While wandering near a creek, have you ever seen bugs walking on the surface of the water? Have you felt any resistance when you hit the surface of the sea with your palm? Have you ever thought about what causes these to happen?

The two examples of events given above happen to be related to “surface tension.” This situation is described as the force per distance unit that is generated in the opposite direction of the direction of expansion between two different surfaces. It can take place in between two different liquid layers, as well as among liquid-gas and liquid-solid layers. For example, the surface tension of a liquid forms in the transitional region where liquid and gas molecules make contact. The source of this force generated on the liquid’s surface is the intermolecular attractions that hold the liquid molecules together. Each molecule in the liquid is pulled via opposite but equal forces by neighboring molecules, thus no single force is acting on the molecules. However, the molecules on the surface are only surrounded by one side, therefore they are pulled inwards with a net force (Figure 1), causing a tension similar to an inflated balloon on the surface of the liquid.

When we look carefully to a stagnant pool of water in a container, the surface of the water seems to be covered with a thin layer of film, resembling a stretched membrane. In order for a substance to enter or leave the body of water successfully, it must puncture this membrane. In other words it has to overcome this intermolecular force. If a steel blade is laid horizontally on the surface of the water slowly, it floats despite that it is made of denser steel because it cannot overcome this surface tension. Surface tension is the principle responsible for the trampoline-like behavior of liquid surfaces. Many insect species created for aqueous habitats can maintain their lives on the water via their adapted leg parts. The best example of this is the water strider. This insect lives on water by taking advantage of water surface tension. Though the surface tension principle is a requirement to be on the water, it is also necessary that the strider not to stick to the surface. Therefore, this insect is also equipped with a paddle made of waxy hairs at the end of their legs (Figure 2).

Forces of cohesion and adhesion

The intermolecular force of a liquid among the same kind of molecules is called the “cohesion force,” and intermolecular attraction between different types of liquid molecules is called the “adhesion force.” These forces of adhesion and cohesion determine the behavior of a liquid in a container. If some mercury is put in a glass tube, because the cohesive forces among the mercury atoms is greater than the adhesive forces in between the glass container and the mercury, the mercury assumes a convex shape. Here, mercury has a tendency to reduce its contact with the glass and does not wet it. In contrast to mercury, when water is put inside the tube, the surface layer between the water and air takes an inward concave shape. This is caused by the greater adhesion force between the water and glass compared to the intermolecular cohesion forces of water. Water wets the glass since it has a tendency to spread towards the greatest surface possible (Figure 3).

When there is a thin layer of water or tea left in between a tea glass and its plate, the adhesion force glues the glass and plate together. Since the adhesion force is greater than the weight of the plate, the glass cup can be lifted together with the plate. Contact lenses also stay in position on the eyes without falling through the help of adhesion forces. Tears strongly pull both cornea and the contact lens together, holding it in place.

The capillary effect

A liquid inside a thin vertical tube is pulled upwards by the inner surface of the tube until the adhesion force becomes balanced with the liquid weight. This event is called the capillary effect or capillarity. Liquids naturally rise in narrow channels if there is sufficient adhesion force. This effect is enhanced in narrow tubes due to the smaller volume of the liquid, but reduced in wider tubes because of gravity. Therefore, there is an inverse ratio between the channel diameter and liquid height in capillarity.

The reason a sponge absorbs water effectively is the easy rise of water in the capillary openings of the sponge. In a similar fashion, there are small openings found in paper napkins and towels. When a napkin makes contact with a wet surface, water is pulled inside the small openings with capillary action, thus removing the water from the surface. This is because the adhesion force in between the napkin tissue and water is greater than the cohesion force of the water molecules. This principle is also utilized while getting blood samples with capillary tubes. In addition, the removal of continuously excreted tears by the capillary ocular ducts that extend into the nasal cavity is another example of this wise law.

Capillary action is also important for the transportation of water molecules from humid parts towards drier areas in soil, providing for the spread of water. The same principle is also vital to nourishment of trees. Every part of a tree encompasses capillary channels, all the way from the tips of the roots to very ends of the branches. Water molecules are transported to the leaves against gravity when they enter the tips of these capillary channels at the roots. Even though the adhesion forces between the water molecules and the root’s tissues win the war against gravity, at a certain height, this force becomes equal to the gravitational pull, thus not allowing water molecules to climb higher. This is the ultimate height a tree reaches. Capillarity also affects internal water pressure of a tree, leaf size, photosynthesis, and other factors. This is why the leaves of a tree are usually bigger on lower branches compared to higher ones (Figure 4).

The surface tension of water is the highest among the known values of other liquids and this has very significant biological effects. If the surface tension of water was to be lower, like other liquids, it would not be able reach the higher parts of plants through capillary action, thus preventing the survival of taller plants. The vegetation waits patiently as nourishment is delivered to its roots. Water has been assigned a vital role in this service.

The water-dependent survival of plants is made possible through the capillarity and surface tension. Could this amazing phenomenon, in which the capillarity is on duty to water the leaves on the highest branches of the tallest trees to ensure the maintenance of life, take place via blind atomic interactions or accidental occurrences?

How do liquid droplets get their shape?

Objects with a wider surface will have a greater surface tension. Since the force of surface tension, acting on per unit distance, is equal to the surface energy per surface area, a wider surface requires greater accumulation of energy on the surface. All the matter in the universe tends to stay at a lowered energy level. Therefore, it is ideal for objects to reduce their surface area. When the surface area to volume ratio of the known geometric shapes is investigated, the smallest ratio is found to belong to a sphere. A small value of this ratio means the most reduced surface area per volume. Among enclosed containers of equal volume, a sphere is also the one with the smallest surface area. When two equal volume watermelons of spherical and cubical shape are peeled, the spherical one will produce the least amount of rinds.

Because of the reasons mentioned above, liquids take a droplet shape immediately when they fall, reducing their surface area. That is why a water droplet dripping from a faucet, a falling rain drop, and a droplet on a leaf are all in the shape of a sphere (Figure 5). It is the same principle that makes planets and other heavenly bodies resemble a globular form. This indeed points to an Almighty Power who plans the motions, positions, and assignments of all the objects, from particles to giants, managing and dispatching them as The Self-Existent One holding everything together.

