Data vs. Information

We live in “The Age of Information.” Many historians claim the modern Age of Information began in mid 20th century. In researching how and when this age began, we encountered several important precursors of the Age of Information such as the modern computer. We also live in “The Computer Age.”

As we researched this topic and focused on what our personal computers accomplish, we were struck by the difference between data and information. Our PCs deal with huge amounts of data. Information is developed by the people who process these data.   

An important precursor of The Computer Age is the transistor. This device enabled our citizens to access huge quantities of data. In 1947 scientists at Bell Labs in New Jersey developed and demonstrated the world’s first transistor. This invention fundamentally changed the electronic landscape. Transistors are amplifying and switching devices. Modern computers could not function without transistors. (We recall a Christmas gift presented by friends back in the late 1950s—a small transistor radio.)

Primitive computers existed before the transistor. However, these early computers operated with vacuum tubes, consumed enormous voltage, and were huge. ENIAC, an enormous computer developed in 1946 weighed 3000 tons. Today’s computers rely on transistors—solid state devices paving the way for integrated circuits, also known as microchips made of silicon. These chips may be as tiny as a few square millimeters. Without our current microchip technology our “Age of Information” and the “Computer Age” may still be in its primitive stages.    

Our lives rely on information. Sometimes we suffer from data and information overload. Information always begins with and is derived from data. The distinction between information and data is important. “Data are simple text and numbers while information is processed and interpreted data…..Information is considered more valuable than data, as a proper analysis is conducted to convert data into information.” (Quote from keydifferences website)

Our universe may be described in terms of matter, energy, force, and space. These four entities comprise the “stuff” of our universe. Physical science defines our universe in terms of these four entities. The entities may be described quantitatively. Computers generally focus on data. Theoretical physicist/astrobiologist Paul Davies states, “Information is more than just a description of our universe and the stuff in it: it is the most basic currency of existence.” Davies terms information the “ontological basement” of reality. Even though Davies claims to be an atheist, he looks out at the universe and claims “…the impression of design is overwhelming.”      

Our modern computers supply plentiful data about our planet, our Solar System, and our universe. Computers reveal almost unlimited data about the matter, energy, forces, and space inherent in our vast universe. Modern scientists have studied these data and have derived exceedingly relevant information: Our universe is “fine tuned” to support life, especially human life. If our universe is “fine tuned,” there must be a Fine Tuner—another term for the Creator of All Things whose creation work is described in the first verse of Genesis (Genesis 1:1). God’s fine tuned creation work is described in Psalm 8:3-4 and Psalm 19:1-2:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4 ESV)

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19:1-2 ESV)

 

    

    

Planet Earth: Active and Dynamic

 In the last few weeks our home Planet Earth has experienced two events which potentially could have caused severe destruction. We refer to the threat of a tsunami on July 29 and the occurrence of two minor earthquakes in my former home state of New Jersey during the first week of August.

We have mentioned the Japanese term tsunami on several occasions since our blog’s inception but have not discussed the phenomenon in detail. We have referenced other natural disasters in considerable detail: floods, droughts, hurricanes, and tornadoes, for example. All of these phenomena occur on an active planet described as “dynamic” in many of our past posts. Linked below is an early post defining the term “dynamic” in terms of force, power, and energy. Our active planet possesses force, power, and energy to an incredible degree.

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2008/08/dynamic-planet-earth.html

Wikipedia offers an accurate definition of tsunamis: “A series of waves in a water body caused by displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances) above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami.”

We suggest our readers research a historic, mighty planetary event: the tsunami of 2004. On the day after Christmas, December 26, 2004, a destructive tsunami struck several countries in southern Asia in the vicinity of the Indian Ocean. The waves of water were over 30 feet high and caused the death of about 230,000 people along the shoreline of the Indian Ocean. So far it has been the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century. Dozens of YouTube videos describing this disaster are posted on the Internet.

