It's absolutely important.

The figure above shows a molecule of glucose in one configuration, a chain of six Carbon atoms. There is another configuration, namely hexagonal. In this picture, you can see a chain of these hexagons, each made of 5 Carbon molecules and 1 Oxygen molecule, with other atoms, including 1 Carbon, attached to the central hexagon. That picture is of a molecular model of cellulose, which is a critical component of the structure of plants. That's another reason why glucose is important, besides its use as an energy source.

Common table sugar is made of a molecule of glucose and a molecule of fructose, which is quite similar to glucose, but not identical to it.

Sugar substitutes, or artificial sweeteners, contain a hexagon much like that in glucose. Presumably, the sweetness receptors in our tongues are stimulated by molecules closely resembling glucose in shape, that fit into the sweetness receptors.

Plants store chemical energy (food) as starch, which is made up of many glucose molecules. When we eat starchy foods, we break up the starch, into glucose. One enzyme that does that is amylase, which is secreted in our saliva. If you keep a starchy food, such as a soda cracker or a piece of raw potato, in your mouth, and keep chewing it, you will experience a sweet taste. That taste comes from glucose. Animals store glucose as glycogen.

The Wikipedia says: "It is unclear why glucose, as opposed to other hexose sugars, is so widely used in living organism." So far, anyway. It's not unclear to the Creator, who planned for a carbohydrate, made from Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen, with the formula C₆H₁₂0₆, and the shape of a hexagon, to be so important to us. I can't prove that, but no one can disprove it, either.

This is the last in a series, expressing gratitude for a few molecules or elements that are crucial for life on earth. This one is posted between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is an appropriate time for posting about sugar.

I'm thankful for Carbon Dioxide. You should be, too.

I'm thankful for carbon dioxide. You should be, too.

The most important reason is that carbon dioxide is one of the raw materials used in photosynthesis. This process, in green plants, makes all our food, directly or indirectly. (Food is something that humans or animals can get energy from. In other words, it has calories. Water, and some other substances we consume, are not food.) Some of our food comes from animals, but the food that these animals use to grow comes from plant sources. When living things get energy out of food, they give off carbon dioxide and water. We breathe out, and get rid of carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide is odorless, tasteless, and transparent to light. It is partly responsible for the Greenhouse Effect. Energy, as light, can come through the atmosphere. When it strikes something, some of that energy is converted to heat. Carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases, are not as transparent to heat as they are to light. The result is that heat builds up on the earth. We usually think of that effect as harmful, and it is becoming that way, but without greenhouse gases, the Wikipedia says that the earth's temperature would be well below freezing, in other words, not conducive to life.

There are many industrial, agricultural and household uses for carbon dioxide. Yeast uses sugars for energy, and gives off carbon dioxide as one of the byproducts. Since carbon dioxide is a gas at normal temperatures, that carbon dioxide makes bread rise. The holes in bread are due to carbon dioxide. (It's an odorless, tasteless, transparent gas, so you won't be able to detect it, except by what it does.)

Carbon dioxide dissolves readily in water. When it does, it combines with water to form carbonic acid, a weak acid. Carbonic acid helps water to eat away at certain kinds of rocks, forming various geological formation. Carbonic acid has other important effects. Carbonated drinks have a lot of carbon dioxide dissolved in them, under pressure.

It is possible to lower the temperature of carbon dioxide so that it becomes a solid, so-called dry ice. Dry ice has many uses. Two of these are in storing food, so that it won't spoil, and in creating special effects in theaters and the like -- the ice turns into a gas readily, producing what looks like fog.

Carbon dioxide is used as a refrigerant, and as a fire extinguisher. It has many other uses. See the Wikipedia article on the compound.

I believe, but cannot prove, that carbon dioxide does so many things, some essential to our lives, because God designed it to have the properties that it does. This cannot be disproved, either.

Thanks for reading. Breathe out. You will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

I'm thankful for Oxygen

I'm thankful for Oxygen. You should be, too.