Factors affecting surface tension

Temperature increase is directly proportional to a decrease in the surface tension in most liquids. When the temperature of a liquid rises, so does the kinetic energy of the particles in it, making these particles move faster. This leads to a weakened intermolecular attraction that binds molecules together. Since this change affects the particles at the surface, it decreases the tension. Improved soaking of hands and laundry can be achieved with warm water during cleaning because heat reduces the surface tension. This helps with better cleaning results in a shorter amount of time.

In a similar fashion, soap and detergents also reduce the surface tension of water. If a small soap bubble is placed on a water droplet, the droplet spreads away instantly. This indeed tells us that the soap bubble reduces surface tension.

If a substance dissolves in a pure material, surface tension is found to change depending on the solute and the solvent structure. For example, salt decreases the surface tension of water. Salt weakens the intermolecular bonds of the water molecules, and therefore reduces the cohesion and surface tension. That’s why sea waves foam when they hit shore.

Can surface tension be associated with the ability of unconscious and primitive atoms as the principle behind many functions and tasks in the lives of plants and animals? Do such wondrous events happen by chance? Isn’t this principle such a blessing of the One who easily provides what is necessary to all living things, nourishing them in time according to their needs?

Imagine: I have just been cooked, and I am now waiting on a dish. Oh, what’s that? A metal thing with four prongs has just stuck itself into my chest, and it threw me into a shaking room with a gate moving up and down. There are, in this room, 32 flat and occluding rocks, some of which are sharp, while some are like millstones, all being lined up in a U-shape row. The frontal rocks have divided me into large pieces by squeezing and cutting. My pieces are pushed backwards by a soft shovel underneath. The rear rocks have made me almost like a paste, thoroughly mashing my pieces. Meanwhile, many taps on the right and left sides and in bottom of the room began flushing water upon me, and the carbohydrates within me have began dissolving by the pityalin enzyme (alpha amilaz) in this water. The flushing water contains substances such as lyzozym and antichore to eliminate any probable microbes within me.

I was fully softened and turned into something almost like gruel, when suddenly I was impelled by the actions of that soft shovel to an extremely tight tube inside of which movements continuously push me downward. A gate opened while I was being brought down and, as I was hoping to enter into a more spacious room and be saved from the compressive movements, I suddenly flopped into a well containing a light-colored liquid. I have come to know, while I was expecting to have some refreshment, that the liquid I flopped into was an acid capable of eroding marble (pH=0,8). I cried ‘Oh My God!’, but it was too late. This acid began to break my proteins down. The pepsinogen which was simultaneously being secreted by some cells over the walls of this large room and which were ineffective within an acid-free environment, became instantly activated by this acid and began to thoroughly break me up. Most of my proteins were broken. While I was wondering and asking ‘how come the liquid I flopped into is capable of eroding the marble but not capable of breaking up this well?’, I have come to notice that walls of the well were coated with a thin layer of mucous substance (membrane) which is unbreakable by acids.

I said ‘Oh My God! As long as you do not permit, these acids, which can erod marble, are not capable of damaging a soft tissue!’. Together with other foodstuff, I have been both blended and broken in this well-like room for about an hour. Later, the outer walls have again squeezed us, and we have been ejected yet again, this time into a new tube at an opposite direction to the one we were just pushed out of, by a sudden loosening and opening of a valve. This tube (called duodenum in Latin) has a length of about 15-18 cm and, appears as if lined up side by side. Here too, we felt wretched and were faced by a basic secretion (sodium bicarbonate) being ejaculated from a tap. This liquid was inactivating (neutralizing) the acids mixed with us, i.e., preventing them from damaging the unprotected walls of the tube which we were in.

Here again the amylaz, lipaz, trypsin, kymotrypsin and carbocsypolypeptidas attacked me, all of which break up, in a respective order, carbohydrates, fats and proteins of my ingredients, along with a lot many other enzymes, and they broke me up to my smallest constituents. Meanwhile, I started pondering the reasons why these enzymes, which are making mincemeat of me, are not damaging the tap (pancreas), which are composed of the same proteins, fats and carbohydrates that they come from. Then, I have come to realize that these enzymes could not become activated in pancreas tissue, since it does not have any activating factors, but they gained shredder features only after we arrived in the tube we are in, and only with the help of such factors which are being secreted from the intestinal walls.

After having been fully shredded within this narrow tube, a green liquid (bile), was poured on us as we were approaching its end. This detergent-like liquid was particularly responsible for shredding the fats in my ingredients. I understood, after all of this, that I was passing through a very excellent factory. As I and my fellow meatballs proceeded inside this narrow tube of approximately three meters long, no part of us remained un-shredded, except the cellulose fibers of plants such as parsley and onion which accompanied us. They continued their journey until arriving at a very thick and short tube. I have found out that their sap have been absorbed and their leftovers, after being amassed for some time, have been thrown into a cesspool called a toilet.

In the meantime, we have noticed that the walls of this tube are plicate and protuberant. These walls are apparently the places where our particles penetrate into another realm through two different ways. We understood that, via rather thin capillary channels situated inside these protuberances, we were being transferred into narrower tubes which contained two different (red and white) types of liquids (blood and lymph vessels). Now, there isn’t ‘me’ anymore, instead, there is only an ‘us’ which is composed of very smaller particles. While glucoses, the simplest forms of carbohydrates and aminoacids, the simplest forms of proteins are being transferred into the red liquid, our fat acid siblings are transferred into the white liquid of lymph vessels. Our glucose and aminoacid siblings have been carried by the red liquid to a factory called a liver. They are being returned to the red liquid after having passed through certain processes and being equipped with some useful characteristics here. But, the fats (lymphs) of the white liquid are, for some reason or another, being separately transferred into the red liquid, bypassing this factory. I learned the reason later: if the fat acids came to the liver together with glucoses and aminoacids, they would spoil this factory and kill its workers.

