20Feb 2020 by Post

Foe of Intelligent Design Makes a Great Case for ID Science

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Anthony Beasley, astronomers, astronomy, Charlottesville, Encyclopedia Galactica, Encyclopedia Genomica, Intelligent Design, intelligent life, mother lode, Physics, Earth & Space, science, scientific inference, SETI, Steven Novella, Tabby's Star, U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Yale University
Steven Novella is a Yale neurologist who has consistently denied that ID is a valid scientific inference. He is, however, an enthusiastic supporter of SETI research — the search for evidence of intelligent design in the universe using the methods of astronomy.  Dr. Novella: This weekend I was at the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) meeting in Seattle talking about science communication… One talk I didn’t get to see was by Dr. Anthony Beasley, director of the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia. He argued that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) should “come in from the cold” and be incorporated into every aspect of astronomy. Let me go over the reasons why I completely agree. The Science of SETI Dr. Novella explains why he believes…
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19Feb 2020 by Post

Galápagos Pilgrim: Paul Nelson on Biological Deign and History

Amblyrhynchus cristatus, Andrew McDiarmid, animals, Charles Darwin, cormorant, Discovery Institute, Evolution, flightless cormorant, Galápagos Islands, history, humans, Intelligent Design, marine iguanas, natural theology, philosophy of biology, pilgrimage, Podcast, Santiago Island, tameness, William Paley
Discovery Institute philosopher of biology Paul Nelson got back from his pilgrimage to the Galápagos Islands with some important lessons to share. He spoke with ID the Future host Andrew McDiarmid last week about his experiences. See, “Pilgrimage: On a Visit to Galápagos Islands, Paul Nelson Concedes, ‘Darwin Was Right!’”  Of course he was being “deliberately provocative” there, as he notes in a new podcast with McDiarmid. Download the episode or listen to it here. Andrew and Paul expand on the point that Darwin contributed a deeper understanding of history than design proponent William Paley possessed. In his own version of natural theology, Paley gave little sense that living creatures have histories, or that those histories make much of a difference. This was a shortcoming. But, like Charles Darwin before…
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17Feb 2020 by Post

On Evolution, Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Charles Darwin, Darwininan theory, Divine Foot, Evolution, Faith & Science, free will, Genetics and the Origin of Species, Intelligent Design, Keith Stewart Thomson, Macroevolution, Microevolution, mind, Neal C. Gillespie, Richard C. Lewontin, spirit, Ted Peters, Theodosius Dobzhansky, William A. Dembski, Zombie Science
On February 10, 2020, Lutheran theologian Ted Peters published an online article titled “Fighting over Evolution. Why?“ He concluded that “a culture war is raging, to be sure. But, this is not a war between science and faith.” I agree completely — if by “science” we mean empirical science. Empirical science searches for the truth by proposing hypotheses and comparing them with the evidence. If a hypothesis is consistent with the evidence we tentatively take it to be true. If it is inconsistent with the evidence we revise it or reject it as false. In reality, things can get a bit more complicated. But this is science at its best. A Different Meaning Yet “science” has taken on a different meaning in the modern world. For many people, “science” is…
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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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13Feb 2020 by Post

“Safe to Question” — Another Graduate of Summer Seminars on Intelligent Design Shares Her Story

Ann Gauger, application, biological complexity, biology, Bruce Gordon, Daniel Reeves, deadline, engineers, graduate students, Guillermo Gonzalez, Intelligent Design, Iron Curtain, John West, mathematicians, Michael Behe, origins of life, Paul Nelson, philosophers, physicians, physicists, professors, Research, Soviet Union, Stephen Meyer, Summer Seminars on Intelligent Design, tipping point, undergraduates, William Dembski
Behind every Iron Curtain is a private network of dissenters, who come out into the light when the curtain falls. That was the case with the old Soviet Union. And so it is in the tightly policed world of evolutionary biology with its “great evolutionary firewall,” guarding against expressions of fundamental doubt about neo-Darwinian theory. Discovery Institute is populating a community of dissenters in academia with the annual all-expenses-paid Summer Seminars on Intelligent Design, to be held this year from July 10 to 18 in Seattle. The application deadline is March 4. Intended for current undergraduate and graduate students plus a few teachers and professors, the Seminars run on two parallel tracks:  The C.S. Lewis Fellows Program on Science and Society; and  The CSC Seminar on Intelligent Design in the…
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12Feb 2020 by Post

