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Architects in Nature Video

This video shows animal architecture and relates it to the miracles of life with a religious overtone.

Architecture is one of the most important components of human culture.

Over thousands of years, different civilizations have built architectural wonders, each more striking than the next.

Pyramids... Palaces... Cathedrals... Mosques... Each emerges from the calculations of expert architects, from the joint efforts and cooperation of thousands of people.

Architecture is a field where the concepts of art and aesthetics, imparted to mankind by God, are exhibited.

But did you know that there are architects in nature just as skilled as their human counterparts?

ARCHITECTS IN NATURE
Animals in nature attract our attention with the structure of their bodies in particular.

The cheetah possesses a perfect skeleton and muscles systems for it to run.

The eagle possesses the world's best aerodynamic design.

The dolphin has a specially created skin and body so it can swim in the water.

These flawless designs in animals' bodies are each proof to remind us that every species of living thing was created by God.

But possessing a perfect body is not enough. The animal also has to know how to use that body. A bird's wings are only of any use when it succeeds in taking flight, soaring and landing with them.

When we look at the living world through these eyes, we see a most interesting truth. Each animal behaves in the most appropriate manner for the conditions that surround it. Furthermore, this behaviour occurs right from the moment of birth.

It takes only half an hour for a new-born antelope to stand up and run.

Baby turtles, buried under the sand by the mother turtle, know they have to break out of their shells and head for the surface. Furthermore, they have been taught that as soon as they emerge they have to reach the sea.

It is almost as if animals come into this world fully trained.

And the most amazing example of this amazing education animals have is the homes they so expertly build for themselves.

"The Secret of the Bees"
When you go into the country on a sunny day, the enchanting beauty of flowers draws your attention. When you examine flowers a bit more closely, you come across another interesting creature. This is the honeybee, the most disciplined of nature's architects.

Honeybees live in colonies and produce one of the world's most perfect foods, honey. They store the honey in the hexagonal honeycombs they build.

But have you ever wondered why bees always make their combs hexagonal?

Mathematicians sought the answer to this question and after lengthy calculations came to an interesting conclusion.

The best way of building a storehouse, with the greatest capacity but using the least possible amount of materials, is to make the walls hexagonal.

Let us consider the other shapes... If bees built their combs as cylinders, or as pentagonal prisms, then gaps would emerge between them and less honey could be stored in the combs.

A honey store of triangles or squares could be built without leaving any gaps. But here, mathematicians realized a crucial point. Of all these geometric shapes, the one with the shortest circumference is the hexagon. For this reason, although they cover the same area, less material is needed for hexagons than for squares and triangles.

In short, a hexagonal comb is the best shape for ensuring maximum storage capacity with minimum wax.

Another surprising fact about bees is their cooperation in building their combs. When someone sees a completed comb, he may well imagine that it was built as a single block. But bees actually start building their combs from completely different points. Hundreds of bees set about building the comb from three or four different places. They continue building until they meet in the middle. There is not the slightest imperfection at the juncture.

Bees also calculate the angle of the individual cells to each other when building their comb. The back-to-back comb cells are always built at an angle of 13 degrees to the ground. That way, both sides of the comb slope upwards. This angle prevents the honey spilling out of the combs.

Wherever we go in the world, honeybees manage this extraordinary architecture perfectly every time. And they do it in the depths of the hive, in pitch dark where sunlight cannot reach...

There is a very interesting truth here. Bees exhibit these extraordinary characteristics from the moment they are born. They do not learn over time by observing the comb structure and direction. From the moment they open their eyes, they possess the skill.

So who is teaching bees this architectural art?...