Discovery Institute's Blog, page 204

Is Evolution True? Laying Out the Logic

Monday we published a paper in the journal BIO-Complexity demonstrating that enzymes can't evolve genuinely new functions by unguided means. We argue that design by a very sophisticated intelligent agent is the best explanation for their origin. I want to take some time to lay out our argument against Darwinian evolution and for intelligent design. It's important, because itreveals the logical fallacy in most evolutionary thinking.

Just to give an example of the thinking of ID critics, here...

Eureka! For 24 Hours Only You Can Get The Deniable Darwin by the Incomparable David Berlinski at 35 Percent Off!

Finally, at last, it's here: the Eighth Day of our Twelve Days of Discounts! Remember, the day's discount lasts for just 24 hours, until 6 pm on Friday. Go here and enter the code EZ29FV2Z for your savings of 35 percent off list price.

What will you get for your trouble? Why, The Deniable Darwin & Other Essays, by the incomparable David Berlinski.

When it comes to some of life's most profound questions -- the origins of life, of matter, of the universe itself -- does modern science already hav...

Irony Alert: Stephen Hawking Once Again Predicts AI Could Spell Doom for Humanity

Stephen Hawking's news-making prophecies about Artificial Intelligence, a form of technology of which he is a notable beneficiary, are almost entirely devoid of scientific substance. Via Fox News:

The eminent British physicist Stephen Hawking warns that the development of intelligent machines could pose a major threat to humanity.

"The development of full artificial intelligence (AI) could spell the end of the human race," Hawking told the BBC.

This latest warning came on the heels of an inte...

A New Paper from Biologic Institute: "Enzyme Families -- Shared Evolutionary History or Shared Design?"

I am pleased to announce the publication of a new paper from Biologic Institute, a research organization devoted to investigating the limits of unguided evolution and advancing the development of a new paradigm for biology based on intelligent design. This paper, "Enzyme Families -- Shared Evolutionary History or Shared Design? A Study of the GABA-Aminotransferase Family," is the closing chapter of our long-term study of bacterial enzymes to determine if they can be coopted to new functions....

Christmas Comes Early: Today Only, Get Three Documentaries from Discovery Institute Bundled Together at 35 Percent Off!

There was evening and there was morning: the Seventh Day of our Twelve Days of Discounts is here! Remember the day's discount lasts for just 24 hours, until 6 pm on Thursday. Go here and enter the code EZ29FV2Z for your savings of 35 percent off list price.

Our offering? It's a bundle of three important short documentaries from Discovery Institute, including The Biology of the Second Reich, directed by Center for Science & Culture associate director John West.

This year marks the hundredth ann...

That's Not Funny: Evolutionary Researchers Parody Evolution

The second annual BAHFest (Festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses) was held recently on the MIT campus, parodying absurd evolutionary explanations of any number of natural phenomena. A thousand attendees gathered in Kresge Auditorium, and you can get a sense of the atmosphere from the live stream archive video above. The Wall Street Journal was there:

At a recent scientific conference here, Justin Werfel, a Harvard University researcher who has studied termites in Africa, described to the crowd h...

"Dear Atheist Santa... "

The Brights are feeling the holiday spirit. As the Telegraph reports, "American Atheists launch provocative campaign in religious Deep South":

Atheist activists are taking their campaigns to the Bible Belt this Christmas with a provocative billboard campaign that is expected to stir controversy in America's religious heartlands.

The giant advertising hoardings in the Tennessee cities of Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Fort Smith, Arkansas show a mischievous-looking young girl writing her l...

ABC News Says "'Darwin's Dilemma' May Be Solved": What, Again?

[image error]

An article at ABC News carries the bold headline, "'Darwin's Dilemma' May Be Solved." The story has generated some buzz over at RichardDawkins.net. The subject is a recent paper in Science, "Low Mid-Proterozoic atmospheric oxygen levels and the delayed rise of animals," which we've already covered at ENV . What is "Darwin's dilemma"? The ABC News article explains:

Biologists and geologists have been puzzled for decades over why life began so early on this planet, and then took so long to get...

We Sure Are Lucky to Have Our Moon (Among Other Things)

Editor's Note: As a series at ENV, we are pleased to present "Exoplanets." Daniel Bakken is anengineer who teachesastronomy at the college level, and an entrepreneur in compound semiconductor crystal growth. In a series of articles he critically examines recent claims about exoplanets beyond our solar system, asking whether our own planet Earth is a rarity, or common, in the cosmos. For previous articles in the series, see here.

Along with those we've already discussed in this series, further...

For Just 24 Hours, You Can Get the Discovering Intelligent Design Textbook and Workbook at 45 and 30 Percent Off!

Onward and upward, as our 12 Days of Discounts continues -- remember the day's savings last for just 24 hours, until 6 pm on Wednesday. It's Day Six, so go here and here, and enter the code EZ29FV2Z for your savings of 45 and 30 percent off list price respectively for the Discovering Intelligent Design textbook and accompanying workbook!

Authored by Gary Kemper, Hallie Kemper, and Casey Luskin, Discovering Intelligent Design: A Journey into the Scientific Evidence (list price $34.99) is part...