On another UD thread there was discussion about an amazing piece of biological molecular machinery and the deficiencies of Darwinian processes to account for it. The bottom line is that Darwinists are looking in the wrong place for an explanation (random variation and natural selection), just as alchemists did when trying to figure out how […]
The act, often abbreviated “PERA” (Public Expression of Religion Act) was introduced introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and was passed by a strong majority. It was not considered by the Senate in 2006. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) has reintroduced it to the Senate for 2007. The act prohibits the […]
Remember to use the secret handshake whenever you need to get an ID paper past the Darwinian goalies: “Although these observations do not undermine Darwin’s theory, …”
ABSTRACT: According to classical evolutionary theory, phenotypic variation originates from random mutations that are independent of selective pressure. However, recent findings suggest that organisms have evolved mechanisms to influence […]
Riffing off Joey Campana’s valuable backgrounder on the REAL relationship between the Templeton Foundation andID, Denyse O’Leary suggests that there is a power struggle going on over at Templeton, with funding for ID as a key bone of contention. How else to reconcile the views of honcho Charles Harper and honchess Pamela Thompson? They are not […]
For those who missed it, check out this animation presented by DaveScot.
I find the phenomenon of the DNA supercoiling problem and its biochemical solution even more compelling than examples like protein synthesis and the bacterial flagellum, since twisted ropes are familiar to everyone. This might make for another highly persuasive ID mascot.
Here’s a just released report that gives the lie to claims that the Templeton Foundation has uniformly eschewed support of ID research:
In the past few years, the media has created confusion about the scholarly track record of the intelligent design (ID) research community, as related to funding from the John Templeton Foundation (JTF). The […]
As part of accepting his Oscar for best science fiction movie about how burning less fossil fuel will save the world, Al Gore burns 3,000 gallons of fossil fuel in a private jet to travel from his 10,000 square foot Tennessee mansion to Hollywood and back just to get handed a trophy. We […]
How much more difficult will it be to get an endowed ID chair at a major state university?
Thanks to a more than $1-million donation from a gay male couple who hope one day to marry in California, UCLA’s law school is planning to establish what is described as the nation’s first endowed academic chair in […]
Is there only one Designer of life or are their multiple designers? Here is James Shapiro’s take: Bacteria are small but not stupid:
Cognition, natural genetic engineering, and sociobacteriology
Bacteria as natural genetic engineers….
This remarkable series of observations requires us to revise basic ideas about biological information processing and recognize that even the smallest cells […]
Michael Shermer valiantly argued the thesis of his book, Why Darwin Matters in a debate with Bill Dembski, February 21, 2007.
Shermer said:
No one, and I mean no one, working in the field is debating whether natural selection is the driving force behind evolution.
Shermer defended his thesis honorably without resorting to any smear or ridicule of […]
O’Leary looks at the spate of anti-God books and other promotions for the new Church of Atheism, and suspects that atheism was way more fun in the days when it was just a quiet, Godless Sunday at home.
Now, the church - as we all know - is the weak point of any religion. And when […]
Here’s a new take on the problem of vestigiality from a colleague:
Here are two examples of a “convergent, vestigial structure” — It’s the Chrysler PT cruiser and the Chevy HHR. Two different families of car have converged onto the same “vestigial running board”:
Hey, design can converge and design can diminish.
Here’s a thought about anthropic “coincidences.” Michael Denton, in his book Nature’s Destiny: How the Laws of Biology Reveal Purpose in the Universe (a tour de force which cannot be summarized here), points out that if metals could not have been smelted and refined at temperatures reachable through carbon-based fire, technology could never have arisen. […]
Just as Darwinism has inveigled itself into every aspect of life, so is ID: www.idarts.org.
I finally figured it out. It’s because scientists have not officially blessed its use. To take a drug that scientists say you shouldn’t try yet is to commit a horrible transgression against the authority of the scientific clergy. Even when you’re dying of stage 4 cancer and no scientifically sanctified therapies are […]
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/02/once_a_crank_always_a_crank.php
DaveScot, the anti-science slug from UncommonDescent, is doing an experiment: he’s got a friend who is taking dichloroacetate (DCA) to treat his cancer.
The first line in Myers post is a lie. I don’t even know anyone who has cancer let alone is taking DCA to treat it. This just goes to show you can’t […]
In this video, a rabbit somewhere in Texas chases a big snake up a tree.
Recently, a house cat also chased a bear up a tree. (You have to scroll way way down to see a vigilant ginger cat at the bottom of the tree.)
One of the many reasons I have little use for evo psycho […]
Heard on the street: “I am a working scientist with a mortgage and family to support. I am paid to conduct research into Evolution. Who will pay me to conduct research into Intelligent Design?” Filed under “Follow the money”. The article below makes a similar point about eugenics “research” in the past and […]
I need to add a category “Yet Another Accident of Nature”.
Vestigial structures in biology are commonly cited as evidence for evolution, and it may well be that they did evolve. But if it is evidence of evolution, it is evolution in the wrong direction — it’s not the sort of function enhancing/innovating evolution that is supposed to give evolutionary theory its bite. Vestigial structures, after […]
The major claims of evolution are the creation of novel cell types, tissue types, organs, and body plans. These are required to get from bacteria to baboons. No evolution of these by any means has been observed. They simply appear fully formed in the fossil record and can be observed fully formed […]
See here. No commentary should be required.