03Feb 2021 by Post

More Dispatches from the Science/Religion Classroom

consciousness, cosmology, Darwinian theory, Darwinians, Evolution, Faith & Science, fine-tuning, Francis Collins, geneticists, mathematics, methodological naturalism, natural selection, origin of life, particle physics, Philip Davies, population genetics, Richard Goldschmidt, Richard Lewontin, The Goldilocks Enigma, The Language of God, universe
Students are adept at spotting the incongruities, double standards, and tendentious arguments that often accompany methodological naturalism. Source
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05Aug 2020 by Post

Whales — Time to Put Evolution’s Exhausted “Poster Child” to Rest

biology, Bioscience, critics, Darwinists, deformity, disease, Ellen Coombs, Evolution, filmmaker, fossil record, Jackson Wheat, Jerry Coyne, Long Story Short, milk carton kid, Neo-Darwinism, population genetics, poster child, scientists, The Conversation, The Rocks Were There, whales, Wikipedia, YouTube videos
The argument about whales turns on two points: “Population genetics calculations say no,” and “New fossil find throws the series into disarray.” Source
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23May 2020 by Post

Listen: Lee Spetner Takes Aim at Natural Selection and Population Genetics

earth, Evolution, ID The Future, Ira Berkowitz, Jerusalem, Lee Spetner, Not by Chance, Podcast, population genetics, species, The Evolution Revolution
On a classic episode of ID the Future, Ira Berkowitz interviews MIT PhD Lee Spetner in Jerusalem. Together they explore key arguments from Spetner’s books Not by Chance and The Evolution Revolution. Spetner takes on natural selection, discussing what it can and cannot do. He also reviews aspects of population genetics and the constraints the Earth’s history imposes on evolving new species. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Photo: Coaster from Darwin’s Café Bar, Salzburg, Austria, by Nathan Jacobson. The post Listen: Lee Spetner Takes Aim at Natural Selection and Population Genetics appeared first on Evolution News.
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30Apr 2020 by Post

A Disappointing Decade for the Study of Human Evolution

Addis Ababa, anagenesis, ancient DNA, Ann Gauger, annus horribilis, Associated Press, Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus anamensis, Berhane Asfaw, Bernard Wood, BIO-Complexity, David H. Koch Hall, Denisovans, Ethiopia, genetic diversity, germline mutations, gradualism, Günter Bechly, Homo sapiens, human evolution, Human Origins, Mark Grabowski, Nature (journal), Ola Hössjer, paleoanthropology, population genetics, primates, punctuated equilibrium, Single-Origin Couple, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Magazine, Tim White
The 2010s was a bad decade for the study of human evolution. Smithsonian Magazine recently published an article titled “These are the Decade’s Biggest Discoveries in Human Evolution.” It opens by saying: Human evolution is one of the most vibrant areas of scientific investigation. In the past decade we’ve seen many discoveries that add to our understanding of our origins. To mark the 10th anniversary of the Smithsonian’s “David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins,” here are some of the biggest discoveries in human evolution from the last 10 years. What are the big discoveries of the decade? Did they reveal new and compelling evidence that humans evolved from lower primates? Some of these big discoveries actually turn out to be instances where the evidence for human evolution weakened, and the rest…
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09Jan 2020 by Post

Reflections on Our Ancient Past

Africa, ancient past, BIO-Complexity, bottleneck, coalescence, de novo creation, Denisovans, DNA, genetic diversity, Homo erectus, Human Origins, methodological naturalism, Neanderthals, Ola Hössjer, population genetics
This past October, Ola Hössjer and I published a paper, “A Single-Couple Human Origin Is Possible.” Writing in the journal BIO-Complexity, we described a model that used standard population genetics methods but refined in a new way to permit calculation of larger data arrays deeper in time. Using this model we were able to demonstrate that an initial couple could indeed give rise to the modern human population. That paper discussed the possibility of a first couple, but it did not distinguish between two alternatives. The single couple could have had a de novo origin, meaning to start from the beginning. This alternative is one most scientists choose to ignore since it does not fit with methodological naturalism (MN), the philosophical position that only “natural” explanations are allowed in science.…
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31Dec 2019 by Post

#2 of Our Top Stories of 2019: BIO-Complexity Paper Shows We Could Have Come from Two

1000 Genomes Project, Ann Gauger, BIO-Complexity, Darwin, genetics, human evolution, Human Origins, Ola Hössjer, population genetics
Editor’s note: The staff of Evolution News wish you a Happy New Year! We are counting down our top ten stories of 2019. If you haven’t done so yet, please take a moment now to contribute to our work in bringing you news and analysis about evolution, intelligent design, and more every day of the year. There is no other voice, no other source of information, like ours. Thank you for your friendship and your support! The following article was originally published here on October 21, 2019. Editor’s note: We are delighted to announce a new paper by Swedish mathematician Ola Hössjer and Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Ann Gauger in the journal BIO-Complexity. The new research describes scientific work demonstrating that it is possible for the human species to have…
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