Bad Design, or Ultimate Engineering? Two Views of Biology

Abby Hafer, aging, anatomy, arteries, bad design, biology, constraints, decay, Duke University, engineered systems, Engineering, European Space Agency, Evolution, evolutionary biologists, evolutionary mechanism, foresight, Francois Jacob, fungi, genetic flaws, heart, Human Errors, human technology, Intelligent Design, Jerry Coyne, joints, lubrication, Nathan Lents, reproduction, Richard Dawkins, Steven Vogel, suboptimal design, survival, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Not-So-Intelligent Designer, The Origin of Species, theistic design, tinkering, unintelligent design
An intelligent designer can employ foresight to envision a solution well beyond anything in existence at the time, and then set about making that a reality. Source
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Two Peer-Reviewed Papers Apply Behe’s “Darwin Devolves” Thesis to Cancer 

Ann Gauger, BRAF, cancer, cancer genomics, cell growth, cell types, Darwin Devolves, Darwinian evolution, Darwinian processes, Denis Noble, driver mutations, EGFR, Evolution, genes, IDH1/2, Intelligent Design, JAK2, Journal of Molecular Evolution, Kras, Medicine, metazoans, Michael Behe, Molecular Cancer Research, mutations, National Cancer Institute, Perry Marshall, PIK3CA, reproduction, survival, tumor, tumor promoter proteins, tumor suppressor proteins, Vanderbilt University
One day in the mid 2010s, Ann Gauger and I received a message that an ID-friendly scientist was in town and wanted to meet us. Source
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Materialism Is Sounding Super Tired Lately

"survival of the fittest", cattle, coyote, Evolution, existential problems, fairy tale, food, human life, human mind, Imperfection (book), irrationality, logic, luck, materialism, Nautilus, pop psychology, rationality, reproduction, scientific reasoning, Serendipity (book), Telmo Pievani, Templeton Foundation, threats, __featured3
This sort of cross between a fairy tale and pop psychology helps pop science readers pass the time while listening to the latest announcement of a flight delay. Source
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The Paradox of Biological Reproduction 

Alexander Tsarias, automobiles, BioCosmos, cars, common sense, David Klinghoffer, duplication errors, genetics, grandchildren, information, Intelligent Design, Levinthal paradox, Life Sciences, materialism, mathematics, Model T, molecular biology, natural selection, Plato, Plato's Revenge, replication, reproduction, Richard Sternberg, Timaeus, unintelligent forces
Reproduction poses a difficult paradox for materialistic science despite the fact that we see it happen every day. Source
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The End of the Machine Metaphor? 

"survival of the fittest", animals, bears, biology, Books, Casey Luskin, celibacy, chihuahua, DNA, Evolution, evolutionary psychology, Fiction, Foresight (book), foxes, genes, How Life Works, Intelligent Design, machines, Marcos Eberlin, Meaning, Oskar Schindler, otters, Philip Ball, purpose, relationships, religion, reproduction, Science and Faith in Dialogue, self-sacrifice, survival, work, writing
Rather than purpose deriving from a purposeless process like natural selection, natural selection can only occur when life itself is the result of purpose. Source
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From Bears to Whales: A Difficult Transition

bears, blowhole, body temperature, calf (whale), cetaceans, Charles Darwin, Darwinian theory, diving, dolphin, Everhard Slijper, Evolution, floating ribs, fluke, Indohyus, Intelligent Design, James Butler, lungs, mammals, milk, nipple, nitrogen, porpoise, reproduction, Richard Brown, sea lion, sperm whale, submersion, surfactants, testes, the bends, whales
Critics laughed at this, and Darwin removed it from later editions of his book, though he continued privately to believe it. Source
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The Humanity and Personhood of an Embryo

Alabama Supreme Court, biology, colon, Culture & Ethics, death, doctors, egg, embryos, fetuses, human beings, human rights, ideology, in vitro fertilization, independence, IVF, Judeo-Christian tradition, Medicine, newborn baby, newborns, personhood, petri dish, pregnancy, reproduction, right to life, sentience, sperm, Steven Novella, womb, Yale University, zygotes
A sperm and an egg separately constitute a potential human. But when they unite, the result is a human being from the moment of fertilization. Source
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Fruit Fly Eyes and More Surprises for Darwin

apoptosis, biology, body systems, Charles Darwin, circulation, convergent strategies, courtship, Current Biology, descending neurons, digestion, Drosophila melanogaster, Evolution, feedback control, fine control, Flight, fluctuating asymmetry, fruit flies, Hermann J. Muller, Intelligent Design, jointed appendages, Marco Milán, muscular, natural selection, neurons, Nobel Prize, odors, ommatidia, PLOS Biology, reproduction, saccades, sharp turns, Stephen Crane, timing, visual system
Don’t swat too quickly! There’s more awe in that little fly than might be apparent from  a cursory glance. Source
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Sex Is a Spicy Problem for Evolutionary Theory

biologists, biology, Charles Darwin, complementarity, Evolution, evolutionary theory, flagellum, genotype, head, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity, Jonathan McLatchie, males, meiosis, middle piece, mitosis, modifications, Podcast, reproduction, sex, sexual reproduction, sperm cells
Could sex be the product of a gradual evolutionary process, one dictated by “numerous, successive, slight, modifications,” as Darwin himself put it? Source
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