Discovery Institute's Blog, page 184

Regarding Indiana Academic Freedom Bill, Newspapers Need a Lesson in Credible Legal Analysis

Last Sunday the South Bend Tribune ran an editorial that was first published a few weeks ago in the Elkhart Truth. Headlined "Hoosier lawmakers need a civics test," it attacked SB 562 an academic freedom bill in the state of Indiana. The legal analysis from these newspapers leaves much to be desired.

The editorial asserts:

Senators Jeff Raatz and Dennis Kruse introduced SB 562, offering legal protection to teachers who explore creationism -- or other subjects Raatz describes as "open to debate...

Amazon Sells Out of Darwin Day in America, but Don't Worry, Here's Where to Get Your Copy

Gee, those went fast. Not even two weeks after publication, John West's newly expanded paperback edition of Darwin Day in America is now sold out at Amazon -- but don't worry. We are assured that more copies are on the way, and in the meantime, you can get the book at a great price directly from the publisher. Or buy it through Barnes & Noble.

Don't miss the new chapter, "Scientism in the Age of Obama -- and Beyond."

Problem 10: Neo-Darwinism's Long History of Inaccurate Predictions about Junk Organs and Junk DNA

Editor's note: This is Part 10 of a 10-part series based upon Casey Luskin's chapter, "The Top Ten Scientific Problems with Biological and Chemical Evolution," in the volume More than Myth, edited by Paul Brown and Robert Stackpole (Chartwell Press, 2014). Previous installments can be found here: Problem 1, Problem 2, Problem 3, Problem 4, Problem 5, Problem 6, Problem 7, Problem 8, Problem 9. When the series is complete, the full chapter will be posted online.

For decades, evolutionists have...

Under Proposed Law, at Least a Thousand Californians Would Commit Legal Assisted Suicide Each Year

The bogus Oregondeath with dignity assisted suicide statistics are out, and the numbersare up again. According to the report -- based on physician self-reporting -- in 2014, 105 people overdosedthemselves withdrugs obtained via a doctor's prescription (usually facilitated in some way by the suicide pushers at Compassion and Choices.)

Meanwhile, in California an assisted suicide bill has been filed -- looser than Oregon's. And that got me to thinking:Suicide pushers claim that their agenda is...

As a Voter, I'm Slightly Insulted by Scott Walker on Evolution

We haven't commented on Governor Scott Walker and evolution because, in a sense, what's there to say? He dodged the question, one that he or anybody in his position should have seen coming from miles away.

National Review's Jonah Goldberg is right to observe, "I'd rather get the full truth. If you think evolution is wrong or flawed, I'm keen on hearing your arguments." He is absolutely correct about this too: "Beneath the surface, the salience of evolution as a political football is ultimatel...

Happy Birthday, Alessandro Volta!

It is the birthday of pioneering scientist Alessandro Volta (1745-1827). Best known for having invented the first battery, he would have been 270 today. In honor of his scientific achievement, the unit of electric potential is called a "volt."

In addition to the battery, Volta is credited with having discovered that methane combined with air can be exploded with an electric spark, which is the basis of the internal combustion engine. We all know the benefit of that discovery! Volta's contribut...

From the Steadily Shrinking Catalogue of "Functionless," "Vestigial" Organs: Now, the Tailbone

Recently I was invited to give a talk on the evidence for intelligent design to a course at a state university. One of the questions that came up in the Q&A was whether there is a function for the coccyx, commonly called the tailbone. I explained that the tailbone serves as an attachment point for various muscles and tendons. Afterwards, the professor noted that some individuals have had their tailbones surgically removed, implying that it may be superfluous.

Most Darwinian evolutionists view...

Alan Turing and the New Emergentists

The acclaimed Alan Turing biographical film The Imitation Game is up for multiple Oscars on Sunday. It is a tale of Turing as a tragic hero and misunderstood genius, irascible, certainly idiosyncratic, who insinuates himself into a job interview at Bletchley Park as a self-proclaimed mathematical genius, which later is born out as true. He "invents" the digital computer to solve the decryption challenge posed by the German Enigma machines, and thus saves the Allied powers from Hitler.

The fi...

Julia Roberts Promotes "Subhumanism"

The new Greens are anti-human. Even conservation groups -- a noble cause -- now seethe with an anti-humanism that is both nihilistic and destructive to the cause of better environmental practices. I mean, who is going to follow a flag proclaiming "Humans Are Cancer!"

Along these lines, Julia Roberts narrates an angry video for Conservation International (embedded above) that has Mother Nature stating that she has "starved species" greater than humans. Over at The Stream, Jason Jones and John...

All in All, Not a Great Day for neo-Darwinism

The major finding in the Nature article to which Casey Luskin referred earlier -- "widespread evidence of interspecific gene flow" among the Galápagos finches -- is, if anything, evidence AGAINST neo-Darwinian evolution, not evidence for it (neo-Darwinian evolution being the idea that living things change over time and become different species because of changes in DNA sequences).

The study ("Evolution of Darwin's finches and their beaks revealed by genome sequencing") also reported several...