14Apr 2020 by Post

Rare Earth at Twenty — And My Connection

American Scientist, astrobiology, astronomy, Charles Lineweaver, Christopher McKay, Discovery Institute, earth, extraterrestrial intelligence, extraterrestrial life, galactic habitable zone, Geoff Marcy, Hugh Ross, Icarus, Intelligent Design, interplanetary dust particles, James Kasting, Jay Richards, meteorites, Milky Way, Peter D. Ward, Physics Today, Physics, Earth & Space, Rare Earth, Science (journal), SETI, solar system, Steven J. Dick, The Privileged Planet, University of Washington, Woodruff Sullivan
This past January marked the 20th anniversary of the publication of the best-selling and influential book Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe, by Peter D. Ward and Donald E. Brownlee. As the subtitle suggests, the authors argue that planets like Earth that have complex life are rare, while simple life may be common. Some Background Brownlee and Ward were, and still are, professors at the University of Washington in Seattle. Brownlee is an astronomer. He specializes in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles. Ward is a paleontologist in the biology department. He specializes in major mass extinction events. He’s also a prolific author, having written 16 books.  Mostly positive reviews appeared in leading newspapers and science magazines, including Science, American Scientist, and Physics Today. Even scientists who…
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13Apr 2020 by Post

Zoom Webinar with Wells, Sternberg on Whale Evolution; Join Us on April 23!

bears, Binghamton University, biologists, Center for Science & Culture, Charles Darwin, Darwinism, Discovery Institute, Evolution, Florida International University, Intelligent Design, Is Homology Evidence for Evolution?, Jonathan Wells, Richard Sternberg, scientists, The Origin of Species, U.C. Berkeley, webinar, Whale of an Evolution Tale, whales, Yale University, Zoom
Darwinists often point to the whale fossil record as one of the best examples of an evolutionary transition. But is it? Charles Darwin wrote in The Origin of Species: “I can see no difficulty in a race of bears being rendered, by natural selection, more and more aquatic in their structure and habits, with larger and larger mouths, till a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale.” Bears turning into whales? Scientists today disagree, instead claiming that other land animals were the real precursors to today’s whales. “Just think of all the parameters that would have to be modified,” says biologist and Center for Science & Culture Senior Fellow Richard Sternberg, “and then multiply that by, I don’t know — a thousandfold, or more than that. That’s the scale of…
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11Apr 2020 by Post

Listen: Stephen Meyer on How Evolution Degrades Information

biological information, Center for Science & Culture, Discovery Institute, Evolution, Heritage Foundation, March for Science, Neo-Darwinism, science, scientism, Stephen Meyer, United States
On a classic episode of ID the Future, hear Center for Science & Culture director Stephen C. Meyer’s talk given at a 2017 event, “March for Science or March for Scientism? Understanding the Real Threats to Science in America,” hosted by Discovery Institute and the Heritage Foundation. Listen in as he discusses weaknesses in the theory of neo-Darwinism. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Photo: Stephen Meyer (screenshot), “March for Science or March for Scientism? Understanding the Real Threats to Science in America,” via YouTube. The post Listen: Stephen Meyer on How Evolution Degrades Information appeared first on Evolution News.
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28Mar 2020 by Post

Wesley J. Smith on the March for Science and Rights Gone Wild

animal rights, Culture & Ethics, Discovery Institute, ethics, Heritage Foundation, ID The Future, March for Science, plant rights, scientism, United States, Wesley J. Smith
On a classic episode of ID the Future, hear Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith’s talk at an event hosted by Discovery and the Heritage Foundation: “March for Science or March for Scientism? Understanding the Real Threats to Science in America.” Listen in as he discusses how science has been conflated with ethics, and talks about animal and plant rights. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Photo: Wesley Smith speaking at the “March for Science or March for Scientism? Understanding the Real Threats to Science in America” event (screenshot).  The post Wesley J. Smith on the March for Science and Rights Gone Wild appeared first on Evolution News.
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25Mar 2020 by Post

Are Humans “A Plague on the Earth”?

Center for Science & Culture, Charles Darwin, Culture & Ethics, Dallas Conference on Science & Faith, David Attenborough, Discovery Institute, Douglas Axe, Evolution, evolutionists, John West, morality, natural selection, plague, Sir David Attenborough, spirituality
Back in January in Dallas, Discovery Institute organized its major conference on science and faith, before a huge and appreciative audience. We are releasing videos of presentations from the Dallas conference, including today, John West, Associate Director of the Center for Science & Culture, on “Darwin’s Corrosive Idea.” This is well timed. I can’t help but think that how we respond to the present health crisis has a lot to do with how we, as individuals, saw reality before we gave a moment’s thought to the coronavirus. As Dr. West summarizes here, “Ideas really do have consequence.”  In the case of Darwin’s idea of unguided evolution and of a planet of life formed from blind, merciless material processes alone, West notes a range of consequences and impacts, on how we…
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18Mar 2020 by Post

Unguided Origin of Life: “Completely Impossible but Must Have Happened”