Oxygen is found in most of the important molecules in our bodies. Water, proteins, DNA, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, hormones, and others. That, alone, would be cause for gratitude. But there's more.

Oxygen, well, oxidizes. So? Oxidation means that Oxygen has the power to combine with other atoms and give off energy in the process. Some such reactions are slow -- rusting of iron, for instance. But some are rapid. Fire is an oxidation reaction. (The sun is not on fire, in this sense. There's very little oxygen in it, and the energy from the sun comes from another source.)

Most of us burn gasoline in our cars. Gasoline is mostly a mixture of hydrocarbons, a molecule, for instance, such as octane, with eight Carbons and eighteen Hydrogens. When a mixture of octane and Oxygen is ignited, the resulting products are carbon dioxide and water. The production of water in this way releases energy, which is used to cause gas to expand, thus moving the pistons, which motion, with the proper apparatus, causes the wheels of the automobile to turn.

In living things, a somewhat similar process takes place, not in the cylinders, but in tiny energy converters called mitochondria. The process is called cellular respiration, and the reason we require Oxygen, and breathe air to get it, is because Oxygen is needed in our mitochondria, so that energy may be released. Red blood cells use hemoglobin to carry Oxygen from our lungs to all the cells in our bodies. Each cell uses that Oxygen to release energy.

Fuel, in this case food, is oxidized rapidly, and the energy given off is used to produce adenosine triphosphate. Most of the energy given off comes from the oxidation of Hydrogen, which produces water, one of the byproducts of the processes taking place in the mitochondria. The other byproduct is carbon dioxide. To summarize, food is oxidized, releasing energy and giving off carbon dioxide and water. There are a few living things that use different methods to get energy. Yeasts, for example, use a different process. But even green plants, which make their own food by photosynthesis, need to carry on cellular respiration when it is dark, in order to provide themselves with energy, which means that they need Oxygen.

Fire is important to humans. It has many uses -- in manufacturing, in providing light and heat. Fire requires Oxygen. The atmosphere is about 21% Oxygen. It has been suggested that that is enough so that Oxygen is readily available for breathing, and to keep fires burning, but that if the amount of Oxygen was much higher, fires would become harder to put out.

Here's a statement about the significance of fire as part of the worship of the Israelites:
Leviticus 6:12 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning: and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13 Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out. (World English Bible, public domain)

God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush, and to the Israelites as a column of fire. Were these fires caused by oxidation, or was this some supernatural appearance of fire? We don't know.

We need Oxygen, for many of the molecules that allow us to live, for fire, and to provide our own bodies with usable energy. I believe, but cannot prove, that God designed Oxygen so that this would be possible. It can't be disproved, either. Thanks for reading!

I'm thankful for Adenosine

I'm thankful for adenosine. You should be, too. Adenosine plays some critical roles in our lives. The graphic above shows a molecular model, found in the Wikipedia article on adenosine. (Such use of the graphic is allowed.) The black spheres represent Carbon atoms, the red, Oxygen, the black, Nitrogen, the white, Hydrogen, and the yellow-orange sphere represents Phosphorus. The rods represent covalent bonds. The dotted lines indicate some movement of some of the electrons. Adenosine is also known as adenine monophosphate (AMP). The Phosphorus on the right, with its attached four Oxygens, is a phosphate. The hexagon and pentagon, on the left, are Adenine, a Nitrogen base. The middle part is deoxyribose, a 5-Carbon sugar.

It is pretty well known that DNA uses Nitrogen bases A, C, G and T to make up our hereditary code. The A stands for Adenine. However, A is connected to a 5-Carbon sugar, Deoxyribose, and to a phosphate, in actual DNA. (C, G and T are also so connected.) The actual genetic code is the sequence of AT, TA, CG and GC pairs, in the double helix, but there wouldn't be a double helix without the deoxyribose and the phosphate.

I used a photo of three girls to represent heredity. I'm not sure how they are related, but I think that two of them are identical twins. In any case, even if one of them is a cousin, rather than a sibling, they clearly share some external characteristics. These characteristics are largely determined by the common DNA that they got from their parents. You may not have thought of it, but the heredity-determining ability of DNA is important, even if you don't have any children. The left half of your body gets the same DNA as the right, the top as the bottom, etc. That's important to make us what we are. Besides, all of us have parents, living or dead.

