AAA proteins,
ATP,
ATPases Associated with diverse cellular Activities,
blind watchmaker,
centrosomes,
computers,
cytoplasm,
Darwin-skeptics,
Darwinian evolution,
dynein,
endoplasmic reticulum,
Evolution,
Golgi complex,
homology,
humans,
Intelligent Design,
Irreducible Complexity,
J.C. Phillips,
kinesin,
Maxwell’s demon,
Michael Behe,
molecular machines,
natural selection,
proteins,
Richard Feynman,
Rutgers University,
self-organized networks,
slime molds,
Stephen Jay Gould,
worms
You’re not likely to see the phrase “intelligent design” in any typical science journal, except to mock it. A recent example by a doctrinaire evolutionist is, not surprisingly, intended to subvert the design inference for a molecular machine. Did his intention backfire? Read on. J.C. Phillips is a physicist at Rutgers University who has taken an interest in the concept of “self-organized criticality,” something that sounds as credible as “unguided excellence.” Phillips believes that unintelligent Darwinian natural selection moves molecular machines toward optimum performance. It’s kind of like how computers and other technology get more and more sophisticated the longer you leave them left outside to be buffeted by wind, rain, and ice storms. In his recent paper in PNAS, he takes on a marvelous walking machine, dynein, to illustrate…