Finally, the red liquid carried us to tiny cell chambers numbering almost 100 trillion. Each of our tiny particles were sent to separate cells. Here, water, carbondioxide and energy were being produced by primarily coupling of our sibling glucose with oxygen. I learned that energy was needed for the functioning of these cells. Our fat siblings were also being utilized (consumed) for producing energy if glucoses were found insufficient for that purpose. Our amino acid siblings were being utilized (consumed) in the production of sound (strong) proteins and glucoses, and of energy in cases of the unavailability of fat sources for use in the cells’ structures. Excessive amounts of fat and glucose were being stored in these tiny cells. That is to say, I, who was a meatball at the beginning, was converted into water, carbondioxide and energy at the end of this painstaking journey. I was promoted (exalted) to the degree of humanness and rewarded a great deal of honor, as some parts of me became constituent of and some other parts of me assumed responsibility in vital cell functions of the human body.

After all these disintegrations and absorptions, some parts of us took their share in the structure of the body, while some others which were used in energy production including me were converted into a choky and dirty gaseous state called carbondioxide. We have been thrown back into the red liquid again since we would perhaps choke the cells we are within should our density increase very much. We have been brought to a marvellous and sponge-like factory named a lung, and composed of millions of vesicles, by being placed onto a molecule called hemoglobin, which is being pushed by a big pump. We have replaced the oxygen of the fresh air arriving to the lung vesicles. Now is the time for bidding farewell the human body. I thanked God, for I regained my freedom as a carbondioxide passing through and escaping from very dark and narrow places.

However, I was placed upon the leaf of a green plant after aimlessly roaming in the air for some time. After being filtered through the little windows (stoma) over the leaf, I was brought inside by the chlorophyll factory marvelously functioning inside these cells. Here, they forced me to unite with the water brought by tubules from the soil. Upon telling them that I cannot afford to do that, they instantly changed my true nature with solar rays and turned met into a chemical energy depot. I was no more a simple carbon atom; thus, I found a place for myself within an energy-emiting glucose molecule. I was in a position suitably convertible to starch, protein or fats in accordance with the true nature and genetic program of the plant I was within. Something incredible happened while I was swinging around on a green clover leaf. The leaf I was in has been eaten by a cow with real pleasure.

A new chapter has now opened inside the cow’s body. I was assigned with certain duties within the muscle proteins of my new host after having passed through a number of chemical processes. And I really enjoyed them. I was feeling myself more as an animal protein than a simple grass. By leaving the grass for a cow’s body, I was promoted (exalted) one more degree on the way to becoming manifestations of the divine attributes of God.

This blessed animal in whom I was assigned has been sacrificed during a Muslim feast of sacrifice, its meat ground into a meat grinder, and I have been served to you once again as a meatball.

Ali Uguz is a teacher of biology. He lives in Turkey.

Dear Peter, in your body, which is built like a well-functioning factory, I am the most essential sanitary device. As the heart pumps blood to take food and oxygen to all your organs, you obtain the energy you need. But do you ever think about the disposal after so splendid activities are carried out in your body? If you burn a stove, you need to dispose of the smoke and the ashes if you want to keep it working. Likewise, as you burn your calorie intake, you dispose of the smoke (carbon dioxide) with your lungs and the waste with nitrate-poisonous after a certain level of intensity-thanks to my quietly and perfectly working filters. That is, I am an organ which saves your life by removing the poisonous substances in your blood. I do not only filter your blood, but also play a role at controlling the balances of the sensitive levels of water, sugar, amino acids and different minerals in your body. In short, I am a tiny but strategic laboratory.

The acid-base balance in your body and the amount of water and different salts are significant values which concern all of your bodily activities. When their balance is upset, different troubles arise in different units of your bodily mechanism. I am such a blessing, which works so sensitively to adjust the levels of water and mineral salts in your body while you don’t even realize it.

A watery environment is needed for the thousands of biochemical activities taking place in your body. In addition, activities like the contracting of the muscles and transmission of electrical stimuli between your neurons are realized with the presence of a pinch of mineral salt you don’t even give a thought about. Sometimes you sweat due to running or hot weather. The white stains on your shirt are the salts you lose after the water evaporates. When you suffer from diarrhea, you lose salt again, for the salt in the nutrients are thrown out without being absorbed. Especially when little children are concerned, this loss is of vital importance. The transfer between the blood and the liquid in the tissues is mainly realized through the concentration differences which are kept in a certain balance. If your body holds too much water, your tissues swell. You particularly feel it when you press your finger over the flesh near your shins.

Dear Peter, I will not list all of my duties in detail in order not to confuse you. However, let me tell you one more. Since not everyone knows this duty of mine, they just see me as an organ of liquid disposal. But I also take part in controlling the blood production! Surprised? Well, I also have the duty of secreting the hormone which stimulates blood production in the bones. I must always stay alert and maintain this balance in the best way; if you start losing blood, for instance, I must increase the hormone and accelerate blood production.

Yes Peter, I’ve told you about a few of my basic duties, but haven’t told you about how wonderfully designed I am. I am a bean-shaped organ and a single kidney like me weighs 130-160 grams on average. We are approximately 10 grams lighter in female bodies. I am surrounded by a soft but protective membrane. I need 35 grams of daily oxygen supply to survive and I use 13 % of your total body energy.

As an army is made up of individual soldiers, I am like a complex army, and a single soldier of mine is called a “nephron,” which does the real job. Thus, you can see me as a body of nephrons. Millions of these nephrons are brought together to make up one kidney.

A single nephron is a thin tubular structure with closed ends, and its length is about 3-4 cm. So the total length of my nephrons is about 50 km. The cup-like sac at the beginning of a nephron is named the “Bowman’s capsule.” The main artery bringing blood to the kidneys branch into smaller units, and one road leads to every nephron. The knot of capillaries (glomerulus) inside this double-walled capsule is more complicated than any road map you might have seen. The total length of the capillaries is nearly 25 km. The unwelcome substances in the blood are passed to the capsule thanks to blood pressure, and they proceed through the tubule. The total surface area of my tubules is about 20 m2. Within five minutes the whole of your blood passes through us. That is to say, an average of 1.2 liters of blood per minute, and 1800 liters a day are filtered by my nephrons, leaving the toxic substances in me. As this amount of blood (nearly 400 times the normal amount in your body) pass through my tubules and return to the veins they leave behind an average of 180 liters of liquid in me. In this case, you could be supposed to throw out 180 liters of urine a day. However, if you really did that, you would neither be able to find a sufficient supply of water nor salt. Fortunately, Providence granted you the mechanism to absorb back nearly 178.5 liters of this filtered substance. This way, the thickened urine throws out the toxic nitrogen-containing byproducts together with a little amount of water. Therefore, I give you back the substances you need with an amount of 1.5 liters of liquid disposal a day. This reabsorbing is realized in what you call the Henle loop. The cells in the walls of my tubules have neither intellect, nor consciousness, nor any knowledge of physiology; in spite of this, they work as if they were perfectly aware of their duty to adjust the amounts and types the substances to be kept or released. To give you an idea, you can think about the huge dialysis machines your engineers design to fulfill the job my tiny tubules do. You decide which one of us is the perfect work of engineering.

