What Drives Earth at 1670 km/h? 5 Thoughts for Reflection

Alternative Heating

In old age, there is an increased danger of suffering from cold due to a drop in body temperature. This condition, called 'hypothermia,' occurs when the body temperature falls below 35 degrees, whereas the normal body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius.

The core body temperature, our 'internal thermometer,' ranges between 36.5 to 37.6 degrees Celsius. This is the optimal temperature for the body's proper functioning. The body can manage temperatures between 35 to 41 degrees, but any deviation from this range could end disastrously.

The organ that controls temperature balance is the hypothalamus core in the brain: with any drop in body temperature, the hypothalamus acts to maintain body heat through blood vessel contraction and shivering. Simultaneously, blood flow to less vital organs, such as fingertips, ears, and the nose, is reduced to send as much blood as possible to the heart and brain.

Wait, what about a newborn baby? The womb temperature was 37 degrees. Here at home, a room temperature of 26 is a shock to the system! Why? Because when an adult feels too cold or too hot, the hypothalamus sends instructions to our cells, whether to produce more or less energy. But what will be the fate of a newborn baby whose hypothalamus is not yet developed, like the other organs at this age? Who will regulate its body heat now, as it faces the risk of hypothermia and could die?

However, miraculously, our body is also prepared to deal with this:

A layer of special tissue around blood vessels and other essential organs actively produces heat. This is not ordinary fat but brown fat, a special type of fat primarily found in newborns, helping them to generate heat.

As the hypothalamus matures, the liver and other organs take on the role of heat production, and the brown fat dissolves. Amazing! But who designed this?

Radar

One of the most fascinating creatures in creation is the bat.

The bat flies using a membrane stretched like rubber between its fingers. As a nocturnal creature, its eyes were created for night vision, but they are weak and hardly assist it. So how, then, can it fly, find food, and navigate in complete darkness? To this end, the Creator endowed it with a unique sense, similar to radar, through which it 'sees' in the dark better than any other creature. It emits high-frequency sounds (which we cannot hear) and captures the echoes returning to it as a result of sound waves hitting objects in the environment.

According to the intensity of the sound reaching it, it knows what's ahead. This way, it can learn about the location, shape, and movement of objects in its vicinity, navigate the complete darkness of caves and forests at night without colliding with objects or other animals, and most importantly, locate and hunt insects and small creatures it feeds on.

In other words, bats have an 'echolocation' mechanism. They emit a call, and the time it takes for the echo to return helps them understand the distance of objects that reflect the echo. This system is called sonar in English - 'navigation and orienting using sound,' or 'echo-location.' The bat can, using sonar, identify even a hair in the dark and not collide with it!

Today, many studies are conducted worldwide on bats' sonar system, and scientists and researchers learn from it how to improve sonar, navigation, and radar devices used for human service. The more nature researchers delve into the depths of nature, they discover exemplary design and order, clearly indicating an upper, guiding hand with immense wisdom that created it..

Is Earth Designed?

Did you know how planned Earth is? With scientific progress in Earth's research, researchers have discovered more and more precise conditions required for our existence, without which no life could exist on the planet.

Earth's Distance from the Sun: If the distance were shorter, we would burn! If the sun were slightly farther, we would be ice blocks!

Hold on, how did the sun and Earth get exactly to the place and distance suitable for our existence in the endless expanse of space?
Moreover, how do they stay at this constant distance without moving even a centimeter?

The Earth's Rotation Speed: Earth spins around its axis, completing a full rotation in roughly 24 hours, creating the day and night phenomenon. If the speed were lower, such as 170 km/h, the day would last 240 hours, 120 hours of day, and 120 hours of night! If the day were 120 hours continuous, the sun would cause all vegetation to dry out. On the other hand, during those 120 continuous night hours, the vegetation would wilt because photosynthesis (the process by which plants create food) is done with the help of sunlight...!

Wait, the Earth we stand on rotates at a speed of 1,670 kilometers per hour! What is the immense motor that turns Earth at such a tremendous speed? What will happen if the rotation suddenly stops? (Research shows it would lead to disaster) And how did it happen that Earth spins at exactly the speed suitable for our existence?!

The Rotation Axis: Earth's axis is tilted at 23.5 degrees, giving the Earth its seasons. At a different angle, all water would accumulate at the poles as ice mountains, and the area between the equator and the poles would become a vast desert...! Is it by chance?

