The Signs In Living Things (part 6)

BUTTERFLIES WITH OPTICAL KNOWLEDGE

There are three basic laws of light-ray optics used by physicists:

The closer the sun’s rays strike it to a right angle, the more a surface warms up.

If sunlight strikes two surfaces at the same angle, the darker of the two will warm up more.

A reflective surface reflects light at the same angle at which the light strikes it.

Students of physics are aware of these laws, but many people today may be unaware that these laws even exist. They are unaware of how these laws affect their daily lives or the purpose they serve. But there are also other living things that know these laws very well: Butterflies.

Butterflies make use of the laws of optics in their day-to-day lives. Everyone likes butterflies. These creatures with their bright colors and delicate flight patterns are among the beauties created for us by God.

However, there is more to butterflies than just their attractive external appearance. Sometimes these short-lived creatures must make the most expert calculations. The Colias butterfly, for example, is unable to fly if its body temperature falls below 28 degrees Centigrade. In that event, it immediately extends its wings and turns its back to the Sun to receive its rays perpendicularly. When the butterfly has warmed up enough and its body temperature has risen to 40 degrees Centigrade, it turns 90 degrees around its own axis. The Sun’s rays now strike it horizontally. This minimizes the warming effect of the Sun’s rays. The butterfly’s body temperature now starts to fall.

In addition, some species of butterfly have large, dark scaly spots on those parts of their wings closest to their bodies. According to their color, these scales are able to adjust the temperature to the maximum or minimum level.

We have all seen butterflies opening and closing their wings in the sun, as if they were trying to keep them at a particular angle. The black spots on these insects’ bodies help them to absorb the Sun’s rays. By adjusting the opening and closing motion of its wings to the direction of the sun’s rays, a butterfly can increase its body heat.

Human beings use concave mirrors and lenses to focus rays on a particular point. Similarly, Pieris butterflies set their wings at an angle—like a lens—that allows them to focus the sun’s rays on the areas that need the most heat. This behavior requires the knowledge of optics.

These butterflies do not have any training in physics or optics. They are not even aware of the laws of physics, or of the angle that will most efficiently receive the sun’s rays.

Like all creatures in the universe, God has created butterflies with all the complex systems they need to survive.

It is God, Who protects and watches over all things; it is He Who inspires in these creatures the knowledge of what they need to do to warm their bodies most efficiently.

“Everything in the heavens and everything in the Earth belongs to Him. God is the Rich Beyond Need, the Praiseworthy.”

(Surah Saba’, 64)

PS: this is a copy of Harun Yahya’s article (with the title: The Sign of Living Things), available on http://www.harunyahya.com/.