Page 180 - The Microworld Miracle

rain. Some lichens are strong enough to break apart the strongest
rocks. Thanks to this, soil forms as the rock breaks down. No oth-
98
er living thing can perform such a powerful process.
You would have to expend enormous effort to break a hard
rock into minute particles. And after having broken the rock down

into the smallest particles, you would have to subject it to various
chemical processes to obtain its component minerals. Only in this
may might you be able to achieve a part of your objective. Yet mi-
croscopic organisms quietly perform this laborious, energy-con-

suming process without the need for pick or shovel or special labo-
ratory conditions. There is an important contrast here; on the one
hand is an intelligent, conscious human being, capable of making
plans and mobilizing all kinds of resources. On the other hand, li-
chen is a microscopic living entity, unaware even of their own exis-
tence, with no other objective than feeding and reproducing. The

way that such minute unaware entities display apparent volition
deals a major blow to the theory of evolution and its claims. This
microscopic organism to which they previously attached no impor-
tance is capable of undermining their theory in a way they never

expected.
These organisms possess other features too. The algae that
THE MICROWORLD MIRACLE (pH) inhibitor in chemical laboratories.
some lichens possess also contain colored pigments. One of them,
orchil, is used to dye wools. Another, litmus, is used as an acid base

We are faced by a living thing both of whose members perform
highly conscious activities and that have highly detailed features. A
lichen carries out very conscious processes and can produce its own

178 food, while breaking down rock to make simple organic com-