Gravity: If gravity were lower, we would float, as happens on the moon. But if gravity were greater, we would be so heavy that we couldn't move.

Behold the wonderful design of Earth. And there are questions we haven't even asked: Where does Earth's momentum come from to keep spinning without stopping? Why don't we feel the Earth's movement? And what holds Earth from falling? Stop and think for a moment! Could it be that by chance, Earth reached the 'exact' distance from the sun and by chance spins at exactly the right speed?!

One cannot help but admire the supreme wisdom that created all these conditions!

Mosquito Bite

We must understand that there are no coincidences in Hashem's world. Even what seems bad to us in this world is only part of a smart plan with a defined purpose. Even a mosquito bite that causes an annoying itch is part of a calculated process, I'll explain why:

The female mosquito needs proteins to produce her eggs, proteins she must obtain from mammalian blood, so she is equipped with a 'syringe.' The problem is every person would kill the pesky mosquito the moment they felt pain.

To this end, the Creator gave the female mosquito a remarkably precise anesthetic substance tailored to the human body, which she injects before sucking blood, along with an anti-coagulant (to prevent the blood from coagulating before she gains it). After a few minutes, the drug she injected into your skin fades, and only then does the body start to feel the itch, long after the mosquito has collected the proteins and flown away...

The itch we feel is a counter-reaction that the Creator made in the human body, fighting the enzymes left by the female mosquito in its bite. The body knows to immediately recognize the substances she injected and eliminate them from within. An incredible wonder!

Even a small and annoying thing like a mosquito bite is nothing but part of Hashem's genius plan. Everything is planned - both the good and what seems bad to us...

Who Discovered the Dinosaurs?

Many think that if dinosaurs existed in the past, it contradicts Jewish belief. However, this is not true if we examine what is written in the Torah. In the creation story (Genesis 1:21-22), it is said, "And Hashem created the great sea creatures..."

According to the Torah, on the fifth day, there was a period in the world's history when there were still no mammals (beasts and cattle) nor humans, and who ruled during that time were the great sea creatures, the creeping creatures that swarmed the waters, and winged fowl. Later, on the sixth day, man was created.

Who are these "great sea creatures" mentioned in the creation story? Further understanding is required: in the concise creation account, the names of animal species are not mentioned except for general families: fowl, creeper, beast, and cattle. Why did only the sea creatures merit mention by name?

According to the simple meaning, who are the "great sea creatures"? The animals we commonly call "reptiles" in modern Hebrew are called "sea creatures" in the Torah. This is a general family name, not a specific name (like cattle - a general family name versus sheep - a specific name). That is to say, "the great sea creatures" refer to a general family name for all large reptiles.

And to those who ask, why doesn't the Torah mention dinosaurs, it says "the great sea creatures"? We reply: did they find dinosaurs in excavations with identity cards stating they are "dinosaurs"? Certainly not! It is a name that scientists attached to them.

If that weren't enough, in the Midrashic literature of the sages, there are testimonies of enormous creatures that lived in the past alongside humans. These giant creatures were called "reams," mentioned in the Torah (not referring to an animal similar to a deer).

Who is the ream according to the Torah and sages? The Midrash Rabbah (Genesis 31:13) tells of a large creature that did not enter Noah's Ark because of its size, and only its young entered the Ark. In another Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Psalms 247, 488), a creature is described which, when lying down, looks like a mountain. It has horns, and its length - and some say its circumference - is 100 cubits. Today we know that the largest dinosaurs reached a length of about 50 meters. How did the ream look? Rabbi Saadia Gaon translated the word "ream" to the word "karkadan" in ancient Arabic, referring to a rhinoceros with two horns. Therefore, it is a rhinoceros-like creature with horns.

This description from the sages - of a huge creature like a mountain with horns - would certainly have brought a smile to its readers in the past... but today they discover there truly were such creatures in the past. According to the Jewish answer, people indeed saw dinosaurs - they saw these creatures.

When we reflect and delve into the words of the Tanach and the sages, we find that not only is there no contradiction between Judaism and scientific findings about giant reptiles, named "dinosaurs," but the Tanach and the sages even reported on them thousands of years before scientists learned of their existence.

(Summary of Rabbi Zamir Cohen's lecture "Torah and Science, Evolution Dinosaurs")