Science and Culture Today | Discovering Design in Nature

Today

Skeptic Michael Shermer’s Non-Vision of the Soul

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 28, 2025
5
Neuroscience & Mind}

Responding to Michael Egnor at COSM 2025, he said that the soul is an explanation but not a good explanation for our relationship to our bodies.

So, Chimps Are Rational Now, Too?

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 26, 2025
3
Neuroscience & Mind}

The trouble many researchers go to in order to try to efface the stark reality of human exceptionalism is astonishing.

For Christmas, Give the Gift of Learning

_{Science and Culture
November 26, 2025
1
Intelligent Design}

Help others understand the design in life and in the cosmos. Or add to your own appreciation of this special season.

Does Quantum Mechanics Make Sense of the Soul?

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 29, 2025
5
Physics}

Quantum mechanics seems to be the game-changer that Albert Einstein (1879–1955) feared it would be. It is certain to liven up discussions about the soul.

Happy Thanksgiving! Top Reasons for Optimism on ID

_{David Klinghoffer
November 27, 2025
2
Intelligent Design}

One reason is the way any materialist explanation of cosmic origins keeps looking more and more implausible. See the new book by Charles Murray on that.

Behe: Why Darwinism Will Eventually Collapse

_{Andrew McDiarmid
November 26, 2025
3
Intelligent Design}

Dr. Behe recently presented some of his ID arguments to faculty, students, and post-docs at Cornell University.

A Close Look at Free Will

_{Kirk Durston
November 25, 2025
22
Neuroscience & Mind}

The hypothesis that we have an immaterial mind capable of making free, meaningful decisions, continues to be verified.

ID the Future

with Andrew McDiarmid

Thus Saith the Science: C.S. Lewis on the Dangers of Scientism

_{2141
John G. West
November 28, 2025}

Progress is an appealing idea, but what happens when we do not all desire the same things? On this ID The Future, we mark the 60th anniversary of the death of British writer C. S. Lewis as host Andrew McDiarmid concludes a conversation with Dr. John West about Lewis’s prophetic warnings to us about science and scientism. Dr. West explains how scientism harms real scientific progress and leads to moral relativism. And he discusses how we can bring science back into alignment with older, deeper human truths. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation.

Get to Know This Mathematician’s Simple, Profound Arguments for Intelligent Design

_{2140
Granville Sewell
November 26, 2025}

No amount of small, blind, and gradual changes to the steam engine could ever have produced the internal combustion engine. To get to that fundamentally new type of engine, an infusion of new information was required. That analogy can be applied to the origin of biological life too. The spectacular order, complexity, and design we see in life could not have been achieved gradually by a process that lacked foresight. On today’s ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes mathematician Granville Sewell to the podcast to share some of his compelling arguments for intelligent design. We might think that mathematicians are focused on incredibly complex ideas and equations, way above the everyday thoughts of the rest of us. But as Sewell points out, mathematicians are trained to value simplicity, and complex problems can often be solved in simple ways. Sewell’s straightforward, yet profound arguments for intelligent design are worth memorizing and sharing with your friends, family, and associates.

Michael Behe: Why Darwinism Will Eventually Collapse

_{2139
Michael Behe
November 24, 2025}

Failed ideas tend to eventually crumble under the weight of contrary evidence. Is modern evolutionary theory heading for the same fate? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid speaks to biochemist Michael J. Behe about his core arguments for intelligent design and his recent experience sharing them at an Ivy League school. Behe, a professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University and author of Darwin’s Black Box, recently presented some of his ID arguments to faculty, students, and post-docs at Cornell University. Behe reveals how his talk was received and shares some of his key insights highlighting the problems with Darwinian evolution.

Latest Videos

Living in a 3-D World

_{The Center for Science and Culture
November 3, 2025
Intelligent Design
Secrets of the Human Body}

Human beings possess uncanny abilities to perceive and navigate within a three dimensional world. In this episode of Secrets of the Human Body , join medical doctor Howard Glicksman and systems engineer Steve Laufmann as they investigate the hidden systems that make our astounding spatial awareness possible.

