OUCH! A SORE POINT

We can guess what these guys are doing and we can be sure that little baby is an 8 day old boy.
Let’s hope the mohel and his assistant washed their hands thoroughly, that his instruments are sterile for this brit milah and ….that he hasn’t got ‘the shakes’!

Here is what the Jewish Torah claims God said to Abraham:

"This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger…."                      Genesis 17

So why at eight days old??                                                        

Let’s give the cultural, ethical and religious arguments a miss and just look at the medical aspect…
Vitamin K was not identified until 1929 when Danish scientist Henrik Dam named it Koagulationsvitamin. Together with calcium, Vitamin K is used to convert the blood-clotting protein prothrombin to thrombin but the low level of Vitamin K at birth can lead to the rare ‘Haemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn’ (HDN) in 0.25% to 1.7% of births.

Prothrombin levels reach normal level in 5-7 days but then….           

increase on Day 8 to 110% of normal – the highest level that will ever be reached in the life of this child!                                       

(Just by the way, it is claimed that the dosage of Vitamin K now administered to newborns as a standard procedure is 20,000 times that required and has been implicated as a cause of child leukaemia.)       

Okay, we might think circumcision is a barbaric relic of superstition. Other nations like Egypt used this procedure as a rite of passage to puberty, adulthood or marriage BUT… a Jewish male is reminded several times each day that Israel is meant to be ‘a cut above the others’- even if it is a sore point!

Could there be a Creator God who might have had a clue or two about what He was doing?                               

 

Acknowledgements: 
mercola.com
lastrow.wordpress.com
apologeticspress.org
Photo credits: 
bethaderech.com 
blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

                                                                                                                                                       

                                                           

                                                                             

                                                                          

 

PLAYING BY EAR

Here is Nik Wallenda, 450 metres above the Little Colorado River in Grand Canyon - playing it by ear again.                    

 

Okay, he’s using his arms and legs with assistance from a balance rod to pull off his stunt ‘safely’ but we’re left wondering what he’s got between those ears.                

We’ll never really know except, like the rest of us, he must have two of these peculiar thingummies:

Whatever is this anyway?

No it’s not a three-headed snail and no, it’s not a tumor.                                

This is your inner ear that some medicos say evolved over millions of years, so let’s go exploring inside Nick’s ear like a bug…but this ain’t easy…a waxy substance is making this adventure hard-going and soon we come to a membrane completely blocking our way.

We learn that the membrane is the eardrum which receives sound vibrations that are amplified behind in the middle ear by 3 tiny bones: the ossicles (malleus, incus & stapes). Why 3?...so that loud sounds are dampened. Clever hey!...and yet another example of ‘irreducible complexity’ - leave any component out and nothing works.     

Now remember the good old days of flying when the hosties would hand out lollies to passengers?...except you were busy with ear-ache as we descended to our destination in an unpressurised airliner. The Eustachian tubes normally vent the middle ear to the throat, which prevented Nick’s ear-drums from perforating with the pressure changes when driving up to the Grand Canyon rim at about 4000 feet above sea level.

At last we reach the inner ear where the stapes vibrates an oval window in the cochlea (‘the snail shell’), sending waves thru fluid which are detected by hairs (organ of Corti), sending electrical signals for the brain to interpret as sound.

Wait!...that’s not all. The 3 semi-circular canals you can see are set at right angles to each other and contain fluid that moves tiny hairs, enabling the brain to sense movement of the body….and there’s more vestibular organs! The brain needs a reference to distinguish between movement of the body and attitude of the head so there are two sensors incorporated as well: the saccule aligned vertically and the utricle aligned horizontally.

So ladies and gentlemen, just what are we born with, between those lugs?  

Two integrated, self-cleaning, pressure tolerant, water-resistant, shock-proof, dual purpose, attenuating stereophonic microphones – complete with artificial horizons and 3-dimensional accelerometers!             
If just one component was missing would the ear be a masterpiece of bionic engineering?..... or just a ridiculous deformity for hanging your specs on?           

 

 

Acknowledgements:  
Anatomica, Global Book Publishing, Sydney 2000  
wikipedia.org    
medicinenet.com   
Gillen, A. ‘Body By Design’, Master Books, Green Forest AR, 2001  
Photo credits:   
nydailynews.com      
3dscience.com  
zrhbzeds.homeip.net                                             

                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                    

                                     

                                                            

                                                                                                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLACK SMOKERS

 

We are told that BLACK SMOKERS were unknown until 1977…….or were they?

