Discovery Institute's Blog, page 79

Human Language: The Homo Homolog

Editor's note: In his new book Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis, Michael Denton not only updates the argument from his groundbreaking Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (1985) but also presents a powerful new critique of Darwinian evolution. This article is one in a series in which Dr. Denton summarizes some of the most important points of the new book. For the full story, get your copy of Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis. For a limited time, you'll enjoy a 30 percent discount at CreateSpac...

A Grave Matter: Richard Weikart on Humanity's Life or Death Struggle

Richard Weikart's new book is out today and it needs to be read by everyone because it involves everyone. It is The Death of Humanity: And the Case for Life, a fascinating examination of the unprecedented decline of the Judeo-Christian moral and ethical values at the foundation of Western Civilization.

In previous books, From Darwin to Hitler (2006) and Hitler's Ethic (2009), our colleague Dr. Weikart, a historian at California State University at Stanislaus, has investigated the travesties...

More on "Intelligent Design Without a Designer"

A reader, Eric, writes to ask about my post "Nature 'Learns' to Create Complexity? Think Again":

Like Brendan, I work on developing computer models and software for scientific applications. His comments about models vs. reality were, of course, spot on. It did occur to me that there is one possible partial response to a point that was made. Brendan writes:

Worse, whatever is "learned" by that organism must be passed along to the children. So, unless the paper's authors subscribe to some form...

Biomimetics -- Where the Action Is

Since our last report on biomimetics (the imitation of nature's designs), several exciting new projects have come to light. Let's survey some of the research going on around the world that is inspired by biology.

Cactus cooler. How can you clean a fish farm? Use cactus, says the American Chemical Society. An old trick known by rural Mexicans uses prickly pear cactus to clean dirty water, but how does it work? ACS scientists found that mucilage, the gummy substance in some cactus tissues, att...

When Terminology Becomes a Cudgel

Forbes contributor John Farrell writes a lot of silly things about the evolution debate, and his most recent offering seems, at first glance, no exception. "It's Time To Retire 'Theistic Evolution,'" Farrell contends. He begins with a display of confusion:

When you read enough in the religion/science debates these days, especially when it comes to Christianity and evolution, you realize there are a whole pack of creationists who don't like other Christians embracing evolution.

They have a na...

Coming on Monday, Richard Weikart's The Death of Humanity: And the Case for Life

Check back here on Monday when our colleague Richard Weikart's new book, The Death of Humanity: And the Case for Life (Regnery), will launch. Dr. Weikart is a historian at California State University, Stanislaus, and the author of From Darwin to Hitler and Hitler's Ethic: The Nazi Pursuit of Evolutionary Progress.

Here's the jacket copy for the new book:

Does Human Life Matter?

Many, today, think the answer is: no.

It is not just abortion-on-demand (considered an indispensable right); it is...

Fish Teach Humans about Design

Why do fish bob their heads back and forth as they swim? Is that wasted movement? Is it an inescapable consequence of undulatory motions during swimming? That's what many scientists used to think. What a team found out reminds us never to assume nature's methods are wasteful.

A new paper in Nature Communications summarizes the find: "Fish optimize sensing and respiration during undulatory swimming." That word optimize has design written all over it, especially when the fish optimizes three...

Listen: Evolutionary Misanthropy

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It's true that Darwinian thinking undermines the traditional (and common sense) idea that human beings have an exceptional status in the world. But saying as much almost doesn't go far enough. With some influential evolutionists there's a barely hidden loathing of people.

In the third and final part of a series of ID the Future episodes, John West describes the Darwinian roots of this kind of -- what shall we call it? detestation? -- of the idea that humans may be special. Dr. West spoke at...

"Question the Answer" -- in Every Field but Evolution

Walking on the University of Washington campus here in Seattle last week, I saw a banner proclaiming, "QUESTION THE ANSWER." It's fitting that this flag is on the campus of a research university, where scientists and students from all disciplines seek knowledge. It's healthy to confront the fluidity and uncertainty of scientific truth. In reality, though, when it come to the mechanisms of evolution, current thinking discourages "questioning the answer" -- in the lab, and in the biology class...

Eat Vegetables Only, Not Animals? Here Are the Health Consequences

Animal-rights activists invariably insist -- falsely -- that we are naturally herbivores, that eating meat is an "addiction," and that a naturally omnivorous diet is unhealthy. If animal-rights activists had their way, it would be illegal to raise food animals and eat meat or animal products.

Now, it turns out that long-term vegetarianism may be the unhealthy diet. From the Telegraph story:

Long term vegetarianism can lead to genetic mutations which raise the risk of heart disease and cancer...