…

Engineered for Oxygen

_{The Center for Science and Culture
September 1, 2025
Intelligent Design
Secrets of the Human Body}

Without enough oxygen, your body will die. In Episode 1 of Secrets of the Human Body, learn about the astonishing engineering of the body that allows it to harness oxygen’s power and keep us alive.

…

The Common Woodpecker: Chance or Design?

_{Raymond Bohlin
August 25, 2025
Intelligent Design
2025 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith}

Biologist Ray Bohlin explores the incredible intelligent design of the common woodpecker. Dr. Bohlin is a Fellow of the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute. This talk was presented at the 2025 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith. …

Secrets of the Human Body Trailer

_{The Center for Science and Culture
August 15, 2025
Intelligent Design
Secrets of the Human Body}

Premiering September 1, 2025, Secrets of the Human Body is a new YouTube series that will unravel the mysteries of the human body and explore its exquisite intelligent design.

…

Intelligent Design

Happy Thanksgiving! Top Reasons for Optimism on ID

_{David Klinghoffer
November 27, 2025
2
Intelligent Design}

One reason is the way any materialist explanation of cosmic origins keeps looking more and more implausible. See the new book by Charles Murray on that.

Behe: Why Darwinism Will Eventually Collapse

_{Andrew McDiarmid
November 26, 2025
3
Intelligent Design}

Dr. Behe recently presented some of his ID arguments to faculty, students, and post-docs at Cornell University.

Life’s Informational Discontinuities

_{Andrew McDiarmid
November 16, 2025
3
Intelligent Design}

In our experience, this type of specified information always comes from a mind, whether it’s hieroglyphics or the origin of a car.

Life in 3-D: Not a Big Deal? It’s a VERY Big Deal

_{David Klinghoffer
November 6, 2025
2
Intelligent Design}

Living in three dimensions is crucial not only for athletes, who excel at exploiting the body’s abilities, but for any one of us walking down the street.

Historical Sciences

Origin of Life

Basic Challenge to Origin-of-Life Theories

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 7, 2025
2
Origin of Life}

“All natural processes tend to create greater disorder (entropy)…The origin of life requires chemicals to go into a state of both high order and high energy.”

Interview with Edward Peltzer on Origin of Life

_{William A. Dembski
August 20, 2025
70
Origin of Life}

A student of Stanley Miller and Jeffrey Bada explains the failure of materialistic origin-of-life scenarios.

From Dead Ends to Design

_{Andrew McDiarmid
August 7, 2025
3
Intelligent Design}

“Molecules,” chemist James Tour notes, “have “no propensity… to move toward life.”

Evolution

Darwin’s Divinized Conception of Nature

_{Neil Thomas
November 24, 2025
12
Evolution}

The powers of natural selection transcend human intelligence to such a degree that Darwin came close to imputing to it the capacity for intelligent design.

Theistic Evolution and the Limits of Neo-Darwinism

_{Andrew McDiarmid
November 21, 2025
3
Evolution}

Casey Luskin addresses the inadequacy of natural selection and random mutation to generate biological complexity.

Fun with Evolution’s “Overwhelming Evidence”

_{David Klinghoffer
November 19, 2025
2
Evolution}

From Richard Dawkins and the like, William Dembski has heard the phrase many, many times.

Paleontology

With Namibian Fossils, Ediacaran Mystery Remains

_{David Coppedge
November 24, 2025
8
Paleontology}

Simon Conway Morris described the Ediacaran ecology as a “sleepy” world of simple, passive creatures bearing no resemblance to what was to come.

Ancient Eyes, Modern Design

_{Emily Reeves
October 23, 2025
3
Paleontology}

Does this discovery suggest that the principles of compound vision emerged nearly half a billion years ago as the authors concluded?

Luskin Answers Objections to Intelligent Design

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 3, 2025
3
Paleontology}

Dr. Luskin highlights a “large unbridged gap” in the fossil record between ape-like species like Lucy and human-like species.