Scientists first found hydrothermal vents 2,500 metres under the Pacific Ocean in the Galapagos Rift off the coast of Ecuador. Sea water at ~2 degrees C is drawn down to be heated by volcanic magma to ~460 degrees as a supercritical fluid, rich in hydrogen sulphide and acidic as vinegar. The minerals deposited form chimneys up to 20 metres tall and unique microcosms of life develop around them, including giant clams and tubeworms 3-4 metres in length.

By the way, it was recorded in the Jewish Scriptures at least 2,400 years ago that God challenged Job: “Have you entered the springs of the sea?” from the Hebrew word: nebek, meaning ‘fountain’.           

As they say: “Out of sight, out of mind” but no…..not unknown.

Acknowledgements:   The author of ‘Job’                  
wikipedia.com                                                                                  
Photo credit: flickr.com 

PATHFINDER OF THE SEAS

Whoever is this guy...smiling benevolently from his memorial in Richmond, Virginia?

Matthew Fontaine Maury (14 Jan 1806 – 1 Feb 1873) is known as the ‘Pathfinder of the seas’, being regarded as the father of modern oceanography and naval meteorology after founding the scientific study and charting of ocean currents and prevailing winds.       

He was superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory from 1844 to 1861 and was honoured post-humously by interment between Presidents Monroe and Tyler in Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery and induction to America’s Hall of Fame.

Even today, NASA’s Aquarius - Sea Surface Salinity program using Argentina’s SAC-D satellite, pays tribute to Maury and his contribution to oceanography and meteorology.

So what is that book beside his left leg? Surely it must be a navigator’s handbook or science textbook. Well, here’s a clue - a quote from Maury: 

"…reason assures us that they move in obedience to some law of Nature, be it recorded down in the depths below, never so far beyond the reach of human ken; and being a law of Nature, we know who gave it, and that neither chance nor accident had any thing to do with its enactment."

Whoever is he talking about?...who enacted a law of Nature in the depths?

We find Maury’s efforts to chart the world’s ocean currents were motivated by this:

“…and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea.”

Hang on….that sounds like the Bible which is not supposed to be scientific!                 
Yes, in fact Psalm 8.  So what about this one?

“Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.”     Isaiah 43

…or this…

“The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.”   Ecclesiastes 1

Do you think perhaps young Matthew (meaning ‘gift of Jehovah’) was well named by his parents when you consider how much time and fuel ships (and aircraft) have been able to save thanks to charts from Maury and his successors?

Next time you buy an imported product or travel overseas, spare a thought to Maury and that Bible of his, with those scriptures written some 2,500 years before his charts were made. Despite all the hi-tech engineering, we’re still very much at the mercy of the world’s winds and currents.

Acknowledgements:                                                                                                                                                                     
icr.org   
wikipedia.org                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Photo credit: www.popscreen.com

 

 

 

Doctor Death

“Madam, this is Dr. Death the obstetrician assigned to assist with your delivery.  Kindly ignore his bloodied hands and coat - it is now 1845 and according to modern medical science, this demonstrates he is eminently qualified to consult having just conducted autopsies on several women who died from childbirth. As it is claimed, ‘doctors are gentlemen and gentlemen’s hands are clean’ and of course ‘cleanliness is next to prudishness.’
After all, what's a bit of blood and guts between doctor and patient...Doctor knows best dear."
        

Well you and I should be grateful Dr. Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (b. Budapest, Hungary 1818) sacrificed his professional reputation in 1847 by insisting medical students coming into the maternity ward of Vienna General Hospital from the dissecting room must first wash their hands in chlorinated lime solution.



Dr. Ignaz. P.Semmelweis

Was he onto something here?  The mortality rate due to puerperal fever plummeted from 30% to 2% and Semmelweis published his findings as “The Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxsis of Childbed Fever” in 1861 – only to be mocked by his peers.

In 1865 Sir Joseph Lister conducted the first antiseptic operation, later receiving honour as Queen Victoria’s surgeon and elevation to baronetcy, while poor Semmelweis died shunned and forgotten in a mental asylum at the age of only 47. His findings were subsequently confirmed by French scientist Louis Pasteur.  

Should medical science have known better? If they had opened their Bibles and read Numbers chapter 19 they would have found:

“He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days…and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.”

