Page 105 - Engineering in Nature

ow does a tiny ant find its way in the desert
wastes? How do butterflies regulate their body
temperatures? How does a fish see above the sur-
face of the water? In addition, how does it go even

further and calculate the angle of refraction in such a way as to catch
an insect above the water's surface?
One common feature of all these creatures is that their behavior re-
quires expertise in the field of optics. As we'll be seeing in some detail,
some butterfly species warm their bodies by using the same rules of
optics employed by physicists. Another example is the four-eyed fish
anableps, whose optic design gives it an advantage both in an atmos-
pheric and an aquatic environment.
When we examine these systems and intelligent behaviors, all the
products of a special design, it emerges that by itself, a butterfly or an
ant can't possibly establish such systems in its body much less know
how to use them. All living things emerged in a moment, together
with all the features they possess and the knowledge of how to em-
ploy them. God has created them all in the most beautiful form.

BUTTERFLIES THAT KNOW THE LAWS OF OPTICS
Physicists use three basic principles in optics:
A surface warms up more as the light rays striking it approach 90
degrees.

If two surfaces receive light at the same angle, the darker one will
warm up more.

Adnan Oktar
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