Discovery Institute's Blog, page 484

Jerry Coyne on the Banality of New Atheism

Prominent New ('Gnu') atheist Jerry Coyne laments... atheist meetings.

In his post Are there too many atheist meetings? , Coyne complains:

Maybe it's because I've been sick and grumpy, but I've noticed the huge spate of atheist meetings, both past and upcoming, and it's seemed to me that there are just too many.

There are probably more attendees at Mass in my small local parish (six Sunday masses, 500 parishoners for each service) on a single weekend than there are atheists at atheist...

Discovery Senior Fellow Jay Richards Receives Templeton Award

The Templeton Foundation each year gives three awards for the best new books on enterprise, one of the themes close to the heart of the late Sir John Templeton, the investment entrepreneur. Yesterday, the Templeton "Silver Award" was announced for Money, Greed and God (HarperOne), by Dr. Jay Richards, Sr. Fellow of Discovery Institute and Co-Director (with George Gilder) of Discovery's new Center on Wealth, Poverty and Morality.

Read the rest at Discovery News.

Miller-Urey Experiment "Icon of Evolution" Alive and Well in Proposed Texas Instructional Materials

In his path-breaking book Icons of Evolution, biologist Jonathan Wells exposed how many textbooks keep recycling inaccurate evidences for chemical and biological evolution (the "icons") long after their pull date. Unfortunately, as a Discovery Institute study documented last week, many of the "icons" cited by Wells are alive and well in supplementary instructional materials recently submitted by publishers to the Texas State Board of Education. 

A prime example is the Miller-Urey...

Darwinism and the Impoverishment of Beauty

So far Terrence Malick's Tree of Life has divided reviewers in an interesting way. The film, which tells of a 1950s childhood in Waco, Texas, and cosmic beginnings and endings in the universe as a whole, won't open here in Seattle till Friday. However one gathers that Malick's epic has not only religious meaning but nods subtly, as several hostile critics have complained, to intelligent design.

"You have to ask if Malick is trying to make a case for intelligent design," muses Amy Taubin for

Human/Ape Common Ancestry: Following the Evidence

Human/ape common ancestry has been a subject much discussed recently. A friend wrote me asking for links dealing with human/ape common ancestry. While there are numerous good articles that have talked about this issue from an intelligent design (ID) friendly perspective, I tried to provide him with some helpful links and information.

As a preliminary point, it's important to note that human/ape common ancestry is compatible with ID. Nonetheless, ID proponents are interested in...

New in Paperback: Hitler's Ethic by Richard Weikart

One of the most controversial parts of the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed was the segment where Ben Stein interviewed the history professor Richard Weikart about his book, From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany. Darwinists went apoplectic, deriding Stein and Weikart for daring to sully the good name of Darwin by showing the way that Hitler and German scientists and physicians used evolutionary theory to justify some of their atrocities...

Science Papers Challenge Claims that "Alien" Bacteria use Arsenic Instead of Phosphorous

Last December we reported on a controversial paper published in Science which claimed to have discovered bacteria that feed on arsenic instead of phosphorous. According to NASA, this research promised to provide "an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life." At that time the media reported things like:

scientists discovered "a bacteria whose DNA is completely alien to what we know today" (Wired)
the "bacteria is made of arsenic" (Wired)
the...

Psychologists Discover Their Own Biases

What persuades someone to accept one theory over another? People involved in marketing have been trying to tap into the roots of persuasion for years, but this question is rarely asked about scientific theories. The impression is that scientific theories are evaluated objectively by following the evidence where it leads. But what if two different people think the evidence leads to two different theories? The authors of this study published in PLOS One and recently reported in Science Daily

Is Richard Dawkins a Coward?

That's what at least one atheist is now suggesting. Watch the fascinating video below documenting how Richard Dawkins says he wants to debate people who disagree with him, but then steadfastly refuses to debate one of his most articulate critics, philosopher and theologian William Lane Craig. Near the end of the video there are some pretty frank comments from a fellow atheist who suggests that Dawkins is acting like a coward. Maybe Dawkins simply has good survival instincts and...

Glaring Bloopers Found in Proposed Texas Science Curricular Materials

According to a study released today by the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute, bogus embryo drawings, long-debunked claims about tonsils, and outdated information from a 1950s lab experiment highlight the glaring bloopers found in proposed science instructional materials currently being considered by the Texas State Board of Education.

"Retro-science must be in, because the proposed materials are filled with outdated scientific claims," said Casey Luskin, a...