Science and Culture Today | Discovering Design in Nature

Today

Ultimate Engineering Challenges Maverick Biologist

_{Brian Miller
February 18, 2026
4
Biology}

Levin faces a measure problem analogous to that in cosmology, resulting from the optimality of biological designs.

Response to a Chorus of Critical “Carrollers”

_{Bruce Gordon
February 18, 2026
10
Physics}

Using Sean Carroll’s criticisms of the fine-tuning argument as a general guide, I propose to address objections to that argument.

Is Life Intelligently Engineered? Ask an Engineer

_{Andrew McDiarmid
February 17, 2026
2
Intelligent Design}

Stuart Burgess shares his experiences navigating academic skepticism, noting that many biologists are forthcoming in expressing doubts about macroevolution.

Friends in High Places: Prince Charles and Others

_{Stuart Burgess
February 19, 2026
6
Anatomy}

The prince’s criticism of evolutionary theory did cause quite a stir in the national press in the UK.

Bee Decision-Making Is a Mystery

_{Eric Cassell
February 17, 2026
8
Zoology}

Distinguishing a real flower from a flower print on a woman’s dress can come into play, possibly requiring some experimental probing.

ERVs, Proclaimed as Ultimate “Junk,” Are Vital

_{Casey Luskin
February 17, 2026
6
Genetics}

Endogenous retroviruses were at one time iconic for evolution activists. The debate has progressed a lot since then.

Supposed Fusion Site Contains Expressed Genes

_{Casey Luskin
February 16, 2026
8
Human Origins and Anthropology}

Human chromosomal fusion has often been cited as strong evidence supporting human-ape common ancestry. It’s not.

ID the Future

with Andrew McDiarmid

Bioengineer Stuart Burgess Reads From New Book Ultimate Engineering

_{2176
Stuart Burgess
February 18, 2026}

A good way to evaluate scientific theories of origins is to ask what we’d expect to find if the given hypothesis were true and compare that to what we actually observe. Under a Darwinian explanation of life, we’d expect to see designs cobbled together by a blind, undirected process, substandard designs that work but that, in the words of one scientist, wouldn’t win any prizes at an engineering competition. But when we compare that expectation with the scientific evidence, they don’t match up at all. On today’s ID The Future, award-winning British engineer and designer Stuart Burgess reads excerpts from his new book Ultimate Engineering. He’s going to share just enough with you today to whet your appetite for reading his book, which is chock full of evidence that humans and other organisms contain countless examples of not just so-so, not just good or very good, but optimal engineering in the design of systems and structures that keep living things alive.

Rockets & Wristbones: Optimal Engineering in Biology

_{2175
Stuart Burgess
February 16, 2026}

Is life the result of purposeful design or unintended evolutionary accidents? It’s an ongoing debate that’s about to be impacted by new scientific evidence that suggests living things are full of optimal engineering. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes his conversation with award-winning British engineer and designer Stuart Burgess about his new book Ultimate Engineering. In it Burgess gathers together compelling examples of advanced structures and systems in the human body and other vertebrates that go far beyond what humans have produced and point to intelligent design, not the cobbled-together results of a blind, purposeless process. In Part 2, Burgess compares his professional work on European Space Agency satellites to the far more sophisticated systems found in biology. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Look for Part 1 in a separate conversation.

Douglas Axe: Dragonflies, Cookies, and Our Built-In Design Intuition

_{2174
Douglas Axe
February 13, 2026}

This classic ID the Future out of the archive brings in protein scientist Douglas Axe to discuss his contribution to the book, The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith. Axe and host Casey Luskin discuss Axe’s thinking on the design intuition, the evidence that it’s triggered almost universally in small children when they observe things like dragonflies or fresh-baked cookies, and why he’s convinced that this intuition is a rational one rooted in our true sense of what sorts of things require know-how for their creation.

Latest Videos

How High-Tech in Your Cells Points to God

_{The Center for Science and Culture
February 2, 2026
Intelligent Design
God Proofs}

Do you know that the cells inside you are filled with high-tech features and devices? And that they point to God? A short animated video inspired by the graphic novel The God Proofs: How Science Points to YOUR Creator by Doug Ell for young teens and above.

…

How Logic Points to God

_{The Center for Science and Culture
January 26, 2026
Intelligent Design
God Proofs}

Does logic point to… God?!!! A short animated video inspired by the graphic novel The God Proofs: How Science Points to YOUR Creator by Doug Ell for young teens and above.

…

How to Build a Baby

_{The Center for Science and Culture
January 21, 2026
Intelligent Design
Secrets of the Human Body}

In this episode of Secrets of the Human Body, join medical doctor Howard Glicksman and systems engineer Steve Laufmann as they investigate the intricate systems required to build a human baby.

…

How Common Sense Points to God

_{The Center for Science and Culture
January 19, 2026
Intelligent Design
God Proofs}

Does common sense point to… God?!!! A short animated video inspired by the graphic novel The God Proofs: How Science Points to YOUR Creator by Doug Ell for young teens and above.