Cosmology

Science’s “Great Reversal”

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 24, 2025
2
Faith & Science}

What if the reality of God could be demonstrated scientifically? What evidence would it take? What would be the consequence?

Murray and Others Rediscovering God: No Accident

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 19, 2025
5
Faith & Science}

Not what you heard? Well, if you heard something else from traditional media, maybe those media aren’t so reliable any more.

Further Objections to “God in 3 Minutes”

_{Bruce Gordon, Casey Luskin and Brian Miller
October 17, 2025
16
Physics}

A transcendent, supernatural first cause is necessary to explain why our universe and all of its matter and energy exist.

Human Origins

The Neanderthal Story Keeps Evolving

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 14, 2025
5
Human Origins and Anthropology}

The University of Seville announces that Neanderthal footprints found along Portugal’s Algarve coast have led to unexpected insights about Neanderthal culture.

Perhaps Neanderthals Never Truly Went Extinct

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 14, 2025
5
Human Origins and Anthropology}

A critical part of the original tale of the Neanderthals is that, because they were stupid, we smarter, more evolved modern humans finished them off.

“First Multi-Purpose ‘Swiss Army Knives’ Made by Hominins”

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 7, 2025
5
Human Origins and Anthropology}

The tools date from about 2.75 through 2.44 million years ago (Pliocene). They underwent little change over the years, despite the changing environment.

Archaeology

More Discoveries Point to Neanderthal Intelligence

_{Denyse O’Leary
December 5, 2024
5
Archaeology}

This very ancient people we know the most about can’t be the missing link that many paleontologists are looking for.

The Joy of (Neanderthal) Cooking

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 30, 2024
5
Archaeology}

The Darwinian account of the human race would be much easier to believe in good faith if scientists could point to a clearly inferior and clearly human being.

Dallas Conference: Archaeology & the Life of Jesus

_{Titus Kennedy
January 19, 2024
1
Archaeology}

My presentation will explore archaeological discoveries illuminating a major event in the life of Jesus — his trial in Jerusalem.

History of Science

Science Before the Rise of Modern Science

_{William A. Dembski
October 27, 2025
25
History of Science}

An interview with Winston Ewert about his fascinating new book on the interaction between science and faith before Copernicus.

Darwin as a Prefiguration of Postmodern Man

_{Neil Thomas
August 25, 2025
17
History of Science}

Whether we like it or not, Erasmus Darwin’s simple and predictable world is no more, and we now find ourselves subject to a profoundly mysterious cosmos.

The Legacy of Baruch Spinoza

_{Andrew McDiarmid
April 2, 2025
1
History of Science}

Join host and geologist Casey Luskin and historian of science Michael Keas for a lively conversation puncturing a series of anti-Christian myths.

Geology

As an Idea, the “Anthropocene” Era Is Dead

_{Science and Culture
November 25, 2025
3
Geology}

in a world where pundits regularly accuse us all of being too anthropocentric, the naming of a new geological epoch would enshrine that view forever in science.

The Wonders of a Hard Mineral

_{David Coppedge
September 5, 2025
11
Geology}

Explore the features of a remarkable mineral erupted from volcanoes that is found in our teeth. How did it get there?

Plate Tectonics and Scientific Discovery

_{Guillermo Gonzalez
September 3, 2024
4
Geology}

Plate tectonics is important for advanced life in multiple ways and planets with plate tectonics are very rare.

Life Sciences

Fireweed: An Example of Intelligent Latent Design

_{Eric Hedin
February 5, 2025
7
Life Sciences}

The photo with fireweed in the foreground at the top of this article was taken by my father, Robert Hedin, at Mount Shuksan in Washington State.

Biological Information in Static Electricity

_{David Coppedge
December 5, 2024
5
Life Sciences}

The influence of static charge in pollination is one demonstrable case — not only for bees, but for moths and hummingbirds as well.

Plant Missile Technology: A Peek in the Armory

_{David Coppedge
December 2, 2024
5
Life Sciences}

Ballistic missiles are common in plants and fungi. Take a look at how they launch their payloads.

