17Mar 2020 by Post

Listen: Biochemist Michael Behe Puts Coronavirus in a Helpful Scientific Perspective

Andrew McDiarmid, chimpanzee, Clorox wipes, coronavirus, Evolution News, Facebook, human genome, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Lehigh University, Medicine, Michael Behe, Neil Shubin, Podcast, Social media, virosphere, viruses
What to do during a full-country shutdown? Sit at home and stare at increasingly toxic Facebook and other social media, as I’m sorry to say I did for too long on Sunday? Fortunately there’s an alternative to blithe reassurances and doomsday handwringing: Michael Behe! On a new episode of ID the Future with host Andrew McDiarmid, the Lehigh University biochemist and intelligent design advocate puts coronavirus in an objective scientific perspective. I found that oddly comforting, and I think you will, too. He explains what a virus is, what makes this one special, how viruses originated (no one knows), what he meant in a post at Evolution News about a “storm” in the virosphere, and more. 8 Percent Virus? Meanwhile, as Andrew McDiarmid notes, evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin has a…
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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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14Mar 2020 by Post

Biophysicist and Philosopher Kirk Durston on Experimental, Inferential, and Fantasy Science

abductive reasoning, biological information, Evolution, experimental science, fantasy science, historical sciences, ID The Future, inference to the best explanation, Kirk Durston
On a new episode of ID the Future, biophysicist and philosopher Kirk Durston continues a discussion with host Andrew McDiarmid about three types of science — (1) experimental science, (2) inferential science, and (3) fantasy science. Download the podcast or listen to it here. In this second of three episodes, Durston recaps the three types but focuses on inferential science. He explains how it involves, in the historical sciences, abductive reasoning (inference to the best explanation). He also describes how such reasoning can be used as we consider the best explanation for the origin of biological information, in such a way that it is rooted in observation. Photo credit: Martin Adams via Unsplash. The post Biophysicist and Philosopher Kirk Durston on Experimental, Inferential, and Fantasy Science appeared first on Evolution News.
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08Mar 2020 by Post

Just the Facts? Michael Flannery on Charles Darwin and Materialism

atheists, Brian Miller, Edward Aveling, Evolution, ID The Future, Ludwig Büchner, materialism, Michael Flannery, Plinian Society, Podcast, University of Edinburgh
On a classic episode of ID the Future, host Brian Miller interviews Michael Flannery on how Darwin’s background conditioned him to materialism, and how this influence shaped his development of the theory of evolution. Listen in to learn more about Darwin’s experiences at the University of Edinburgh with the Plinian Society, and his interaction with prominent atheists Edward Aveling and Ludwig Büchner near the end of his life. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Photo: Mural portrait of Charles Darwin, Sidney Street, Sheffield cc-by-sa/2.0 © Neil Theasby via Geograph. The post Just the Facts? Michael Flannery on Charles Darwin and Materialism appeared first on Evolution News.
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01Mar 2020 by Post

No Success Without Successors: John Mark Reynolds on the Legacy of Phillip E. Johnson

California, Center for Science & Culture, Constantine School, Discovery Institute, Evolution, Houston, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, John Mark Reynolds, materialism, Pajaro Dunes, Phillip E. Johnson, Podcast, success, successors, Suzanne Nelson, truth
On a new episode of ID the Future we hear John Mark Reynolds’s concluding comments at the November 2019 symposium in honor of the late Phillip E. Johnson. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Reynolds is a Fellow with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, president of the Constantine School in Houston, and a longtime friend of Phillip Johnson. Reynolds says he saw in Johnson a mind constant and relentless in the pursuit of truth, a man who refused to distort the truth to fit it into a materialist paradigm, and who passed along that mindset to as many as he could, for he knew there is no success without successors. Photo: John Mark Reynolds and Phil Johnson, Pajaro Dunes, California, June 1998, by Suzanne Nelson. The…
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26Feb 2020 by Post

Ann Gauger Honors Intelligent Design’s “Godfather”

