More to Love about Springtails, Those Adorable Gymnasts

Adrian Smith, Ant Lab, Arthropoda, collophore, convergent evolution, Cyrille D’Haese, Darwin Devolves, Darwinism, deserts, dry deserts, engineers, Evolution, evolutionists, fungus, furcula, Günter Bechly, gymnasts, habitats, Harvard University, ice deserts, Intelligent Design, Mark Stevens, Mollusca, mouthparts, rotting wood, science fair, sea slugs, Spain, springtails, stasis, Subterranean Biology, The Conversation, Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society, zoology
Does it have to be called an “evolutionary success” instead of a success? The word “evolutionary” performs no function. It is also contrary to the evidence. Source
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The Nigerian Experiment: Social Darwinism in Practice

Benjamin Kidd, Benjamin Wiker, Christianity, Christians, Darwin Comes to Africa, Darwinian theory, Darwinism, Darwinists, Europe, Evolution, Faith & Science, Flora Lugard, Frederick Lugard, Fulani, Galton Chair of Eugenics, Great Britain, Islam, John West, Karl Pearson, livestock, Lord Salisbury, Nazi Germany, New Testament, Nigeria, Nigerians, Northern Nigeria, Olufemi Oluniyi, Racism, Richard Weikart, scientific racisim, scripture, Sir Charles Eliot, Social Darwinism, United States, University College London, William MacGregor, Yoruba
In the late 19th century, Great Britain, the United States, and twelve European nations got together and divided Africa up among themselves. Source
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In Biology, Replacing Chance with Purpose Is the New Paradigm

Abraham, Aristotle, biology, Chance and Necessity, Chemistry, Christianity, Darwinism, Evolution, God Hypothesis, Intelligent Design, Jaques Monod, Kansas, laws of nature, Mariusz Tabaczek, materialism, Modern Synthesis, molecular biology, natural processes, naturalism, Neo-Darwinism, Nobel laureates, paradigm, physics, purpose, René Descartes, science of purpose, scientific atheism, scientism, St. Thomas Aquinas, teleology, telos, theistic evolution, Thomistic Aristotelianism, Thomists
In my most recent post in this series on the science of purpose, I concluded that the proper means of understanding our world requires that we include both purpose and necessity as fundamental elements of any comprehensive framework. I noted that the flagship phrase of 20th-century scientific atheism, as articulated by Nobel laureate Jaques Monod in his book Chance and Necessity, acknowledged necessity but explicitly and intentionally eliminated purpose from scientific dialogue.  Now some fifty years later we see that Monod’s paradigm has failed. And that the only possible way of understanding life on earth is to replace chance with purpose. Doing so reverses an epistemological trend stretching back almost 150 years. As such, it is incumbent that we fortify and substantiate the basis for what many would see as a revolutionary new paradigm. That is the goal of this essay. In Read More › Source
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No. 4 Story for 2025: Farewell to Günter Bechly

Cambridge, Casey Luskin, Center for Science and Culture, Charles Darwin, Christianity, Darwinian theory, Darwinism, Discovery Institute, England, Evolution News, evolutionary biology, Fossil Friday (series), fossil record, Germans, Germany, Günter Bechly, Human Origins, Icons of Evolution, Intelligent Design, intimidation, John West, Jonathan McLatchie, Jonathan Wells, Pacific Ocean, paleontology, Paul Nelson, Revolutionary: Michael Behe and the Mystery of Molecular Machines (film), Richard Sternberg, State Museum of Natural History, Stephen Meyer, Stuttgart, Theistic Evolution (book)
I told Richard Sternberg a story from own experience. I learned about more than paleontology from Bechly. Source
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No. 5 Story for 2025: Richard Dawkins Says Intelligent Design Is a Scientific Hypothesis

Arno Penzias, Atheism, Atheists for Liberty, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Charles Townes, Colin Wright, cosmic designer, Darwinian paradigm, Darwinism, demarcation criteria, embryo, Evolution, Faith & Science, faith and science, historical sciences, immaterial genome, intelligence, Intelligent Design, Junk DNA, Manhattan Institute, material genome, New Atheists, Nobel Prize, Plato's Revenge, prejudice, question-begging, Richard Sternberg, scientific disciplines, scientific hypothesis, scientific reasoning, scientists, Stephen Meyer, suicide
"I think that the hypothesis of theism is the most exciting scientific hypothesis you could possibly hold." Source
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Tiled Beauty: Functional Aesthetics in Biology

architecture, armadillos, arthropods, beauty, beehive, beeswax, biodiversity, biology, Biomimetics, butterfly wings, classification, compound eyes, Darwinism, design, Engineering, Evolution, False Messiah, function, functional needs, German Research Foundation, Gothic cathedrals, honeycomb, Intelligent Design, Jana Ciecierska-Holmes, Linnaean taxonomy, multifunctionality, Neil Thomas, phylogeny, PNAS Nexus, reptiles, scales, sunflowers, tessellated patterns, tessellation, tile shapes, tiles, tortoise shell
Tessellated patterns are surprisingly prevalent in biology. Are these forms necessary for function, or mere consequences of natural laws?  Source
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Destroyer or Nurturer? Darwin’s Divinized Conception of Nature

Alan of, Alfred Russel Wallace, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Bernard Silvestris, Charles Darwin, Charlotte Brontë, cosmology, Darwinism, Edward Pusey, Evolution, Faith & Science, Geoffrey Chaucer, George Levine, historical sciences, Jane Eyre, Jean de Meun, Lamarckism, maternal figure, Mother Nature, Natura, Natura creatrix, natural preservation, natural selection, natural theology, Ovid, Physis, Queens of the Wild, Robert J. Richards, Romance of the Rose, Ronald Hutton, teleology, world spirit
The powers of natural selection transcend human intelligence to such a degree that Darwin came close to imputing to it the capacity for intelligent design. Source
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Neil Thomas on the Internal Flaws and Historical Roots of Darwinism

anti-theism, atomism, Charles Darwin, Darwinism, deification, Enlightenment, Erasmus Darwin, Evolution, Faith & Science, faith and science, False Messiah, ID The Future, Lucritianism, materialistic philosophy, natural selection, Neil Thomas, Podcast, scientific materialism, Sir Charles Lyell, uniformitarianism
It might surprise you to learn that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection did not triumph on scientific grounds alone. Source
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Dr. Howard Glicksman: Why Evolution Fails to Explain Life’s Design

biologists, body temperature, cell, cell function, cell membrane, Darwinism, Engineering, engineers, equilibrium, Evolution, glucose, Howard Glicksman, human body, intelligent causes, Intelligent Design, material causes, oxygen, pregnancy, Steve Laufmann, Your Amazing Body, YouTube channels
In a universe of non-living space and matter, life is incredibly rare. To stay alive, all organisms have to overcome a myriad of engineering challenges. Source
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