Neuroscience

A Close Look at Free Will

_{Kirk Durston
November 25, 2025
22
Neuroscience & Mind}

The hypothesis that we have an immaterial mind capable of making free, meaningful decisions, continues to be verified.

COSM Debate: “Are Human Beings Machines?”

_{Casey Luskin
November 21, 2025
9
Neuroscience & Mind}

The debate centered on the mind and brain and whether the mind is distinct from the brain or whether we’re nothing more than chemicals and firing neurons.

Near-Death: Explaining vs. Explaining Away

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 12, 2025
6
Neuroscience & Mind}

The first rule of a scientific approach should be to take seriously what is happening before rushing in with a “science can explain this” hypothesis.

Medicine

“Harm Reduction” Harms the Homeless

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 12, 2025
5
Medicine}

San Francisco was allowing harm reducers to give away “starter kits” to people so they could begin injecting drugs!

For a Long Time, Dementia Was the New Leprosy

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 24, 2025
5
Medicine}

I use the term “delay” rather than “prevention” for a reason: It may be that the human brain will inevitably start to break down after a century or so.

Consciousness and ID: Hear Dr. Simmons Tonight

_{Science and Culture
October 1, 2025
1
Medicine}

He tells us, “My patients have contacted me from all over the world having heard me on this show on previous occasions.”

Biology

Behe: Why Darwinism Will Eventually Collapse

_{Andrew McDiarmid
November 26, 2025
3
Intelligent Design}

Dr. Behe recently presented some of his ID arguments to faculty, students, and post-docs at Cornell University.

Animal Intelligence and Pure Information

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 20, 2025
6
Biology}

How could a life form like an ant — not known for creative or independent thinking as such but rather for a hive mind — “evolve” such a strategy?

Francesco Redi and the Founding of Modern Biology

_{Giuseppe Sermonti
November 17, 2025
4
Biology}

Why was it so important that the flea should have come out of an egg and not simply from filth?

Physical Sciences

Physics

Does Quantum Mechanics Make Sense of the Soul?

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 29, 2025
5
Physics}

Quantum mechanics seems to be the game-changer that Albert Einstein (1879–1955) feared it would be. It is certain to liven up discussions about the soul.

A Close Look at Free Will

_{Kirk Durston
November 25, 2025
22
Neuroscience & Mind}

The hypothesis that we have an immaterial mind capable of making free, meaningful decisions, continues to be verified.

Science’s “Great Reversal”

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 24, 2025
2
Faith & Science}

What if the reality of God could be demonstrated scientifically? What evidence would it take? What would be the consequence?

Chemistry

When Science Degenerates into a Spoils System

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 2, 2025
5
Scientific Freedom}

Chemistry professor Anna Krylov forces us to look at that in discouraging detail.

Postcard from São Paulo

_{Casey Luskin
July 23, 2025
4
Intelligent Design}

Kristin Marais spoke about “How to Make Chemistry Fun by Teaching Intelligent Design and the Origin of Life.”

Homeschool High‑School Science Courses

_{Brian Westad
July 16, 2025
3
Science Education}

Give your high‑schooler a course that sparks curiosity today and prepares them for the science of tomorrow.

Astronomy

Astrobiology as a Secular Quest for Meaning

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 13, 2025
6
Astronomy}

I don’t think this stuff does any harm — as long as it is understood as drama and not given undue importance in science or philosophy.

Rights for Planets, Moons, and Space Microbes?

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 29, 2025
3
Planetology}

The ultimate purpose in granting such rights would be to disincentivize investments in space exploration and keep us Gaia-bound.

An Icon of Intelligent Design

_{David Klinghoffer
August 6, 2025
2
Faith & Science}

If wokeness leads to promoting surgical sexual mutilation of children, maybe we need to rethink the whole thing.

Fine-Tuning

Geometric Design in the Solar System

_{Eric Hedin
August 11, 2025
8
Intelligent Design}

My favorite example of such geometric design arises from the mean orbits of our innermost two planets, Mercury and Venus.