A rich network of veins surround the Heinle loop and the reabsorbed substances are released into the bloodstream. The drops to be disposed of are collected and then passed to your bladder. When the liquid in your bladder amounts to a certain value it tightens the bladder walls. The muscles blocking the way out give way and the urine is disposed of. However, know that the bladder has the capacity to expand as large as 1.5 liters when you cannot find the proper time and place.

Peter, most people take for granted the blessings they enjoy. If you visit the nephrology service in a hospital and talk to the patients waiting to be dialyzed, you understand what I mean better. Do not forget that many people who suffer from kidney failure need that huge machine to filter the whole of their blood and they pray for a kidney suitable for transplantation to be found at once.

Incidentally, thinking of chronic kidney failure recalled various reasons which ruin me: long lasting infections, long-term use of certain medicine, different chemicals like ethylene and mercury, heavy loss of blood, high blood pressure, serious burns, and wrong blood transfers etc. In such cases I can receive irreparable damage.

Another issue which troubles me is the formation of kidney stones. The stones which form owing to failures in different metabolic processes really hurt. When excessive decrease of liquids or increases of salts in the body upset my sensitive balance, some dissolved substances remain, begin to collect, and form stones. These stones hinder urine flow and might cause infections. You may drink water abundantly to prevent these stones. Most importantly do not wait too much before going to the toilet. If you excuse me, I also strongly recommend you to urinate in sitting position; this helps emptying your bladder completely and reduces the risk of kidney stones.

I do my job properly until I lose 90 % of my working capacity. When a considerable part of me loses its capacity, the remaining good part boosts its activity to make up for the loss. When one of our twins are taken out with an operation, the other one does not complain at all; it grows a bit bigger and keeps working.

As the nature of honey depends on the nectars bees collect, the ingredients of the urine I produce depend on what’s in your body. Therefore, a urine analysis tells much in the case of illness. For example, I normally do not release valuable substances like glucose and protein in your blood into the urine, but return them to the bloodstream. As my friends cannot fulfill this function in diabetic patients, their urine analyses reveal glucose. As for medicines, I throw them out right away since they are alien substances to me.

Peter! You are young and healthy but be careful and do not get cold around the waist, otherwise I might trouble you. There’s a lot to tell you Peter, but I do not want to confuse you. Like any other organ, I do not like being taken for granted and I just wish for you to appreciate what a blessing I am. Let me note that my perfect cooperation with the rest of your body is another wonder in itself. Anyway, the urea in your blood is increasing, so I must go help my twin now. Goodbye Peter!

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir.

If we try to fill a glass of soda without letting it overflow, we usually notice the bubbles or froth of the drink. As we fill the glass, bubbles form on the surface and these tiny bubbles grow. Reaching a certain size, the bubbles escape from the liquid surface, and vanish into the air. If we put our finger, or a straw into the soda-as most of us did as children- we immediately notice that tiny bubbles of gas form on the object immersed in the glass. Just like in the freezing of water or in the escape of gas from soda, a precise energy exchange occurs at the initial stage of any phase transformation. Completion of any phase transformation – freezing or condensation (clouds transforming to rain)- is impossible without such precise energy exchange. The fact that all these phase transformation occur with precise energy calculations in the best possible temperature ranges to support life is a clear proof that nothing in the universe was created by mere coincidence, and that everything occurs by the command of the Almighty.

We know that everything in the universe obeys the minimum energy principle. If we want to freeze water, all we have to do is to cool it to a temperature below 0°C, and the transition from water to ice begins. Water molecules tend to gather together to form clusters. When five to ten of these molecules bond together, however, a difficulty is encountered. The formation of solid-liquid, solid-gas, or liquid-gas interfaces requires a specific amount of energy. In the beginning, the surfaces of these clusters are quite large as compared to their volumes such that the energy they receive to form an interface is much greater than the energy they release; therefore the state of minimum energy is not reached. To explain this to you in another way: let us assume that we manufacture beads for the production of costume jewelry and garments, and the surface of the beads requires treatment. If the beads we manufacture are smaller than the specific size, they will be more expensive to treat, and therefore will not cover the costs, so only producing beads exceeding the specific size will be profitable to the manufacturer. The main aspect here is actually the size of the beads, so if manufacturing beads which exceed the specific size is simpler and more profitable, rejecting the beads smaller than these specifications would be inevitable.

As in this example, because of their high energy value, the molecular clusters formed initially (embryos) return to a liquid form. Then once again the particles begin to bond, but again the result is the same. An embryo must grow to a certain size for its surface area to decrease in comparison to its volume and thus reduce its energy. This is only feasible when many atoms bond, for only when a sufficient number of atoms join together does the embryo transform into a nucleus, and then begin to crystallize and eventually become solid. The process called homogeneous nucleation is only possible under certain conditions: the liquid must be at a temperature of around –40 C^o for both the transition in the balance of energy, and for the water molecules and atoms to become solid and bond to form a nucleus. If we contain pure water totally motionless in the deepfreeze at approximately –8 C^o, we will have supercooled water that has not yet transformed into ice; the temperature between the nucleation and the freezing points, is called supercooling. Supercooling is a metastable condition where liquid or gas remains supercooled without actually becoming frozen, but the slightest intervention or movement can cause the substance to transform into a solid. The tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide in soda is also in a metastable condition, for as soon as the bubbles have the opportunity, they escape from the liquid and vanish into the air. If we immerse a straw or finger into a glass of soda, this forms an added surface, which also facilitates a solid-gas interface, and if we add a teaspoon of sugar to the soda, this induces the drink to froth and bubble at great speed. Water boiled in a saucepan actually nucleates on the wall of the container.

