You can’t be a fan of the TopGun movies unless you find the aerial chase and dogfights thrilling. Much of the hype is about these incredible machines and their exceptionally skilled pilots. But these fleeting moments of action have nothing on the remarkable capabilities of the humble dragonfly. Dragonflies execute complex maneuvers that military fighter pilots can only dream of.
To capture prey they employ motion camouflage, adjusting their position to create an illusion they are stationary while making a stealthy approach toward their next meal. The sophistication of a dragonfly’s wings has served as the model for engineers developing the helicopter and aeronautic drones. Dragonflies have two pairs of wings that operate independently and do not merely flap but twist up to 40 cycles per second. Human designers have only recently achieved a craft that replicates this motion 10 cycles per second.
Professor Stuart Burgess resorts to describing the dragonfly as “brilliantly designed”, superior to what the brightest human minds can create. Evolutionary biologists have labelled the dragonfly a “primitive” animal since it appears among the oldest fossil strata, but it presents a conundrum how a “no-mind” process produced such sophisticated hardware and software that our collective intelligence has yet to match.
Scripture tells us in Romans 1:20 that God’s power and nature can be clearly seen in what He has made. Observing dragonflies is just one way the awe and wonder within creation is evidence of a Master Designer, with attention to detail, who makes beautiful and remarkable things.