We Are Children of Light and Water

_{Andrew McDiarmid
August 10, 2025
2
Intelligent Design}

“In this vast range, there’s only one…infinitesimally small band which has the right energy for photosynthesis,” a prerequisite for human life. Coincidence?

The “Nature of the Universe” Puzzles Physicists

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 27, 2025
7
Intelligent Design}

The more physicists know about the universe, the larger loom some questions about ultimate realities.

Earth Sciences

Geophysics

Aurora Borealis: Scientific and Aesthetic Design

_{Casey Luskin
May 12, 2024
9
Astronomy}

You appreciate the aurora borealis or aurora australis because you were not created by strictly material evolutionary processes.

Geoengineering on an Intelligently Designed Planet

_{Tova Levengood
August 30, 2023
4
Intelligent Design}

Scientists are still discovering how many systems, controls, and other aspects of planetary fine-tuning are in place to ensure that we have abundant life.

No Iron, No Life: Design in Iron Availability

_{Science and Culture
January 25, 2022
9
Biology}

As an exercise, count the number of lucky breaks that had to occur for the evolutionary story to work.

Environment

Great Science Cancellation Continues

_{David Klinghoffer
September 18, 2025
3
Scientific Freedom}

In the domination of science by ideology, by the myth of “settled science,” the stakes couldn’t be more profound.

COSM Will Feature Nobel Laureate John F. Clauser

_{Science and Culture
September 12, 2025
5
Physics}

Discovery Institute’s upcoming COSM 2025 tech conference will feature something a little different.

Put Mother Nature on the Board of Directors?

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 9, 2025
6
Ethics}

Nature can’t “own” anything. That’s a human construct. Moreover, nature would be represented by environmental “flesh flake” radicals.

Rare Earth

Study: Geological Habitability Parameters

_{Casey Luskin
August 14, 2024
8
Rare Earth}

One thing that is likely to get some pushback is the study’s claim that modern-style plate tectonics on Earth did not commence until the Neoproterozoic.

Earth and Mars — A Rare Gem and a Sharp Contrast

_{Eric Hedin
August 5, 2024
9
Rare Earth}

Apparently, simple living organisms must exist for eons on a planet before more advanced life can thrive.

Rare Earth: How Vital Minerals “Evolve”

_{David Coppedge
August 29, 2022
4
Rare Earth}

It’s intriguing that life as we know it depends on a seemingly un-natural distribution of minerals.

Planetology

The Search for ETs: Keeping Hope Alive

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 15, 2025
5
Planetology}

The question looms: How much can science avoid facts while retaining the character of science?

Rights for Planets, Moons, and Space Microbes?

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 29, 2025
3
Planetology}

The ultimate purpose in granting such rights would be to disincentivize investments in space exploration and keep us Gaia-bound.

Hope for Mars Life Is Dashed Again

_{David Coppedge
March 4, 2025
1
Planetology}

Subsequent landers discovered a high concentration of perchlorates in the soil. Perchlorates are chlorinated salts, often used in fireworks.

Culture

Human Exceptionalism

On New Book, Elite Opinion Cuts Loose from Reality

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 18, 2025
5
Human Exceptionalism}

All these intellectual worthies, in deadly earnest virtue, choose to miss the point.

Nature Right Pushes Neo-Pagan Mysticism

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 25, 2025
3
Human Exceptionalism}

Most recently, the Harvard Kennedy School hosted a symposium on “nature rights” undergirded by “indigenous knowledge.”

Smithsonian Denigrates the Human Race

_{David Klinghoffer
August 20, 2025
3
Human Exceptionalism}

I have not yet heard that the Trump Administration is looking at what the NMNH says about human origins. But reforming the Smithsonian requires it.

Arts

False Messiah: An Addendum on Darwin and Theism

_{Neil Thomas
October 22, 2025
12
Evolution}

The standpoint of poet John Keats is certainly gaining resonance in our doubt-ridden 21st century. I for one welcome its openness to questioning and wonder.

J. K. Rowling Comes Out Against Assisted Suicide

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 26, 2025
2
Bioethics}

Two of the core tenets of liberalism are (supposed to be) protecting vulnerable people from exploitation and promoting equality among all people.