Say Happy Birthday to Charles Darwin

American Humanist Association, apostles, Austria, birthday gift, Brazil, Charles Darwin, Darwin Day, David Gelernter, Debating Darwin's Doubt, digital download, Evolution, Facebook, Foresight (book), Intelligent Design, Israel, Italy, Marcos Eberlin, Nobel Prize, scholars, scientists, South America, Yale University
Today, February 12, is Charles Darwin’s birthday. For the past two decades, secularists and atheists have celebrated “Darwin Day” almost like a religious holiday. Tonight, for example, the American Humanist Association will hold an event where they promise you can “Discover how Darwin’s apostles… launched a campaign for truth.” I’m not kidding — they really do refer to “Darwin’s apostles”! Meanwhile, the official Facebook page for Darwin Day posts statements like this: “Using scientific logic, we can be as sure of God’s nonexistence as we are of the nonexistence of the aether, phlogiston or werewolves!” The Cult of Darwin While some continue to worship in the cult of Darwin, here is some good news in time for Darwin’s birthday: The number of prominent scientists around the world who are leaving Darwin behind…
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11Feb 2020 by Post

Michael Behe on the Design Idea That Won’t Go Away (and Shouldn’t)

Charles Darwin, Darwin's Black Box, Del Ratzsch, Evolution, evolutionary mechanism, Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity, Jonathan Witt, Michael Behe, molecular machines, Podcast
On a new episode of ID the Future, Jonathan Witt catches up with Darwin’s Black Box author and biochemist Michael Behe at the 2020 Dallas Conference on Science & Faith, where the two discuss an idea that many wish would just go away, but hasn’t. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Charles Darwin himself told us how his evolutionary theory could be overturned: identify a biological system that couldn’t possibly have evolved by “numerous success successive slight modifications.” It’s to Darwin’s credit that he put his theory in “empirical harm’s way,” to quote philosopher Del Ratzsch. But as Witt and Behe note, Darwin also cleverly placed the burden of proof on his opponents, an arguably dubious maneuver given that his proposed evolutionary mechanism has never once been observed…
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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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07Feb 2020 by Post

Reader Seeks Intelligent Design in a Nutshell

animals, biological novelty, cosmic fine-tuning, Discovery Institute, DNA, Evolution, Evolution News, homology, Human Origins, humans, Intelligent Design, Long Story Short, molecular machines, natural selection, origin of life, origin of the universe, PragerU, Stephen Meyer, The Information Enigma, Videos
A reader writes to ask: I have always had a few nagging doubts about natural selection. I have watched a few videos and downloaded some books by key ID people but I have still not found **a brief summary** of the main evidence against natural selection and for ID. Most of the videos are WAY too long and meander all over the place. You really need to sharpen things up so we can see all the KEY points gathered in one place for everyone to access. “Meander all over the place”? Well, I hope not. And from my own experience I disagree. However, I appreciate the request for a really concise presentation of the evidence for ID and the evidence against the sufficiency of natural selection for explaining all biological…
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06Feb 2020 by Post

Looking Forward to Darwin Day? Check Out the Trailer for Behe’s Secrets of the Cell

cell, Charles Darwin, Darwin Day, Darwin's Black Box, Evolution, Evolution News, Intelligent Design, Michael Behe, Secrets of the Cell with Michael Behe, unguided processes
For Darwin Day, February 12, we are a launching a new five-part series with biochemist Michael Behe, Secrets of the Cell. You can see the splendid trailer now: It was Dr. Behe’s insight that the view of evolution as driven by unguided, purposeless processes alone can’t survive an up-close encounter with the “black box,” unknown to Charles Darwin, the cell. Celebrate Darwin’s birthday by coming here, to Evolution News, next Wednesday and sharing the secrets of life, in a beautiful and accessible new series, widely with your friends and family. The post Looking Forward to Darwin Day? Check Out the Trailer for Behe’s <i>Secrets of the Cell</i> appeared first on Evolution News.
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