Adenosine has another important function. It is the raw material for ATP, adenosine triphosphate. ATP has two more phosphates attached to it, in addition to the one in adenosine (AMP).

In most automobiles, the energy stored in gasoline is released, a little at a time, in the cylinders. That's a much better way of using the chemical energy of gasoline than causing an explosion in the gas tank would be! In a similar way, energy from food, say a sugar molecule, is captured, temporarily, in several ATP molecules, which can be transported within the cell. (One part of such capturing is glycolysis.) When energy is needed, for example to make a hormone, ATP is turned back into Adenosine/AMP, as the high-energy bonds that held the two additional phosphates are broken. It sounds complicated, and it is, but is works, and it's a good thing it does! So the energy from food is divided into ATPs, and these are used, a little of the energy at a time.

Because adenosine, and other important molecules, have Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Phosphorus in them, living things all need such elements. They need other elements, too, especially Sulfur, which is found in proteins.

I'm convinced that God knew about adenosine, and how it would work, and planned for this. I can't prove it, and it can't be disproved, either. Thanks for reading.

I'm thankful for Chlorophyll

The picture above is of a blueberry leaf, and of one version of a  model of a Chlorophyll molecule.

A recent post attempted to explain why we should be thankful for Carbon atoms, which are able to form complex structures. A Chlorophyll molecule isn't nearly as complex as DNA, or as a protein, but it's pretty complex. The Wikipedia article on Chlorophyll says that Chlorophyll a has this chemical structure: C₅₅H₇₂O₅N₄Mg. That's 137 atoms, of 5 different elements. Without the capacity of Carbon to form such structures, life would be impossible. (Chlorophyll a is the most common Chlorophyll molecule. Chlorophyll b, which is very similar, is also found in green plants. Other similar molecules are found in other types of organisms.)

Life requires energy sources. For most living things, certainly including us, Chlorophyll is essential in making such energy available. How does it do this? It is a pigment. Like all pigments, it absorbs certain types of light. Light is a form of energy. Before we get to the energy, let's consider the color of Chlorophyll. It's green. So what? That means that it is not absorbing green light. Green light is being reflected from the leaves that contain Chlorophyll, or it is passing through them. It's other colors of light that Chlorophyll absorbs. (That's true of all pigments -- a red pigment, for example, does not absorb red light. It reflects it.) Chlorophyll absorbs the energy of blue and red, or far red, light.

What does Chlorophyll do with this energy? It makes it available to photosynthesis, the process, as the name suggests, whereby light energy is used to make things. What is made is simple sugars, which are used for food, and also as raw materials for making other types of molecules needed by living things.

Photosynthesis requires two raw materials, water (H₂O) and Carbon dioxide (CO₂). The energy absorbed by Chlorophyll is used to break water molecules, so that Hydrogen is available. In the process, Oxygen is given off. See here for the summary chemical equation for photosynthesis. It is only a summary. The process is complex. That Hydrogen becomes attached to Carbon, from the Carbon Dioxide, and the result is glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆).

The food we eat, where food is an energy source usable by our body's metabolism, all comes from green plants, directly or indirectly. It comes from plants like beans and spinach, or from animals that eat green plants, like cows, or, rarely, from animals that eat animals that eat green plants, such as some fish.

The three-dimensional structure of Chlorophyll makes it possible for it to trap light energy, and divert it into chemical energy -- food. I believe, but cannot prove, that God designed Carbon atoms, and also Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Magnesium atoms, so that they could be assembled into Chlorophyll molecules, thus making it possible for green plants to get food, and for us to get food from them. I also believe that He planned and designed the complex enzymes that construct Chlorophyll, and that assist in transferring captured light energy to chemical bonds. As I say, I can't prove any of this, but no one can disprove it, either.

Thanks for reading. Be grateful for photosynthesis.