Discovery Institute's Blog, page 70

Galloping Flagella and Cilia Railroads -- Getting Ready to Celebrate Twenty Years of Darwin's Black Box

We're approaching the twenty-year anniversary of the publication of Darwin's Black Box (it appeared on August 2, 1996, to be precise). Michael Behe's book inspired a generation of Darwin discontents and showed that intelligent design was (and still is) firmly based on cutting-edge science. Among other highlights, he showcased two cellular organelles to illustrate his concept of irreducible complexity: the cilium and the flagellum.

These organelles, protruding from the cell into the environm...

Gal��pagos Finches: A Failed Evolutionary Icon that Won't Go Away

On a new episode of ID the Future, Todd Butterfield talks with biologist Jonathan Wells about a common myth surrounding Galpagos finches and Darwin's theory of evolution:

Download the podcast by clicking here:

Dr. Wells discusses a recent article in the Washington Post. He explains why a change in the finches' beak size isn't evidence for Darwinian evolution. The purported "blueprint" of how the Galpagos finches evolved doesn't, in fact, exist.

Photo credit: Harvey Barrison [CC BY-SA 2.0],...

Law Review Article Documents the Role of Anti-Religious Activism in Evolution Advocacy

Would an objective individual, familiar with the history of evolutionary theory, perceive the idea as religiously neutral? As I discussed here in the context of a newly published law review article, this is a question that courts have not asked -- even though they evaluate the religious associations of alternative scientific theories.

In the article, "Darwin's Poisoned Tree: Atheistic Advocacy and the Constitutionality of Teaching Evolution in Public Schools," Casey Luskin examines the way...

As an Exercise, Write a Research Article in Evolutionary Psychology, Off the Top of Your Head

If you put your mind to it just a little you could probably sit down and compose a research article in the field of evolutionary psychology, right now off the top of your head. It's easy, as this from Science Daily suggests. It promotes an article from the journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, "Sex differences in sports interest and motivation: An evolutionary perspective." Here we go.

Start with a glaringly obvious fact from daily life.

Sports are enormously popular...

Check. Another?

....

California Faces a Time of Choosing

In California, it is a time of choosing for individuals, families, and the medical sector. Will doctors prescribe poison to their terminally ill patients, if asked? Will hospitals allow patients to commit suicides on premises?

If asked, will people attend the suicides of their ill loved ones, thus validating their worst fears and becoming morally complicit by their own participation?

I have urged an across-the-board policy of total non-cooperation. Assisted suicide may be legal, but no one c...

In Court Rulings on Teaching Origins Science, Law Review Article Finds a Double Standard

In a newly published law review article, "Darwin's Poisoned Tree: Atheistic Advocacy and the Constitutionality of Teaching Evolution in Public Schools," attorney and former Discovery Institute research coordinator Casey Luskin examines the way courts have struck down the teaching of alternatives to evolution because of their historical associations with religion. At the same time, he notes that courts typically ignore anti-religious historical associations with Darwinism.

As Luskin document...

From the BBC, Human Evolution in 15 Easy Steps

Complete with a maddening background accompaniment on drums, here's a brief video from the BBC purporting to explain the transition from ape ancestor to modern human. It's part of a series claiming to answer "Big Questions." They promise, "These are the simple steps that made us human," 15 in all. Simple?? Only 15?? The subhead reads:

Over the course of several million years, apes gradually transformed into humans. This video shows you the key changes along the way.

More accurately, it shoul...

Fire-Maker with Biologist Michael Denton Gets Its Seattle Premiere; Goes on Sale May 18!

An enthusiastic crowd greeted the Seattle premiere of Fire-Maker: How Humans Were Designed to Harness Fire and Transform Our Planet on Tuesday night. (See the trailer here.) The film, which goes on sale on May 18 and features the work and thought of Discovery Institute biologist Michael Denton, was followed by a lively Q&A.

A high school student asked Dr. Denton what originally "sparked" his interest in fire. Michael responded that it was his belief in our unique fitness as human beings, th...

Darwin's Theory of Evolution -- or Patrick Matthew's?

Writing at FiveThirtyEight, journalist Daniel Engber discusses the theory that Charles Darwin engaged in intellectual theft or plagiarism ("Who Will Debunk The Debunkers?"). Engber describes the investigations of criminologist Mike Sutton at Nottingham Trent University:

In the last few years, Sutton has himself embarked on another journey to the depths, this one far more treacherous than the ones he's made before. The stakes were low when he was hunting something trivial, the supermyth of Po...

Tug of War! Biologists Haggle over How New the Improved Evolutionary Theory Will Be

Last month we noted two news stories that signal major changes ahead for evolutionary theory -- an upcoming conference by the Royal Society seeking a "revision of the standard theory of evolution," and a $8.7 million research project underwritten by the Templeton Foundation offering, according to Science Magazine, an "evolution rethink" ("Intelligent Design Aside, from Templeton Foundation to the Royal Society, Darwinism Is Under Siege").

Developments like that obviously stick in the craw of...