Charles Thaxton, Dallas Conference on Science & Faith, Discovery Institute, Evolution News, Faith & Science, Intelligent Design, John West, Jon Buell, origin of life, Robert J. Marks, Robert Shapiro, Roger Olsen, Stephen Meyer, The Mystery of Life’s Origin, Walter Bradley, Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence
“It’s completely impossible, but it must have happened.” That’s how philosopher of science Stephen Meyer summarizes most responses from proponents of unguided chemical evolution when challenged on the origin of life. In January, Meyer led a panel discussion with the authors of the foundational intelligent design text The Mystery of Life’s Origin at the Dallas Conference on Science & Faith. You can see the entire interaction now, as Discovery Institute begins launching videos of the presentations from the hugely successful event: The occasion for the panel was the release of a new and greatly expanded 35th-anniversary edition of the book, The Mystery of Life’s Origin: The Continuing Controversy. You’ll enjoy the discussion between Meyer and Walter Bradley, Charles Thaxton, and Roger Olsen. It’s introduced by materials scientist Walter Bradley, and…
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15Mar 2020 by Post

Listen: Jay Richards on Distinguishing Science from Scientism

consensus, Discovery Institute, Evolution, Heritage Foundation, ID The Future, Jay Richards, March for Science, Podcast, science, scientism, skepticism, Washington D.C
On a classic episode of ID the Future, hear a talk by Jay Richards, a Discovery Institute Senior Fellow. given at a Washington, D.C., event entitled “March for Science or March for Scientism? Understanding the Real Threats to Science in America.” Download the podcast or listen to it here. The event was hosted by Discovery Institute and the Heritage Foundation. Listen in as Dr. Richards discusses the issue of consensus in science, and when to doubt such a consensus. Photo credit: Bradhoc, via Flickr. The post Listen: Jay Richards on Distinguishing Science from Scientism appeared first on Evolution News.
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11Mar 2020 by Post

With a Hopeful Message About Life’s “X Factor,” Episode 5 of Secrets of the Cell Is Well Timed

accidents, Charles Darwin, Culture, Discovery Institute, Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity, Michael Behe, philosophers, philosophy, scientists, Secrets of the Cell, theology, X Factor
Michael Behe is a biochemist, leading proponent of intelligent design, and a wise guide to understanding the wonders of life with its mysterious “purposeful arrangement of parts.” The new series from Discovery Institute, Secrets of the Cell with Michael Behe, concludes today with a last consideration of the “X Factor” that appears to lie behind the wonderful, irreducible complexity of biology. That “X Factor,” he explains, is an intelligence inconceivably beyond our own: Secrets distills the argument for intelligent design in five-to-eight minute episodes, five in all. I’m sure ID has never been presented more accessibly, in a way anyone can easily understand. Share Secrets of the Cell with your family, friends, and social media network! What a remarkable thing that the design of the universe was almost universally appreciated,…
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06Mar 2020 by Post

Hey, Paul Davies — Your ID is Showing

Barbara McClintock, chaos, cosmology, Discovery Institute, engineers, Eva Jablonka, intelligence, Intelligent Design, James Clerk Maxwell, James Shapiro, John Cairns, Maxwell’s demon, molecular machines, motors, nanotechnology, natural genetic engineering, order, origin of information, origin of life, Paul Davies, Physics, Earth & Space, rotors, Second Law of Thermodynamics, Stephen Meyer, The Demon in the Machine
Editor’s note: Dr. Shedinger is a Professor of Religion at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He is the author of a recent book critiquing Darwinian triumphalism, The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms. No better advertisements for intelligent design exist than works written by establishment scientists that unintentionally make design arguments. I can think of few better examples than well-known cosmologist Paul Davies’s recently published book The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life (2019). With a nod toward James Clerk Maxwell’s entropy-defying demon, Davies argues that the gulf between physics and biology is completely unbridgeable without some fundamentally new concept. Since living organisms consistently resist the ravages of entropy that all forms of inanimate matter are subject to, there must be some non-physical principle allowing living…
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02Mar 2020 by Post

Bring “Visible Thinking” to Evolution Education

academic freedom, analysis, butcher paper, Center for Science & Culture, chalk talk, Discovery Institute, Education, elementary school, evaluation, Evolution, evolution education, Harvard University, Jay Labov, Jo Boaler, Karin Brodie, Karin Morrison, Making Thinking Visible, Mark Church, Project Zero, public schools, Ron Ritchart, scientific inquiry, students, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, visible thinking
Lately, I’ve been reading the book Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding and Independence for All Learners, by Ron Ritchart, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison. It’s a tour de force, a practical handbook for fostering critical thinking in the classroom. This work reminds me strongly of the Center for Science & Culture’s emphasis on analysis, evaluation, and examining the evidence in public school evolution education. Project Zero Making Thinking Visible is connected to Project Zero, a research center in Harvard’s School of Education. The phrase “visible thinking” refers to helping students to see and understand their own thinking processes as they explore subjects. The authors identify several kinds of thinking (pp. 11, 13, 14): Observing closely and describing what’s there Building explanations and interpretations Reasoning with evidence Making…
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