Discovery Institute's Blog, page 498

Should we fear the rise of 'intelligent' computers?

Philosopher Jay Richards has published an interesting piece about IBM's Watson computer trouncing Jeopardy champs looking at the consternation this caused for some people.

Computers are becoming more powerful at an ever-increasing rate, but will they ever become conscious? Artificial intelligence guru Ray Kurzweil thinks so and argues that someday we will "download" our software (our minds) and "upgrade" our hardware (our bodies) to become immortal. So, Richards was able to get...

Butterfly Mimicry: A "Huge" Problem for Evolutionary Biology

Can Darwinian evolution explain the complex coloration patterns found in insects that led to biomimicry? According to an article published late last year in BioScience, Darwinian evolution faces "problems" that are "huge" when trying to account for the origin of biomimicry in butterflies:

The balance of Dazzled and Deceived focuses on the genetics and development of mimetic patterns, as revealed mostly through work with butterflies. The problems here are huge for evolutionary...

Massimo Pigliucci Ignores ID Research, Claims "Random Alteration" of DNA Creates New Information

Discovery Institute senior fellow William Dembski is apparently living inside the heads of intelligent design critics.

A recent opinion article by Massimo Pigliucci in EMBO Reports, published by the European Molecular Biology Organization, states, "In some quarters, 'information' seems to be a magical word: Intelligent Design proponent Bill Dembski, for example, keeps repeating that evolutionary theory cannot explain the production of new information..." Aside from the "magical...

World Magazine Reports on the David Coppedge Case

World Magazine has an excellent report on the David Coppedge story with new insights into his background -- and new reason to do something about the discrimination he's suffered.

About 14 years ago, Coppedge, now 59, got a dream job working with computers on the lab's Cassini mission to Saturn. One of the most advanced outer planet missions in NASA's history, the satellite has been sending back spectacular images since orbiting Saturn in 2004, after a nearly seven-year voyage.

Back...

Nature Publishes Paper Critical of Ardi's Status as Human Evolutionary Ancestor

A new paper in the journal Nature, authored by paleoanthropologists Bernard Wood and Terry Harrison and titled "The evolutionary context of the first hominins," is critical of the claim that Ardipithecus ramidus ("Ardi") was a bipedal ancestor of modern humans.

In 2009, the journal Science devoted an entire issue to introducing Ardi and promoting it as a likely human ancestor. It seems that Nature is in something of a rivalry with Science now that it has published this authoritative p...

Associated Press Almost Gets Intelligent Design Right

The writers for the Associated Press recently claimed that ID is a position that "contends life can be so complex it must have been created by an intelligent being, as opposed to evolving through natural selection."

This statement is ALMOST right. Unfortunately, it reflects the AP's propensity to continually get things wrong when it comes to ID and then perpetuate the myth in a mindless Darwinian fashion. It should say that intelligent design is a position that "contends that the c...

How the Next Generation Gets Connected in the ID Community

The 2011 Summer Seminars for college juniors, seniors and graduate students is an intensive 9-day summer learning opportunity in Seattle, July 8-16.

These seminars are designed for outstanding and motivated students who seek a deeper understanding of science and its implications for society. Past alumni credit the seminar with giving them focus and inspiration for their research, as well as a place to network and receive the support and mentoring they need to equip themselves for the ...

How the Next Generation Gets Connected, Inspired, and Mentored in the ID Community

The 2011 Summer Seminars for college juniors, seniors and graduate students is an intensive 9-day summer learning opportunity in Seattle, July 8-16.

These seminars are designed for outstanding and motivated students who seek a deeper understanding of science and its implications for society. Past alumni credit the seminar with giving them focus and inspiration for their research, as well as a place to network and receive the support and mentoring they need to equip themselves for the ...

Pro-Abortion Scientists, Tucson, and the Philadelphia Abattoir

and I have had a blog debate about the humanity of unborn children.

I believe that human life begins at conception and ends at natural death. I believe that all human beings at all stages of life and in all conditions of health and disability are fully human. I mean "fully human" in two ways:

1) Fully human means a member of the species Homo sapiens. Species does not change with gestational age or with disability.

2) Fully human means that each human being is a person. Each...

AP Lets Martin Gaskell Speak

The AP report on the academic freedom case coming from University of Kentucky is perhaps the most we've heard from astronomer Martin Gaskell yet:

A Christian astronomer who sued the University of Kentucky for religious discrimination says the perceived divide between faith and science is an "illusion."

Martin Gaskell claimed he lost out on a top science job because of his professed faith and statements he made that were taken to be critical of evolution. The controversy fueled the...