Supercooling is a metastable form of the substance. Every substance or solution has a specific temperature value for cooling. For instance, liquid copper transforms into a solid at 1083 C^o. Homogeneous nucleation requires the bonding of 310 atoms, and supercooling to approximately 236 C^o.

Under normal conditions, substances which have more than one type of molecule undergo phase transformation known as heterogeneous nucleation. In this case, the atoms form primarily on the walls of a container on particles of impurity, or minute solid particles in the liquid, and this significantly reduces the surface energy barrier for nucleation. So for a moment let us return to the bead example. We have discovered that instead of directly manufacturing smaller beads, it would reduce the costs of decorating the surface of the beads to coat and treat larger beads, so the beads are being produced in this way, thus reducing losses.

Supercooling can occur at temperatures even as high as 2–3 C^o, and this is very important. The condensation of water or supercooled water droplets in clouds must reach a specific size and weight in order to fall to the earth as raindrops. Here, the solid microscopic particles combine to form nuclei. Even if the clouds are much lower in temperature, rain cannot form without nuclei. Particles of salt which escape from the sea, sand that rises from the desert, the sulphate released from the ashes of volcanic activity or minute atoms of dimethyl sulphate emitted by certain planktons are driven into the atmosphere by the wind and form nuclei. As the Almighty, the Creator of the universe revealed in Al-Hijr, verse 22 of the Qur’an: “And We send the winds to fertilize, and so We send down water from the sky, and give it to you to drink (and use in other ways)” indicating that one of the duties of the wind is fertilization. Even the particles in smoke released irresponsibly by humans from industrial chimneys, or from car exhausts form nuclei that eventually transform into rain.

During the foundry process, solid substances are added to liquid metals for certain purposes, such as enabling metal to set more rapidly, or increasing the metal’s durability. When liquid metal is cooled, its atoms form nuclei on microscopic solid impurities. These nuclei increase in size and assemble into groups called grains. The irregular zone between these groups is known as the grain boundary. The grain boundary forces the compressed atoms to move and weld, thus increasing the durability of the metal. This method known as infusion or grain contraction ensures an increase in the formation of nuclei, and also in the durability of the metal. Cloud seeding, a topic which mainly comes to light when there is a lack of rain, is actually inducing the clouds to form artificial nuclei that will in turn produce rain.

Some creatures on earth protect themselves with mechanisms bestowed by their Creator, and one of these creatures is the wood frog. As the water in its cells begins to freeze, the antigel protein found in its blood surrounds the formation of nuclei, and prevents the nuclei from increasing in size. The frog remains frozen and motionless until the temperature increases. If we touched a wood frog in this condition, its cells too would freeze suddenly, and the frog would die. It is impossible for a frog to know how to cool to the point of freezing, and nucleate. It is also impossible for a frog to adapt to such a mechanism because this would require practice and experience, which would of course be deadly. Therefore, is the frog’s ability to freeze, and its process of nucleation not a clear indication of the providence and blessing of God the Almighty?

One of the most important reasons for the last two world wars was the sharing of energy sources. 60 years on from the last world war, the world is now very close to confronting the same problem. There has been an enormous rise in energy demand since the middle of the last century. This increase has resulted from both rapid industrial development and population growth. As shown in Figure 1 and 2, the world population is 4.8 times greater, and the total energy requirement has increased more than 30 fold from between 1850 and 2000. Many studies have demonstrated that while global demand increases by at least 2-3% per year, the current oil fields are depleting at an average of 3-5% per year. If this demand continues at this rate, we will reach a point of crisis in oil sometime after 2010, and the same will be true for natural gas somewhat later, between 2020 and 2030 [1, 3]. The basic energy source of the world, hydrogen, is a new hope for solving the energy problem. It is likely that this century will be the century of the fuel cell. This technology uses hydrogen as fuel, and offers the prospect of supplying the world with clean, sustainable electrical power.

Hydrogen, which is the simplest element in space, was discovered in the 16th century and its inflammable property was understood in the 18th century. Ninety percent of the known universe consists of this simple element. Hydrogen is colorless, odorless, nonpoisonous, and 14.4 times lighter than air. In its liquid phase it has a temperature of -252.77 °C. It is the fuel of the sun and other stars, hence the main energy source of the universe. Hydrogen is not found as a free element in nature, but rather it is found as a compound, particularly as water. Hydrogen has the largest energy amount per unit mass among known fuels. The energy of 1 kg of hydrogen equals 2.1 kg of natural gas and 2.8 kg gasoline. However, its volume per unit energy is higher. It is 1.33 times more efficient compared with fossil fuels as an energy source. When hydrogen is used to produce heat or propulsion, only liquid water or water vapor emerge, making it an extremely clean energy source.

Hydrogen can be used with fuel cells to produce electricity. At the present time, the cost of this method is 3 times more expensive when compared to other fuels. Fuel cells use hydrogen, or hydrogen containing compounds to produce electrical energy and heat. A fuel cell has no moving parts and makes no noise when operating. A single fuel cell contains three layers, as shown in Figure 3. These are the anode-electrode layer, the membrane layer, and the cathode-electrode layer.

There are three types of fuel cells; Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM), Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC), and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), each named after the material used as fuel. The PEM fuel cell is fueled by pure hydrogen. In the anode, hydrogen is split into its basic elements, a proton and an electron. While the proton migrates through the membrane of the fuel cell, the electron travels around the membrane and goes to the cathode, creating an electrical current. In the cathode-hydrogen proton the electron reacts with oxygen to form water, which is rejected as waste. The basic system is the same for the DMFC and the SOFC fuel cells. The DMFC is fueled by a mixture of methanol and water. Before reaching the anode electrode, the methanol is split into CO²and hydrogen. The SOFC fuel cell can use different kinds of fuels that contain methane and hydrogen. All the reactions are shown in Table 1. One fuel cell can produce 0.6 of a volt. To get enough power, several fuel cells are piled in a stack. The space between fuel cells is filled with gas that helps to distribute the hydrogen and oxygen gas to the membranes.

