Discovery Institute's Blog, page 6

March for Science Gets "Hijacked" by Partisanship

The Left twists any and every discreet issue, politicizing it into the usual culture war agenda items. Now it's the March for Science, which presents "colonization, racism, immigration, native rights, sexism, ableism," etc. as "scientific issues."

Over at the American Council on Science and Health blog, Alex Berezow (with whom I have sometimes disagreed) sounds the alarm and explains why he won't be marching:

I wrote previously of my concern that the Science March would be hijacked by the k...

Biologist Ann Gauger: Apoptosis (Cell Death) Is an Enigma for Darwinism

Sarah Chaffee and Discovery Institute biologist Ann Gauger have been conducting a multipart conversation about the cell (see here and here). In a new podcast episode of ID the Future, they now turn to the mystery of apoptosis -- cell death.

Download the episode by clicking here:

It's an enigma in the light of Darwinian theory, explains Dr. Gauger. In shaping and maintaining the organism, healthy cells may in effect commit suicide, self-sacrifice, for the good of other cells and for the goo...

Tom Bethell on Mind, Matter, and Self-Defeating Darwinism

Over at The Stream, Tom Bethell, author of Darwin's House of Cards, clarifies why Darwinists don't talk so much about one straightforward inference from their own commitment to materialism.

If mind is just a special configuration of brain cells, then mind is nothing but matter. How can neurons "decide" to do one thing rather than another? Nerve cells can't make decisions. So, materialism repudiates free will.

The consistent materialist sees this, denies free will and dismisses consciousness...

See the Trailer Now -- Meet Tom Bethell, Author of Darwin's House of Cards

I loved Tom Bethell's new book Darwin's House of Cards: A Journalist's Odyssey Through the Darwin Debates, as noted here already. As Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard says, Bethell "writes like a dream," which captures my sentiment.

Get the book and read it -- but in the meantime, you can meet Bethell. Not in person but in a quick video trailer. "I'm inclined to say there is no evidence for evolution," states Bethell in the video. Provocative enough for you?

I'm on Twitter. Follow me @d_kl...

Did Complex Flight Feathers "Emerge"?

Here's a thought experiment. Consider something you know is intelligently designed: for example, software code for an app that flies a drone. Now let's describe its "emergence" in Darwinian langauge:

Once assembly language emerged, it diversified into logic gates of increasing complexity, as crawling robots co-opted various functions for novel adaptations, including powered flight. The coding mechanism driving this spectacular process remains unclear. Through morphological analysis of robots...

Michael Behe Is Headed to Florida for Back-to-Back Screenings of Revolutionary!

We've got you well covered in the Sunshine State. Please join us for one of a series of screenings of the new hour-long documentary Revolutionary: Michael Behe and the Mystery of Molecular Machines. With events in the next couple of days in Clearwater, sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Society, as well as Naples, Tampa, and Orlando, hosted by Ratio Christi, you can not only see the film but meet Dr. Behe and interact with him in a Q&A following the screening. See our links for more information.

Re...

Ten Tips for Spotting Fake Science News on Evolution

This is helpful. Our friend Alex Berezow of the American Council on Science and Health offers smart tips on spotting fake science news. The comments of Dr. Berezow, a microbiologist who co-founded the invaluable Real Clear Science site, will ring true if you follow the evolution debate with an eye to distortions committed by Darwin partisans in the media. Berezow is no ID advocate, mind you, but proponents of intelligent design will be nodding in affirmation as they read his excellent post.

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The Cell as a City: Examining an Apt Metaphor

The overwhelming impression of design in a living cell is conveyed not merely by the complexity of its operations but by the exquisite purposefulness of it. In a new ID the Future podcast, a series on the cell, Sarah Chaffee talks with Discovery Institute biologist Ann Gauger about an apt metaphor: the cell as a city, complete with power plant, thoroughfares, waste recycling, and much, much more.

A great deal of this purposeful complexity has been mapped out by scientists, but important part...

These Animals Really Get Around

What does it take to navigate? Think of the requirements. You have to have a map of some sort, a compass, and robust locomotion anatomy. You have to know where you want to go, and possess the sensory equipment and the stamina to get there. Illustra Media spotlighted some spectacular examples of navigation in the animal world in the Design of Life series. To show those cases are far from unique, consider these recently-reported findings, some of which are quite astonishing.

Insect Pilots

In S...

Tom Bethell's Rebuke to Fellow Journalists: A Skeptical Look at Evolution Is Not Beyond Your Powers

The popular media's attitude on evolution mixes several elements: loathing for the large part of the public that doubts the Darwinian narrative, preening at its own (presumed) superiority in grasping science, and a fawning reverence for evolutionary biologists. Added to this is an unwillingness to weigh the evidence for themselves, offering the excuse that the experts must know best, so why bother? Veteran journalist Tom Bethell's new book offers a marvelous implicit rebuke on each of these...