Category: Science
Alfred Russel Wallace, Co-Discoverer of Evolution by Natural Selection — and “Creationist”
Despite repeated explanations that intelligent design is not creationism, Lauri Lebo at Religion Dispatches and others persist in equating the two. There’s a lot of bandying about of terms without defining them. One possible definition of “creationism” is the attempt to make scientific assertions regarding the natural world and/or the origin of life based upon a literal reading of Genesis. Yet with intelligent design, as David Klinghoffer points out, even if the source of the intelligence were identified as a deity, that wouldn’t make it creationism in this sense of Genesis literalism. In short, when it comes to speaking of “creationism,” there is a need for much greater clarity of thought and expression. I can think of no better illustration of Read More ›
Newly Discovered Mode of RNA Replication Uncovers Previously Hidden Layers of Complexity
The mechanisms and processes of cellular information storage, processing and retrieval have always been a focus of ID argumentation and research. Indeed, it was the complexity and elegance of these systems which first captured my attention as a junior undergraduate as I became interested in the implications of information-rich systems in biology and the possible explicative powers of intelligent causation. In recent years, there has been a dramatic surge in our appreciation of genomics and the processes of information flow in the cell. Papers continue to flood in, reporting on a plethora of recent discoveries which take genomic complexity to a whole new level, leading many academics to tentatively re-evaluate the causal sufficiency of Darwinian mechanisms, the dual forces of Read More ›
Watch the Debate Between Michael Behe and Stephen Barr
If you weren’t able to be there in person, the Wheaton debate between biochemist Michael Behe and physicist Stephen Barr is now online here. Watch as the two Catholics discuss whether or not intelligent design should be taught as science.
Stephen Meyer on Intelligent Design: What is the origin of the digital information found in DNA?
In this new video, Dr. Stephen Meyer explains the historical scientific method and how it applies to the origin of the information that makes life possible. It’s the question facing origin of life researchers: where does the information come from?
Of Whale and Feather Evolution: Nature‘s Two Macroevolutionary Lumps of Coal
Links to our 9-Part Series Responding to Nature‘s Evolution Evangelism Packet: • Part 1: Evaluating Nature’s 2009 “15 Evolutionary Gems” Darwin-Evangelism Kit • Part 2: Microevolutionary Gems: Lizards, Fish, Snakes, and Clams • Part 3: Microevolutionary Gems: Bird-Sized Evolutionary Change • Part 4: Microevolutionary Gems: Flea and Guppy-Sized Evolutionary Change • Part 5: Microevolution Meets Microevolution • Part 6: Evolutionary “Gems” or “Narrative Gloss”? • Part 7: Muscling Past Homology Problems in Nature’s Vertebrate Skeleton “Evolutionary Gem” • Part 8 (This Article): Of Whale and Feather Evolution: Two Macroevolutionary Lumps of Coal • Part 9: Evolutionary Biologists Are Unaware of Their Own Arguments: Reappraising Nature‘s Prized “Gem,” Tiktaalik Download Our Full Response to the Packet as a PDF. Having now Read More ›