Discovery Institute's Blog, page 133

William Provine Versus the ACLU-NCSE

As ENV notes, William Provine passed away on September 1 -- and the National Center for Selling Evolution Science Education uses the occasion to attack "creationists." Their obituary states:

As a result of [Dr. Provine's] prominence, he was often cited by creationists eager to portray his views on the connection between evolution and atheism, or a caricature thereof, as representative of scientists in general.

Speaking of evolution and atheism, it happens that a colleague the other day broug...

Darwin's Great-Great-Grandson Has an Excellent Idea

The Republican debate coming up September 16 on CNN is guaranteed to be...lively, which is why ad prices are reported to be running $150,000-plus per 30-second spot. Well, good. ENV is a non-partisan news sources but we do enjoy high-quality TV entertainment of any political persuasion.

High-quality science, too, which is why a notion being floated by none other than Charles Darwin's great-great-grandson, Matthew Chapman, is of interest. It comes in an overlong Newsweek article, "It's Time f...

Quebec to MDs: Thou Shalt Kill!

You went into medicine to be a healer and not a killer? Tough! Thou shalt kill.

Those are not the exact words, but they are certainly the gist of what Quebec's Minister of Health is threatening in the face of a palliative care center declaring it would not euthanize patients. From the CTV News story:

Terminally ill patients in Quebec who seek medical aid in dying must be provided with the service even if some doctors are against it, Quebec's health minister said Wednesday

Gaetan Barrette cal...

William Provine, RIP: Noble in His Honesty

William B. Provine, the Charles A. Alexander Professor of Biological Sciences at Cornell University, has died of cancer at the age of 73. Notwithstanding obvious and profound differences of opinion with us about science and what the evidence suggests about the origins and meaning of life, Dr. Provine was a courageous and clear-sighted interlocutor.

We admired him because, first, he was an interlocutor, with the daring to stand up and debate leading proponents of the theory of intelligent de...

Biochemist Larry Moran Denies Darwin's Doubt, and We Doubt His Arguments

It has come to my attention that Larry Moran, professor of biochemistry at the University of Toronto, feels left out of the debate about Darwin's Doubt, documented in Debating Darwin's Doubt. He writes in a post on his blog that he's "a little miffed" about being omitted from the latter. Moran posted a number of critiques of Stephen Meyer's book, to which we offered no response at the time. No slight intended, Dr. Moran.

I have now taken a look at the first two of his posts, and noticed some...

Here Are the Secrets that Give Sea Lions and Jellyfish Their Edge as Swimmers

Editor's note: Join us for the Atlanta and Southern California premieres of the gorgeous and powerful new Illustra documentary Living Waters: Intelligent Design in the Oceans of the Earth! More information is here and here, respectively. Don't forget to register.

Living Waters focuses on four marine organisms, each worthy of admiration: dolphins, sea turtles, salmon, and humpback whales. But before and after the detailed accounts, scenes of many other swimmers parade across the screen. Can y...

Listen: Neil Steiner on Comparing Natural and Human-Engineered Systems

On an episode of ID the Future, Casey Luskin chats with Neil Steiner, an engineer and computer researcher at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute. Dr. Steiner offers his expertise and unique insight on the debate over ID and evolution, comparing natural biological systems to human-designed technology.

Steiner talks about getting interested in ID when he watched Privileged Planet. His views on these subjects should, of course, be construed as his own alone....

Why Advocates of Animal Rights Hate Animal Welfare

Advocates of animal rights ideology seek to end all domestication of animals. Advocates of animal welfare, on the other hand, seek to create ever-improving standards of animal husbandry.

Animal rights sometimes hides behind appeals to animal welfare -- to gain funds and followers -- but a true animal rightist hates the idea of animal welfare. Why? Because it presumes that we have the right to domesticate what used to be called beasts.

Here is a great example: If one seeks to reduce the suff...

The Cardiovascular System: Regulating Heart Rate

Editor's note : Physicians have a special place among the thinkers who have elaborated the argument for intelligent design. Perhaps that's because, more than evolutionary biologists, they are familiar with the challenges of maintaining a functioning complex system, the human body. With that in mind, Evolution News & Views is delighted to present this series, "The Designed Body." Dr. Glicksman practices palliative medicine for a hospice organization.

The job of the heart is to pump blood throu...

Darwinian Evolution Fails Cost-Benefit Analysis

Imagine what would happen if (1) many corporate executives started research departments, but only one department survived cost-cutting. (2) One of the working scientists in that department stumbled on an innovation with some promise, but none of the scientists survived the next round of layoffs. The innovation was discovered again by a new hire and this time (3) he had a lucky idea but was ignored by management because the idea yielded no profit. He, along with the other scientists, was let...