Our dynamic Planet Earth is alive with activity. We do not live on a lifeless sphere of rock. The planet is composed of many layers—crust, lithosphere, asthenosphere, mantle, outer core, and inner core. These layers have different compositions, temperatures, and malleability. Different conditions within our solid planet are responsible for events on the earth’s surface. Ultimately, events at the surface of our planet are affected by what takes place below the surface—long term events such as movement of crustal plates as well as short term events—earthquakes and tsunamis. Earth scientists specialize in researching the physical components of Planet Earth—its geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.

Convection currents transfer heat energy. They are best known and best explained in air and water. Heat energy causes thermal expansion in gases and liquids. Pressure differences result in movement of matter from higher density to lower density areas. This is one way to produce a convection current. Such currents also occur in rocks of Earth’s crust because crustal rocks are very slightly malleable and fluid.

Convection currents cause movement of chunks (plates) of the Earth’s crust across Earth’s surface. “Crustal plates” are slowly driven by convection currents generated by decay of radioactive elements in the underlying mantle. The plates collide or slide past each other, triggering earthquakes. If the earthquake occurs under water, waves are generated. The recent tsunami threat did not result in serious destruction, but many waves of various heights occurred over the entire Pacific Ocean basin.

Some events on our active, dynamic Planet Earth result in human tragedy.

Surprisingly, natural disasters account for <1% of human deaths in any given year. Statistics show a 90% decrease in world deaths from natural tragedies in the last century. These statistics do not include deaths from pandemics and warfare. God’s mandate in Genesis 1 to “have dominion” over the earth in terms of creation care has helped humanity produce early warning systems, better infrastructure, and improved agricultural practices. We offer two examples of early warning systems: the July 29, 2025 tsunami waves were preceded by ample warnings by media reporters. Meteorologists publish numerous warnings of imminent tornadoes, hurricanes, and even dangerous thunderstorms.

Planet Earth has been under physical construction for long ages. Our Creator chose to utilize countless eons to create our unique planet. God is no less powerful creating our universe, including our planetary abode, over long periods of time rather than in sudden “bursts.” We call these creation events transformational miracles rather than the rare transcendent miracles and the everyday sustaining miracles. Our Divine Creator is not time limited when He produces miracles. Here is a link to a previous post:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2017/11/our-miracle-immersed-planet.html

Earthquakes are the result of the “miracle” of convection currents which enable recycling of Earth’s minerals over eons of time. Tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes on our miracle-immersed planet. The same convective forces causing destructive tsunamis also result in rock recycling. Minerals from recycled rock ultimately become fertile soil in which our agricultural crops thrive. 80% of the earth’s crust originated in volcanic material.

We give thanks to our Creator for producing a wealth of divine transformational miracles on our planet! 

  

 

   

     

 

 

Fireflies and Bioluminescence

One of the joys of the summer season is the sighting of fireflies, sometimes called “lightning bugs.” This post was inspired by our recent first sighting of fireflies outside our Eastern Iowa home. The firefly phenomenon holds many pleasant memories. “Lightning in a bottle” could refer to capturing these amazing creatures in a jar for young children as long as we adhere to the principle of catch and release.

The light organ producing the visible light from a firefly is called the lantern. The visible light glows from the translucent exoskeleton of the insect at the rear of the abdomen. Light generating cells in the lantern contain the enzyme luciferin. Another enzyme, luciferase, acts as a catalyst on luciferin to generate an “excited” chemical state when  oxygen is supplied. Oxygen is the element necessary for oxidation, defined as the loss of one or more electrons (charged electrical particles).

Sometimes oxidation results in combustion—rapid burning. At other times oxidation is slow. In firefly bioluminescence the oxidation is a slow process. Firefly bioluminescence is exothermic: Energy is released, but the energy is in the form of light—not heat.  The light generated by lightning bugs is termed “cold light.”