Although hydrogen energy is a new source, the production of hydrogen is not a new concept. Every year, 500 billion m³ of hydrogen is produced, stored, transported, and utilized in the world. Initially, hydrogen was used for the production of ammonia, but today hydrogen utilization has expanded tremendously to incorporate applications in chemical and petroleum refining, metallurgy, the hydrogenation of edible fats and oils, space and weather programs, fuel cells, and the manufacture of high quality electronic components. The most important consumer is in the petroleum- chemistry industry.

Hydrogen can be obtained by using different methods. Hydrogen can be produced from electricity, using electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Reforming is another method that produces hydrogen. In this method, hydrogen is extracted from a gas with a high concentration of methane, such as natural gas. This process uses hot steam to obtain hydrogen from the methane. When methane gas is mixed with hot water vapor, the gas is split into carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

Although hydrogen can be stored as a gas or liquid, storing and handling hydrogen is difficult as compared to gasoline. While gasoline is a liquid, hydrogen is a gas. At atmospheric pressure at sea level (pressure at sea level is 1.0 atm = 1.01325 bars), hydrogen has a volume 3,100 times greater than gasoline. To decrease the volume of the hydrogen, pressure is used. Hydrogen can be stored under pressure up to 700 bars. At this pressure, hydrogen has a volume 6.4 times greater than that of gasoline.

Another method for storing hydrogen is in the liquid phase. In this phase, hydrogen has a volume 3.6 times greater than gasoline. Liquid hydrogen can be stored under high pressure in steel tubes. Hydrogen should be cooled to -252.77 °C to become liquid. The cooling process requires energy. 25% of hydrogen energy is used for the cooling process. The largest liquid hydrogen tank is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It contains up to 3,400 m³ liquid hydrogen.

Hydrogen can also be stored in metal hydrides. When cooling is applied, the hydrogen atoms diffuse inside the metal hydrides. To release the hydrogen, the reverse process, heating, is needed. Due to the large storage necessary, aluminum and boron hydrides have been used extensively over the last 10 years. In particular, boron hydrides are important as they can be used in liquid conditions. Metal hydride storage is very safe because of the low pressure and the fact that there is little free hydrogen inside the storage tank. Another advantage of this way of storing is that metal hydrides hold hydrogen at very low volumes.

It seems that hydrogen may be the major energy source in the future. Eventually, it will be used to supply the energy needed in the economy, being used for transportation, central and distributed electric power, and combined heat and power for buildings, and industrial processes. However, hydrogen technology is currently in the pre-production stage of development. Hydrogen energy is not cheap when compared to other energy sources at this time. There are some challenges that need to be overcome, such as producing, storing, and using hydrogen efficiently before we use hydrogen instead of fossil fuels. However, hydrogen is the key to solving the energy problems of the world. Hydrogen is available in every country, everywhere. Using hydrogen as an energy source will prevent many conflicts between countries. This energy source will help address concerns about energy security, global climate change, and air quality. It seems that the views of Jules Verne, quoted at the beginning of this article, will be realized one day in the future. And people will thank God not only for water, but also for the hydrogen in it.

References

1. “Energy Wars” by David Chapman – a director of Bullion Management Services the manager of the Millennium BullionFund (www.bmsinc.ca).

2. Cook B., ‘An Introduction to Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Technology’, Heliocentris, 2001.

3. www.un.org

4. www.census.gov

5. www.worldenergy.org

6. www.fuelstore.com

7. www.minihydrogen.dk

It is only with the thought of Paradise that children, who form a great deal of humanity, can endure all the deaths around them, which appear to them to be grievous and frightening, and strengthen the morale of their weak and delicate beings. . . . It is only through the life of the hereafter that the elderly, who form another considerable part of humanity, can endure the proximity of the grave, and be consoled at the thought that their lives, to which they are firmly attached, will soon be extinguished and their fine world will come to an end. . . . It is only the thought of Hell-fire that checks the turbulent emotions of youths, the most vigorous element in the life of society, and their violent excesses, restraining them from aggression, oppression, and destruction, and ensuring that the life of society continues tranquilly. (The Ninth Ray, First Point)

If a society is deprived from the above benefits of belief in the Hereafter, people will try to find other ways to satisfy this search for immortality, as in the example of ancient Egypt. The fear of death and the desire for immortality are symbolized by the ancient Egyptian practice of mummification. The word “mummification” is derived from the Latin word mumia, meaning black bitumen. Bituminous materials were used extensively in the preservation of the body from the twenty-sixth dynasty of the Pharaohs onwards.

The ancient Egyptians believed that the body of a person was to live in the afterlife, therefore, mummification was developed; the total process took seventy days. Due to the expense of the materials involved in mummification, the pharaohs of Egypt, members of the nobility, and officials were the only people to be mummified, and they were usually buried in elaborate tombs. For religious reasons, some animals, such as baboons, cats, birds, and crocodiles were also mummified.

Mummies were placed in tombs that were designed to help the deceased live in the afterworld. The tombs were filled with all the necessities of life, such as food, tools, and treasures to ensure that the soul would return to the body, enabling the mummy to live happily.

The mummification process was used by many societies in an effort to cheat death and to achieve immortality. Modern society is no different from these ancient societies with respect to the desire to reach immortality. The only difference is the modern technology that is used to achieve immortality. Cryonics, a modern mummification technique, is a term that stems from cryogenic, the more general term given to the branch of physics that deals with extremely low temperatures. Cryonics is the practice of freezing the body of a recently deceased person to preserve it for possible resuscitation in the future. The body, which is in a state of “cryonic suspension,” is cooled to the point where molecular physical decay completely ceases. When a cure for the disease that caused the death has been found, the person may be revived and restored to good health later on.

This is not a new idea. In early 1967, a California psychology professor named James H. Bedford decided to try it. When he died of cancer, he was frozen in liquid nitrogen at 321 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. After Bedford, over a period of a few years, several dozen people were frozen in liquid nitrogen. After a while, the relatives stopped the flow of money to the cemetery crypt in Chatsworth, California. By 1987, the frozen bodies, one of those being the body of Bedford, kept in liquid nitrogen had dropped to only three in the United States, due to financial reasons. By 1994, the number of frozen bodies once again had risen, climbing to about a dozen. Another two dozen had chosen the cheaper alternative of having only their heads frozen after death. They believed that future technology would be able to provide a new body by using their DNA. Cryonics organizations have been growing rapidly, with several hundred people now being legally signed up to be frozen after death.

