Monthly Archives: April 2010
Programs, cells and letting God be God (A concluding reply to the Smithy)
| April 30, 2010 | Posted by vjtorley under Intelligent Design |
I would like to thank Dr. Sullivan for his recent post, Nature, Artifacts, Meaning and Providence which has helped to clear the air enormously. In his closing comments, Dr. Sullivan calls for calm in the debate over life’s origin, and urges that the origin of life should be examined dispassionately, in an atmosphere free from… more
Correction re Veritas Forum
| April 30, 2010 | Posted by William Dembski under Evolution, Intelligent Design, theistic evolution |
I reported here that, since 2005, the Veritas Forum seems to have gone exclusively theistic evolutionist. I’ve been reliably informed that this is not so. Names of people who have done Veritas events since 2005 include: Michael Behe Alvin Plantinga Fritz Schaefer Walter Bradley Guillermo Gonzalez Jay Richards Scott Minnich Fazale Rana more
Coffee!! More completely ridiculous news, courtesy tax-funded or legacy broadcasters:
| April 30, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Animal minds |
The longer I live, the more stupid stuff I hear in legacy mainstream media whose only possible value is to front Darwinism. Here’s a good one: Chimpanzees eat their dead? “Researchers may have witnessed it, but been unwilling to report it for fear of drawing undue attention to cannibalism among our close relatives, he says. ”… more
Adaptation as Proof of Evolution
| April 30, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
In 1831 Charles Darwin boarded the HMS Beagle to gather biological information from around the world. It was a wonderful opportunity for the young naturalist, and Darwin saw many fascinating wonders. The voyage is best known for its stop at the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. There Darwin observed finches, mockingbirds and tortoises… more
How Evolution Explains a Complex Immune Response
| April 29, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Fascinating new research suggests that the mere sight of a sick person can trigger an immune response. When test subjects viewed photos showing symptoms of infectious disease, their immune systems responded more aggressively compared to test subjects who viewed other types of photos (including photos of people bearing firearms). It is the first hard evidence… more
Living things, Machines and Intelligent Design (Part Two of a Response to the Smithy)
| April 28, 2010 | Posted by vjtorley under Intelligent Design |
First, I would like to thank Michael Sullivan for taking the time and trouble to comment on my post, In Praise of Subtlety, after successfully defending his dissertation. I look forward to reading future articles by Dr. Sullivan on issues relating to teleology and design. I would also like to thank Sullivan for his courtesy… more
New DNA Damage Repair Mechanism Must Have Arisen Early
| April 28, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
DNA damage repair is a fascinating topic in cell biology. Fascinating because the cell’s repair mechanisms are so incredible. What’s more the mechanisms are coordinated in a sophisticated control network. As one researcher put it, “it’s almost as if cells have something akin to a computer program that becomes activated by DNA damage, and that… more
Homochirality and Darwin
| April 27, 2010 | Posted by Robert Sheldon under Intelligent Design |
One of the smaller mysteries of life is that it is built out of asymmetric building blocks. The amino acids that are chained together to make proteins are asymmetric, as are the sugars that are chained together to make starch, cellulose, and other useful polysaccharides. The standard way to show this, is by making a… more
What a living thing is, what an artifact is, and why the first living thing would have been one (Part One of a Response to the Smithy)
| April 27, 2010 | Posted by vjtorley under Intelligent Design |
The Smithy, a Web site devoted to the life, times, and thought of the Subtle Doctor, the Blessed John Duns Scotus, has recently weighed in on the ID controversy, with three recent posts by Michael Sullivan in response to my post, In Praise of Subtlety. Before I continue, I would like to congratulate Michael Sullivan… more
Some Good News for Biology Students
| April 27, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Evolutionists have complained bitterly that some states are requiring biology classes to present evolution from a theory-neutral perspective–that is, the evidence should be presented without first presenting evolution as true. And evolutionists have mounted an offensive against such efforts. Read more more
Incredible Pictures of Iceland Volcano Eruption
| April 26, 2010 | Posted by William Dembski under Off Topic |
MANY MORE more
Hawking’s Unobtainium
| April 26, 2010 | Posted by Robert Sheldon under Intelligent Design |
Recently Stephen Hawking finished a video series with the Discovery Channel which, in his paralyzed state, took him 3 years to finish. According to the news releases, he insisted on rewriting large sections of the script. One wonders how long it took a man who communicates to his computer through eye-blinks to write a new… more
The “Designer-of-the-universe-is-not-God” error
| April 26, 2010 | Posted by niwrad under Atheism, Intelligent Design, Philosophy, Religion |
Some people who are impressed by the arguments of the intelligent design movement will finally admit that an intelligent designer may have created the universe. However, they simply refuse to believe that this designer could have been God. Although the question of the Designer’s identity goes beyond Intelligent Design theory, and belongs to the domain… more
A “Malfunction” That Helps: Induced Adaptation in Yeast Cells
| April 26, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
When yeast cells face environmental stress, such as exposure to hydrogen peroxide, their internal operations can begin to malfunction. For example, a particular protein misfolds and no longer functions as well. This hardly seems surprising, but as usual there is more to the story. It seems that the misfolded protein normally helps to terminate the… more
It’s Not Just Science
| April 25, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
The influence of evolutionary thought reaches far beyond science. Consider, for example, the histories we are given of how the theory of evolution arose. Charles Darwin and co-founder Alfred Wallace were deeply influenced by non scientific considerations and these influences have, to a certain extent, been explored. Janet Browne, Peter Bowler, Michael Ruse, Keith Thomson,… more
Like Confessing a Murder
| April 24, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Think you receive too much email? Charles Darwin and his friend Joseph Hooker exchanged over 1,400 messages (they called them letters back then). In all Darwin exchanged over 15,000 letters with his list (er, correspondents). Here’s one from January 11, 1844 in which Darwin raised the specter of his new idea: Read more more
A Suave Slug: How Evolution Imitates Mythology
| April 23, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
In the dense tropical rainforest of Borneo live species unknown to science. One new find is Ibycus rachelae, a slug that, like the mythological Cupid, shoots its mate with an arrow of love. The dart injects an amorous hormone into its reluctant partner to liven things up. Read more more
In Praise of Subtlety
| April 22, 2010 | Posted by vjtorley under Intelligent Design |
You might not know the guy in the picture above. John Duns Scotus, O.F.M, was one of the greatest theologians of the Middle Ages. A penetrating thinker of unsurpassed ingenuity, he was nicknamed the Subtle Doctor. Later on in this post, I’ll argue that in one particular respect, his philosophy is particularly ID-friendly – even… more
John Lennox and Paul Davies Discussion at Premier Radio
| April 22, 2010 | Posted by Clive Hayden under Culture, Darwinism, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Religion, Science |
Premier Radio’s program “Unbelievable?” with Justin Brierley has hosted a discussion with Oxford mathematician John Lennox and astrophysicist Paul Davies concerning topics from Intelligent Design to extra-terrestrial life, and what the broader philosophical and theological implications are for each. A popular science author, Davies is also the Chair of the SETI post detection task force.… more
Why David Coppedge is Guilty
| April 22, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
In our on-going investigation of the David Coppedge case we have uncovered some rather sordid details that suggest Coppedge has far more to hide than his misdeeds that are now so well known. Read more more