But isn’t this just Jewish ceremonial law? Why should medical science take any notice of religious mumbo-jumbo in the Jewish Tanakh?                                           

From 1347 on, the Black Death ravaged Europe to take the lives of about 30 million people - approximately 1/3 of the population, but the Jews suffered much lower losses from disease because of their social isolation in ghettos, and their personal and domestic hygiene. Instead they suffered massive revenge killings, being accused of contaminating the village wells while discreetly sourcing their drinking water direct from springs.

I wonder where they learnt their standards of hygiene? 

*Many thanks to my dear friend ‘Uncle Bob’ Bryce, Port Macquarie, NSW.* (retired Perth City Fire Commander)

Acknowledgements:                                                          

en.wikipedia.com                                                   

World Book 2005

BIRDS ARE FLYING REPTILES??

They tell us that warm-blooded birds evolved from cold-blooded reptiles. Well let's take a closer look at some remarkable avian features...

·        Flight feathers are stronger than steel, by weight, and grow from muscle-controlled follicles below the skin (whereas scales are skin cell extensions)

·        Many bones in a bird's skeleton are porous and hollow to reduce take-off weight

·        To facilitate rapid waste removal, birds have a basic digestive system that incorporates a crop, proventriculus and gizzard. (Park your car under a pigeon roost for a liquid demonstration.)

·        Birds have no bladder for storing urine, and no sweat glands

·        A bird's heart rate can reach 20 beats per second and it’s wings can flap at up to 80 times per second! (the hummingbird)

·        Birds sing with their unique double-sided vocal organ called a syrinx

·        Beaks are made of light weight horn - not bone

And here's the feature that is hard to find information on in textbooks (why is that?)...

·        Birds have a totally unique one-way respiratory system that uses air sacs together with a lung.  Have you ever seen a bird 'out of puff' after an aerobatic display or a marathon flight?

Wouldn't you say this animal has been purpose-built for action: fly, swim, walk, or run....rather than hibernation?

The moral of this story? 

Don't stand under a pelican.

Photo credit:
Tony Sullivan

'ROCKY - STILL LONELY'

Here's one for the locals and any tourists heading to Port Macquarie.....                    
“Rocky Beach?...never heard of it!...where’s that?”

You call this a beach?? You might be in the middle of town but you can't swim here, or surf, or picnic, or sunbathe on sand…probably not much good for fishing even and not a place to go on your ‘Molly Malone’ - alone.   About all it's good for is vagrants who sometimes hide in a cave (rent free with a million dollar view!) or for growing special green rocks that look like snake-skin!   
If you ever get to visit Rocky you will no doubt exclaim: “Well, this is different!”

The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism has this to say about our forgotten beauty:

"Rocky Beach is notable for the presence of well-exposed high-pressure metamorphic rocks and a wide variety of igneous rocks, including pillow basalt and minor matic and intermediate calc-alkaline intrusions, imbedded in lenses of serpentinite melange. Near the north end of Rocky Beach, a 'melange-in-melange' structure contains inclusions of lawsonite eclogite, omphacitite, blueschist and tremolite marble. These exotic rocks are unique because of some of these tectonic blocks, namely eclogite, contain a mineral called lawsonite, which have only been identified in 10 localities worldwide. Lawsonite eclogite and omphacitite are the only occurences documented in Australia. Formation and preservation of these rocks requires cold subduction to mantle depths and rapid exhumation."

Phew! Whatever does all that jargon mean?                                                       
Apparently lonely Rocky Beach is a geologist's gem because it is adorned with volcanic rock such as basalt scrambled with marble and laced with a mineral mixture found nowhere else in Australia and in only 10 sites worldwide. If you really want to know, lawsonite is ‘hydrous calcium aluminium sorosilicate’ and that ‘snake-skin’ serpentinite is magnesium silicate.
"So what?" you say.

How far to the nearest known extinct volcano? Comboyne, 45 kilometres away.

These rocks have travelled.....they have been sucked down to at least 7 kilometres beneath the ocean floor, subjected to extreme pressure at perhaps a mild 700 degrees C, scrambled along the way, then punched up to put Port Macquarie on the map – and it didn’t take millions of years.

Surely this isn’t the result of the Great Flood of Genesis 7 - when ''the fountains of the deep were broken up''?  That's meant to be a myth!                                                  

…or is it?

 

Acknowledgements:                                                                         

Brad McKay, Port Macquarie                                                                        

www.geomaps.com                                                                                       

wikipedia.org