Slugs Have Brains Like Mammals

From Creation Moments

So complex is the human brain that even some of today's most visionary scientists have commented that they doubt science will ever fully understand how the brain works. To better understand the brain, scientists have been studying the brains of so-called simple creatures like the garden slug.

But how similar is the brain of a garden slug to the human brain? Researchers have been amazed at the unexpected similarities and abilities shared by both the garden slug and man. Researchers have found that garden slugs can be trained, using unpleasant flavorings, to avoid their favorite food, potatoes. Eventually the slugs will avoid potatoes that have not been made to taste bad. Slugs, and even garden snails, can learn a sequence of events.

How much more simple are the slugs' brains than ours? To their surprise, researchers discovered that the slugs' brains use some of the same chemical methods to learn and store information as do mammals. In other words, the slugs' brains don't use a simpler method to learn and remember than do a cat or a dog's. Mammal brains and slug brains are based on the same design.

This finding came as a surprise and erases evolutionary distinctions between simpler and supposedly more evolved creatures. It reveals the Creator's pattern. He used the same design when He equipped the slug's brain to learn as He used when He made a dog able to learn.

Listen to an audio version at Creation Moments.

New Most Imperiled Birds List

The new WatchList 2007 reveals those birds in greatest need of immediate conservation help simply to survive amid a convergence of environmental challenges, including habitat loss, invasive species and global warming.

178 species in the continental U.S. and 39 in Hawaii have the dubious distinction of landing on the newest and most scientifically sound list of America's most imperiled birds.

Read the entire article.

Decorating a Tree for Wildlife

Winter is a tough time of year for many wildlife. They have less food and fewer daylight hours to look. Why not make it easier for the wildlife in your backyard? Teach your children to enjoy wildlife and to make a difference for them in your own backyard. Here's an article with suggestions offered to make Christmas a delight for the wildlife in your neighborhood.

Nature Has An Answer

The PAX Streamlining Principle, discovered by CEO Jay Harman, captures the force of nature and uses it to make technology better.

It translates nature’s flow efficiencies into streamlined design geometries. They employ these geometries to significantly improve the performance, output, and energy usage of a wide range of industrial and domestic equipment.

Increasing the efficiency of everyday technology is a huge boon for the environment. Harman points out, "If you use three-quarters less energy, then you have three-quarters less pollutants going into the atmosphere. Nature has already solved every problem humans face and have ever faced," he says. "If you see nature as our university, you're not going to burn down the university, you're going to protect it." Visit the site and learn more.

Are Bees Intelligent Planners?

While I was on retreat walking the SC gardens, there were plenty of bees. It was like seeing friends who had visited with us and moved on south. I wondered if any of them had been to our garden. I will have to study to find out if bees migrate to warmer weather.

The following information on the intelligence of bees thrills me because God is such a Master Creator and it's awesome to see the detail He used in the natural world. Makes me realize what detail there was in designing me!

From Creation Moments

Before we had detailed knowledge of the daily lives of many animals, it was easy for scientists to dismiss signs of animal intelligence as instinct. In the last couple of decades, animal intelligence has become a busy field of study.

Researchers are learning that animals can be just as intelligent as humans in their own area of specialization. In one experiment, researchers moved a supply of sugar water 25% further away from a beehive each day. The bees quickly figured out what was going on and started anticipating where the sugar water would be the next day.

In another experiment, researchers placed sugar water on a boat that was anchored in the middle of a small lake. When scouts returned to the hive to report their find, other bees refused to go with them, knowing that bees don't find food in the middle of a lake. Scientists have concluded that bees think events through to see if they make sense.

Reference: Do bees plan ahead intelligently? Science News, v.124, Apr. 23, 1983. p. 271.