The type of death is very important for cryonics. Real death and legal death are not the same things. When it is no longer feasible to restore the blood circulation (i.e. restart the heart), legal death occurs. Real death occurs after the cells have irreversibly deteriorated in the minutes and hours that follow. Due to the fact that so much cellular information is lost after real death, cryonics begins after legal death has been declared.

After legal death, the body is hooked to a heart-lung machine to supply oxygen to the still living tissues. At the same time the blood is drained and some chemicals are circulated to minimize the damage caused by freezing. To protect the body, all chemical reactions are stopped by hindering translational molecular motion. This motion is stopped at 130 degrees below zero Celsius, that is “glass transition” temperature. The human body is cooled to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, -196 degrees Celsius (-320 degree Fahrenheit). The bodies are then placed in a vacuum-insulated flask, head down, so that in the event of a problem it would be the feet that would thaw first. While to date no human being in cryonic suspension has been revived, it has been proven that the bones, the skin, some tissues, the red and white blood cells, the bone marrow, human embryos, and sperm survive under deep freezing and thawing.

Some special techniques are used to reduce the damage caused by freezing. Using a procedure called vitrification, a mixture of cryoprotectant (antifreeze) compounds replaces more than 60% of the water inside the cells to prevent the tissue from freezing during cooling; the tissue becomes rigid like glass, with no ice crystal damage. On the other hand, high concentrations of cryoprotectant are toxic to cell metabolism. It is hoped that this problem will be solved and reversed in the future by nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the technology that has been developed in order to work with atoms and molecules in the future. By using this technology, the damage in the cells caused by freezing will be able to be repaired. In addition to nanotechnology, therapeutic cloning developments and stem cell research discoveries will be important in making cryonics successful. Taking into account the speed of the development of these technologies, some experts have estimated that it will take 20-100 years before humans can be successfully thawed out.

Such a process requires a great deal of money; it is not cheap to freeze oneself for future life. Prices range between a fee of $28,000 to $120,000 annually. By freezing merely the head, this price can be reduced by half.

Be it the ancient mummification methods, be it the latest expensive techniques, all these point to the unchanging human nature. Cryonics try to reach immortality in “this life”; however, this is an impossibility with today’s technology and is merely speculative with future technology. But there is a way that is possible now, and does not require great expenditure or mind-boggling technology. Bediuzzaman, in his book, The Rays, explains how we can achieve such immortality:

For example, human beings have an intense desire for immortality. Only One Who has disposal over the whole universe as though it was a palace can answer this wish; only One Who can close the door of this world and open that of the hereafter, like closing the door of one room and opening that of another can do so. Humans have thousands of desires, both negative and positive, which like the desire for immortality spread throughout the world and stretch to eternity. It is only the Single One, Who through the mystery of unity holds the whole universe in His grasp, Who, by answering these desires of human beings, can cure the two gaping wounds of impotence and want.

In other words, the ability to find immortality is something that has always been with us; it resides within us. The ancient Egyptians and modern science both spent large sums of money and much time trying to attain immortality; if only they were aware that every human has the same chance. All we need to do is to just look within ourselves

References

• Iskander, Zaky, An X-Ray Atlas of the Royal Mummies, University of Chicago Press, 1980.
• Harris, Steven B., “Many are cold but few are frozen.” Available online at http://www.cryonet.org
• Ettinger, Robert C.W., The Prospect of Immortality, Ria University Press, 2005.
• Nursi, Said (Bediuzzaman), The Rays, Sozler Publications, Istanbul: 2002.
• http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk
• www.levity.com/alchemy/islam25.html
• http://www.alcor.org/
• http://www.cryonics.org/ 

In addition to protecting the infant from life-threatening enemies, the nutrition of a newborn should be suitable for their development and appropriate for their digestive system and sensitive kidneys, which are not ready to accept any ordinary food. If it was up to the parents to design and create the necessary nutrition for babies, what would they do? Would they be able to come up with a formula that would provide the necessary nutrition, protect them from bacteria and viruses, and also be fit for their digestive system? Millions of dollars are spent on infant nutrition, but no one has come up with anything better than mother’s milk.

A diet for a newborn should include the following elements in certain proportions: water, proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, fats, fatty acids, minerals and vitamins (A, and B with all its subgroups, C, D, E and K).

Water is a major necessity for the human body, being composed of mostly liquid. In the 10th week of pregnancy, 94% of an embryo is liquid, whereas 79% of a newborn is liquid. As the baby reaches its 3rd month, the total liquid in its body is 70%, while at age 1 this amount is reduced to 60%. The amount of total liquid in an adult body is about 55% of the total body-weight, and while the amount of liquid that passes through an adult body daily is about 6% of its total weight, this amount is 4 times higher (25%) in infants. Dehydration can occur very fast in babies. This is why infant nutrition should be high in water. Not surprisingly, breast milk, which pours from the fountain of compassion of the Almighty, is 90% water. Breast milk also contains solid (casein) and soluble (whey) proteins, which are essential for the growth and repair of the body. Casein in breast milk forms much softer clogs and is easier to digest compared to the casein in cow’s milk. Moreover, the whey in breast milk plays an important role in protecting the babies from infections, since it has an anti-infective property. Cow’s milk, for example, does not contain the anti-infective proteins that are essential for human babies. Since their immune system is not yet fully developed, babies are not able to fight off infections, and their defense is provided by breast milk, which acts not only as nutrition, but also as a live fluid that protects babies against infections. There is no formula or food that can replace breast milk, as it contains live macrophage and lymphocytes. (WHO-1993, UNICEF, 1993 – Nutrition–H-1OF)

In sura al-Qasas in the Qur’an we are told of the Pharaoh’s unimaginable cruelty, and how he was punished by God as an admonition. The Pharaoh had been told by a fortuneteller that a baby, a successor of the sons of Ishmael, would be born, and would bring his kingdom to an end. Frightened by this prediction, the Pharaoh commanded that all newborns in the country be killed. At the time, Moses’ mother was pregnant with him. As she gave birth to Moses, her only worry was to protect him from the Pharaoh’s soldiers. At this moment she was guided by divine inspiration: 