Ann Gauger, career, Evolution, godfather, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Phillip E. Johnson, Podcast, scientific materialism, sketicism, U.C. Berkeley
On a new episode of ID the Future, we hear biologist and Center for Science & Culture Senior Fellow Ann Gauger speaking at a gathering to honor the late Phillip Johnson, the Berkeley law professor known affectionately as the “godfather” of the intelligent design movement. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Dr. Gauger tells of her journey of discovery, how she returned to a science career three times in her life, how she found her way into the ID movement, and how Johnson emboldened her to give free rein to a healthy scientific skepticism, one that has long had her pushing back against scientific materialism with a simple question: “Who says?” Photo: Phillip Johnson, screenshot from a video interview, “Focus on Darwinism,” Veritas Forum, via YouTube. The post…
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15Feb 2020 by Post

Wonder of Water: Michael Denton at Bridalveil Fall

biosphere, body heat, Bridalveil Fall, carbon dioxide, circulatory system, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Michael Denton, minerals, nutrients, oxygen, rivers, rock, streams, The Wonder of Water, water, Yosemite
On a classic episode of ID the Future, geneticist and biochemist Michael Denton reads the beautiful introduction to his book The Wonder of Water. Download the podcast or listen to it here. He begins at Yosemite’s Bridalveil Fall and explores how water is curiously fine-tuned for life. Indeed, thanks to a unique cluster of properties, water is able to fulfill many roles essential to our living planet. It’s thanks to some of those properties that rivers and streams can leech and carry minerals from rock to various places they’re needed in the biosphere. Water’s unusual properties also make it an ideal medium for our circulatory system. There it serves not only to transfer nutrients and oxygen but also to expel carbon dioxide, excess body heat, and waste products — again, thanks…
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08Feb 2020 by Post

Michael Denton: Remarkable Coincidences in Photosynthesis

coincidences, Energy, genetics, ID The Future, improbability, Intelligent Design, Life Sciences, light, Michael Denton, oxygen, photosynthesis, Podcast, water
On a classic episode of ID the Future, listen in on a a few minutes from a lecture given by medical geneticist and CSC Senior Fellow Michael Denton. Download the podcast or listen to it here. We’ve all heard of the importance of photosynthesis as an oxygen-creating process. In this segment, Denton explains the “remarkable set of coincidences” that makes the creation of oxygen through photosynthesis possible. From the specific energy of visible light to the unique properties of water, this degree of improbability screams DESIGN. Photo source: “Why Our Sun and Atmosphere Appear Intelligently Designed,” via Discovery Institute. The post Michael Denton: Remarkable Coincidences in Photosynthesis appeared first on Evolution News.
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31Jan 2020 by Post

A Forest, Not a Tree? Nelson Asks Why Universal Common Descent Needn’t “Pay” for Failures

biologists, Brian Miller, Evolution, evolutionists, failed predictions, forest, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Michael Behe, Michael Denton, naturalism, orchard, Paul Nelson, Podcast, scientific theories, Teilhard de Chardin, theistic evolution, Tree of Life, universal common descent, universal genetic code
Philosopher of biology Paul Nelson recalls the expectation, a scientific standard when he was an undergrad, that all living things would turn out to share a universal genetic code. How could they not if, as Darwin argued, there is only a single, universal tree of life? On a classic ID the Future podcast with host Brian Miller, Dr. Nelson discusses the implications of this failed prediction. Download the podcast or listen to it here. The question is a weighty one since it has emerged that there is no universally shared code, but, instead, many variants. When evolutionists realized this, they performed a sidestep, supposing that since the prediction flopped, it must be the case that the code can itself evolve. But this deft move allows universal common ancestry a luxury…
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28Jan 2020 by Post

The Long View: Michael Behe Pays Tribute to Phillip Johnson

California, Darwin Devolves, Darwin's Black Box, Evolution, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Lehigh University, Michael Behe, Phillip E. Johnson, The Edge of Evolution
On a new episode of ID the Future we continue a series of messages from a November 2019 symposium in Berkeley, California, presented in honor of the late Phillip Johnson, who played a crucial role in the flowering of the intelligent design movement. Download the podcast or listen to it here. On today’s episode Lehigh University biology professor Michael Behe, author of Darwin’s Black Box, The Edge of Evolution, and Darwin Devolves, tells about his earliest memories of Phillip Johnson and speaks about the long history of science: how ancient science pointed to purposeful design in life, and how current science is coming full circle. Considering this long view, the conclusion of design is as strong as or stronger than it has ever been. Photo: Phillip and Kathie Johnson at…
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