Our research affirmed the complex subject of taxonomy whereby bioscientists describe and categorize living animals according to characteristics distinguishing them from all other living animals. Taxonomists developed a hierarchical system beginning with major categories of animals and expanded the system to describe more specific and detailed information highlighting the wondrous diversity among living creatures. This hierarchy proceeds from about 35 major phyla to several million named species according to the traditional hierarchy. Fireflies are beetles. Surprisingly, about 25% of all recognized species on Earth are beetles. They are included among insects which represent 80% of recognized animal species on Planet Earth.   

There are about 2 million different animal species classified so far on Earth. Millions more have yet to be formally classified. Bioluminescent fireflies exemplify the remarkable diversity of characteristics among Earth’s living species.

 

Bioluminescence is merely one of the astonishing characteristics of a small percentage  of living things on our planet. When we search, examine, and analyze this evidence and the characteristics of Planet Earth creatures, we perceive that God, the Creator of All Things had almost limitless ideas about what sorts of physical traits, behaviors, and operating systems He would create. Translation: God did not stop creating with only one species of fireflies. He created 2000 species of fireflies!

We conclude this post with a few more facts related to fireflies. Some species are diminishing in number because of habitat loss, pesticides, and light pollution. Fireflies use their bioluminescence to attract mates. They prefer almost complete darkness to demonstrate their light production ability. Three states have selected fireflies as their state insect—Indiana, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.  Worldwide, there are roughly 2000 species in the family of lympyridae (fireflies). Most of these species are bioluminescent.

We link a past post: to expand upon our discussion of “taxonomy:”

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2018/10/insect-profusion.html

Here is a link to our past post concerning our “sense of wonder:”

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2007/11/sense-of-wonder.html

Finally, a link to our post on the “Science Wow Factor” as we marvel at one insect’s bioluminescence:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/wow-factor.html

 

 

        

  

  

 

Texas Tragedy

 This post is dedicated to the memory of several hundred lives lost in the Texas flash flood over the July 4, 2025 weekend. We submit to the omniscient Creator of All Things, confessing our weakness, frailty, and lack of ability to explain tragic events beyond our control. We read in scripture a detailed account of the righteous Old Testament figure Job who experienced incomprehensible fatal tragedies relating to his large family. Job 1:22 states, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”

After searching through our blog archive, we uncovered a past post that deals in much greater depth with the issues raised in the above paragraph. We link it here:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-we-dont-know.html

The subject of this post is appropriate with respect to our inability to comprehend such a horrific disaster. As of this writing, about 300 people have perished or are missing. Several dozen were young children at Camp Mystic, inundated along the Guadalupe River in an area known as “flash flood alley.” We cite several excerpts from the above linked post:

“The Book of Job deals with natural tragedies—what they mean, why they occur, and perhaps broader questions of why discomfort, grief, tragedy, and sin could even exist at all.

“Job confessed he did not understand many of the wonders described and could not answer the questions posed.

“These (tragic) events were permitted by the Lord. If God, the Creator, is in sovereign control of our universe, we must acknowledge that any event is under his purview. 

“Earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and floods have occurred….. along with the far more common tranquil events. The latter outnumber the violent, tragic events by orders of magnitude…..The events of Job 1-2 could now be said to have led to fulfilling God’s higher purpose. We may speculate on what that higher purpose was, but we may never understand it from a human standpoint. Job was not vindicated by his righteousness, but by his recognition of God’s sovereignty. God triumphs over Satan. God triumphs over evil. At the end of time, the triumph is not only in the hearts of believers, but also in an ultimate sense as outlined in the Book of Revelation 21-22.”

The Old Testament Book of Job is a favorite for many Christians. It has many science and faith commentaries and insights. In its final chapter, the author confesses and repents: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:1-6 NIV).

The Texas tragedy reminds us that our Sovereign God’s ways are not our ways. We may say that a “just” God should do this, or shouldn’t do that. Old Testament prophet Isaiah states, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord” (Isa. 55:8).