Suckle (your child), but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear nor grieve; surely We will bring him back to you and make him one of Our Messengers. (Qasas 28:7)

“Suckle (your child),” or in other words, “breastfeed him,” were God’s words to a mother whose only worry was saving her baby’s life. If one reads the verses preceding and following the above verse carefully, it is clear that the main idea in the verse is to protect the baby. Now, why would such a verse advise the mother to breastfeed? It is because the Pharaoh’s soldiers were not the only threat to the baby. After years of medical research, we now know that an infant’s immune system has not yet developed, and therefore they need to be protected against bacteria and viruses, which in Moses’ story were a more immediate threat to the baby than the Pharaoh. It is certain that the baby would be exposed to bacteria and viruses before the Pharaoh’s soldiers found him. Being under such a great anxiety, a mother might not be able to take good care of cleaning and feeding her baby, which would increase the risk of infection to the baby. For this very reason, God advised Moses’ mother to breastfeed the baby first. It is God Who creates and provides breast milk through the mothers’ body, and He certainly knows that not only is it a source of food and nutrition, but that it also helps to protect the baby against infections. God may, of course, choose to provide direct protection, without requiring breast milk, but then, living in a world of cause and effect, we are reminded of the perfect balance of this universe.

A breastfeeding mother should be free of anxiety and stress, as these will negatively affect the mother’s milk production. (WHO-1993, UNICEF, 1993 – Nutrition–H-1OF) The Qur’an, after advising breastfeeding, continues to comfort the mother “. . . when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear nor grieve; surely We will bring him back to you and make him one of Our Messengers.” Breastfeeding mothers have high levels of prolactin in their boies. As well as stimulating milk production, this hormone also functions as an anti-depressant for the mother. In this context, it is very significant that the mother is advised to breastfeed. It is incredible that a verse that is nearly 1400 years old is perfectly in accordance with the results of 30-years of research on breast milk.

Lactose-another ingredient in breast milk-is a kind of carbohydrate that is suitable for the digestive system of babies. Its slow digestion balances the sugar levels in the baby’s body. Lactose also increases the absorption of calcium. Together with some fat molecules, galactose-a type of molecule found in lactose-forms compounds that are essential for the development of the brain in infants. It also plays a role in the increase of a bacterium called “lactobacillius bifidus” found in the infant’s intestine. These harmless bacteria form the intestinal flora, which eventually protects them from diarrhea. In premature babies, more than 90% of lactose in breast milk is transmitted to the blood through mucous in the intestines after breast feeding. This preventive care can neither be provided by the mother nor is it initiated through the desire or ability of the baby. In addition to having so many benefits for babies, another positive aspect of lactose is that the amount found in breast milk is not affected by the mother’s diet.

There are more than 100 types of sugar, known as Oligosaccharides, found in breast milk. Oligosaccharides and other anti-infective elements in the intestines prevent harmful microorganisms from holding on to the intestines by clinging to them.

Babies get most of the energy they need from the fats found in breast milk, which are easily absorbed in the baby’s intestines. The fat ratio in the breast milk increases at the end of the breast feeding session; this gives the baby a feeling of fullness and prevents overfeeding. In this way, babies are also protected against obesity and other connected health risks that may occur in the future, including heart and vessel diseases, hypertension, diabetes, etc.

The mother’s diet does not affect the quantity or quality of minerals found in breast milk. Breast milk provides as much minerals as the baby needs, using the mineral stocks of the mother. It also contains all the necessary vitamins for the baby’s first month, as well as growth factors, enzymes, and ten other hormones, whose benefits are still unknown.

Breast milk in mothers who give birth to a premature baby is different than regular breast milk; this helps to satisfy the unique needs of a premature baby. In the first few weeks after the birth of a premature baby, the amount of protein in the mother’s breast milk is higher in comparison to that of a mother who delivered full term. A premature baby needs 2 grams of protein per one kilogram of its body weight daily, twice the amount needed by a full term baby. Also the protein quality (casein/whey ratio) of breast milk for a mother who gave birth to an underweight baby is adjusted accordingly: 30% of casein and 70% of whey protein. The fat in breast milk provides 50% of the total calories, which is the ideal combination for underweight babies. The digestion and absorption of this fat, the types of fatty acids, and the distribution of these acids over the triglyceride molecules are perfect.

It is well known that breastfed premature babies have better visual ability, and that long-chained fatty acids, carotene, taurine and vitamin E-all of which are contained in breast milk in perfect ratios-play an important role in visual ability.

The First Two Years of Life and Breastfeeding

One liter of breast milk alone provides 2/3 of all the protein and all of the vitamin A and C an infant needs up to the second year. If a baby can get 1.5 liters of breast milk daily, they will be provided with most of the nutrition they need. This is why breast feeding should continue through to the end of the second year, if possible.

The true value of breast milk has only recently been discovered. In the 1960s, a massive advertising campaign for baby formula was able to “discover” almost every day another element that existed in formula, but was lacking in breast milk. This was broadcast via television, especially in the US. As a result of these scientific (!) findings, mothers were alienated from breast feeding and a formula generation was born, all in the name of “science.”

In 1980, breast milk was recommended for only the first four months of life. It was claimed that after four months, breast milk did not have any nutritional value and was just like water for the baby. In 1986, breast milk was recommended for the first six months. And finally, starting from 1993, breast milk was recommended for the first two years, after it was discovered that even during the second year, breast milk still provides most of the necessary nutrition for infants. A verse from the Qur’an says: 

And the mothers should suckle their children for two whole years for him who desires to make complete the time of suckling; and their maintenance and their clothing must be borne by the father on equitable terms. No soul shall have imposed upon it a duty but to the extent of its capacity; neither shall a mother be made to suffer harm on account of her child, nor a father on account of his child, and a similar duty (devolves) on the (father’s) heir, but if both desire weaning by mutual consent and counsel, there is no blame on them. (Baqara 2:233)

Medical researches have just discovered within the last 10 years that breast feeding should continue for two years, yet the Qur’an has been giving us the same advice for 14 centuries. If one is rational, one must agree that no one else but God could have known this so many years ago. And who else could possibly have provided us with such information, information that it would have been impossible to discover with the limited science and medical research of the 7th century?