Darwin, Faust, and the Alchemist: Unexpected Roots

_{Neil Thomas
September 25, 2025
19
Evolution}

Today we would of course brand both Faust and the Alchemist fantasists or “mad scientists” of the first order. Was Darwin prone to such wishful thinking?

Ethics

Now, It’s Wild Animals’ Rights

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 25, 2025
5
Bioethics}

The everything-has-rights radicals admit the truth of human exceptionalism while denying that it exists.

Fraud Crisis in Science Grows

_{Science and Culture
November 24, 2025
5
Ethics}

Profits are artificially maintained by tax dollars so sinking quality does not send the alarm signals it would otherwise.

“Harm Reduction” Harms the Homeless

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 12, 2025
5
Medicine}

San Francisco was allowing harm reducers to give away “starter kits” to people so they could begin injecting drugs!

Social Sciences

In Study of Human Psychology, the Power of “Maybe”

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 22, 2025
5
Psychology}

This is not science and is not a good look for a psychology that purports to have some relationship with science.

Can Evolution Explain Altruism or Heroism?

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 20, 2025
2
Evolutionary Psychology}

Casey Luskin and I share separate recent examples of people who have run towards burning cars to save complete strangers.

If You Want Creative Storytelling, Look No Further

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 19, 2025
2
Uncategorized}

If evolutionary psychology attempts to explain every behavior, including each behavior’s opposite, can it really explain anything?

Faith and Science

Science’s “Great Reversal”

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 24, 2025
2
Faith & Science}

What if the reality of God could be demonstrated scientifically? What evidence would it take? What would be the consequence?

Did God Use Evolution to Produce Life?

_{Andrew McDiarmid
November 19, 2025
2
Faith & Science}

The central scientific issue with theistic evolution is that it inherits all the scientific problems associated with the standard evolutionary account.

What Can Science Tell About the Existence of God?

_{Andrew McDiarmid
October 28, 2025
3
Faith & Science}

The worldview of materialism is increasingly at odds with the latest scientific discoveries of the last hundred years.

Science Education

ID Education Day Is Coming to Tacoma, November 6!

_{Kate Kavanaugh
October 1, 2025
2
Science Education}

This is a fantastic field trip opportunity for middle and high school students in homeschool and private school settings to interact directly with scientists.

Homeschool High‑School Science Courses

_{Brian Westad
July 16, 2025
3
Science Education}

Give your high‑schooler a course that sparks curiosity today and prepares them for the science of tomorrow.

DI Academy “Meet the Teachers” Zoom

_{Kristin Marais
May 28, 2025
4
Science Education}

If you weren’t able to drop by our booth in Florida, why don’t you consider joining our “Meet the Teachers” Zoom event on Thursday, May 29 at 5:00 pm (PDT).

Scientific Freedom

The Wrong Tool to Fix Woke Science Journals

_{Wesley J. Smith
May 3, 2025
2}

The government has no business pressuring medical journals about their content — no matter how biased.

Hysteria in the Science Sector Over DOGE

_{Wesley J. Smith
March 30, 2025
4}

Whatever problems now exist for the public medical research funding sector, the disappointing Francis Collins helped create them.

Stand Up for Science or… for Naked Ideology?

_{Wesley J. Smith
March 12, 2025
4}

“Stand Up for Science 2025” protests were clearly aimed at reaffirming control by the now discredited science establishment.

Science Reporting

On the Origin of Our New Name

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 27, 2025
3
Science Reporting}

First, the conversation delves into the site’s launch in December 2004, when the modern intelligent design movement and the Internet were both relatively new.

On Genetic (Dis)Similarity, Give Credit Where Due

_{David Klinghoffer
September 10, 2025
4
Science Reporting}

Would anyone know that the 1 percent icon has finally fallen, if we hadn’t broken the story? It seems not.

Science Struggles with Reality

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 27, 2025
7
Science Reporting}

There seems to be little relationship between many science writers’ current concerns and the reasons that public trust in science has been steadily declining.