FLY WITH US, SAID THE BEE

A recent news telecast reported that the U.S. Air Force is funding research on how bees and other insects fly.* The project, said to cost $9 million is being conducted at the University of Washington. The research seeks to learn the flying secrets of such critters to enable development of more sophisticated and efficient aircraft.

In the telecast, the reporter stated: "when you watch in slow motion with the help of a high-speed camera, you get a whole new perspective on the mysterious and incredibly complex world, of insect flight. So how does a bee with such a giant body and such tiny wings actually fly?", he asked a researcher. Came the reply, "It beats its wings really fast, and you can't even see that."

The project is known as the Center for Excellence on Nature-Inspired Flight Technologies and Ideas. The emphasis appears to be on "Nature". As the researcher stated, "We look to nature. Are there ideas and principles that nature is using to solve hard flight control problems? Can we use those ideas to inspire new technologies, and can we use technology to deepen our understanding of how nature solves its problems?" To borrow and reverse a phrase from a well-known boxer, is the idea "to sting like a butterfly and float like a bee?"

It is interesting to see a situation where science is relying upon "Nature" to enhance human flight technology. Accordingly,"Nature" necessarily must have intelligent design which enables successful insect flight and which, in turn, is deemed instructive to human design.

On hot summer days, it is common to see honey bees drinking water at the edges of bird baths, puddles and ponds. Bees need water during the honey flows in order to process honey. Perhaps water researchers should examine how bees efficiently ingest water from such sources, transport it to their hives and purify it for incorporation in the honey production. Maybe Nature's design has another lesson for us.

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*PBS Newshour, July 17, 2015

DROUGHT: CAN GOVERNMENTS LEGISLATE CLIMATE CHANGE?

At an early age, school children probably learn that the age of a tree can be determined by counting rings in a cross section of its trunk. These rings reveal more than just age, however. By their width, they also reveal good years when rainfall enabled expanded growth, and bad years when conditions were less favorable.

Researchers have examined tree rings in Mongolia to study changes in climate as revealed by the rings.* As of the late 12th Century, Mongolia had been experiencing extensive drought. However, in the early 13th Century, the legendary Genghis Khan marched across Asia to establish his huge empire. Analysis of tree rings appears to show that Genghis benefitted a dramatic climate change that facilitated his rapid conquests. The climate change yielded a wet period that produced hearty grasslands for horses and livestock. "Wetter, milder conditions than the previous decades of drought would have given Genghis and his army significant advantages, including a constant supply of horses, increased agricultural production and other resources needed to support a centralized government and large military."**

Interestingly, after many years of favorable climate conditions, beginning in the 1990s, drought has returned to Mongolia. This climate change, in turn, has produced large livestock losses, soil degradation and migration from the countryside to cities.

The climate changes in Mongolia are just one example of the many documented climate changes in the Earth's history. In effect, they appear to be a natural attribute of the Earth, caused without any human activity connection. Whether climate changes are occurring today continues to be debated. If in fact climate changes are occurring, whether they are caused by human activity continues to be debated.

It seems that those who perceive that human activity is causing climate changes propose to change climate by legislation and regulation. Genghis Khan did not change climate to produce conditions favorable to his plans. He benefitted from a climate change that occurred naturally. If historically climate change is a natural phenomenon of Earth. can governments legislate climate change? If they could, that indeed would be climate change caused by human activity.

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*Juskalian,"Climate and the Khan",Discover,
July/August 2015, p.31

**Id.at p.34-35