…

Intelligent Design

If Scientists Repurpose an Enzyme, Is It ID?

_{David Coppedge
February 12, 2026
7
Intelligent Design}

Four Caltech scientists taught “nature” to do the “unnatural” by first isolating a microbe that lives in the hot springs of Iceland.

Introducing Ultimate Engineering

_{Andrew McDiarmid
February 11, 2026
2
Intelligent Design}

Evolutionary theory, unlike intelligent design, predicts a living world crowded with substandard designs.

Bad Design, or Ultimate Engineering? Two Views

_{Stuart Burgess
February 9, 2026
8
Intelligent 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.

How Life Leverages the Laws of Nature to Thrive

_{Andrew McDiarmid
February 7, 2026
2
Intelligent Design}

Left to their own devices, the natural result of physics and chemistry is death, not life. So how are we still breathing?

Historical Sciences

Origin of Life

Organic Chemistry Without Intelligence

_{Andrew McDiarmid
January 13, 2026
2
Origin of Life}

While amino acids can be produced in experiments or found on meteorites, they are often consumed by side reactions that create non-living tar.

New Paper on “Unreasonable Likelihood of Being”

_{Jonathan McLatchie
January 5, 2026
5
Origin of Life}

How long did life have to get started? Endres notes that life on earth could not have emerged until after two early global sterilizing impacts.

In Evolution, Explaining vs. Explaining Away

_{David Klinghoffer
November 13, 2025
6
Evolution}

Says Casey Luskin, “If you’re an evolutionist, you have a serious problem. Where do South American monkeys come from?”

Evolution

When Can I Trust Scientists About Evolution?

_{Rob Stadler
February 3, 2026
4
Evolution}

The most commonly cited areas of evidence in favor of common ancestry include the fossil record and homology.

Irreducible Intelligence

_{Andrew McDiarmid
January 28, 2026
2
Evolution}

The more an environment is tuned to amplify probability, the more improbable that environment becomes, requiring further explanation.

Giving Up on the Branching Order of Spiralia

_{Science and Culture
January 27, 2026
3
Evolution}

The open agnosticism in this new MS is a short step away from throwing in the towel entirely, at an even more radical level.

Paleontology

Huayuan: Major Cambrian Fossil Site Found in China

_{David Coppedge
February 9, 2026
9
Paleontology}

Another Cambrian fossil site that rivals the original Burgess Shale has been announced to the world.

No. 4 Story: Farewell to Günter Bechly

_{David Klinghoffer
December 29, 2025
8
Paleontology}

I told Richard Sternberg a story from own experience. I learned about more than paleontology from Bechly.

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.

Cosmology

Fine-Tuning Argument and Its Cultured Despisers

_{Bruce Gordon
February 13, 2026
18
Scientific Reasoning}

Carroll is a prolific physicist and cosmologist who has been a prominent popularizer of science.

Wheelbarrows, Watches, Designers: More on Carroll

_{Eric Hedin
February 11, 2026
6
Cosmology}

Describing luxury mechanical watches as “marvels of engineering and design” is not a religiously motivated claim.

Why a Multiverse Doesn’t Refute Fine-Tuning

_{Eric Hedin
February 10, 2026
5
Cosmology}

With the multiverse hypothesis, a key supposition is that the physical parameters within alternative universes somehow vary over an undefined range.

Human Origins

Supposed Fusion Site Contains Expressed Genes

_{Casey Luskin
February 16, 2026
8
Human Origins and Anthropology}

Human chromosomal fusion has often been cited as strong evidence supporting human-ape common ancestry. It’s not.

Be Prepared: Here Are Neanderthal Toolkits

_{David Klinghoffer
January 23, 2026
3
Human Origins and Anthropology}

Folks, that is impressive behavior. As David Coppedge says, let’s ditch the historical racism.

Overblown Media Claims of a “Missing Link”

_{Casey Luskin
January 14, 2026
6
Human Origins and Anthropology}

So we’re talking about fossils that are very humanlike, if not essentially completely human.

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

Meyer at the Doors of the Cavendish Lab

_{David Klinghoffer
January 27, 2026
1
History of Science}

Even these atheist scientists recognized that beauty was a marker that pointed to truth in their field, in which they too could take pleasure.

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.

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

When the Mind is Freed from the Brain

_{Andrew McDiarmid
February 4, 2026
3
Neuroscience & Mind}

The strong dependency of mind on brain that gets us through everyday life no longer seems to apply when we come to death and dying.

An Evening with Michael Egnor at Cornell

_{Tom Winkler
February 3, 2026
3
Neuroscience & Mind}

The talk itself provides the basis for the Q&A, so it is worth listening to. But for a real treat, don’t miss the exchange afterward. It is golden.

Terminal Lucidity Shows Indestructible Personhood

_{Andrew McDiarmid
February 2, 2026
3
Neuroscience & Mind}

Why would the human mind sometimes appear strongest when the brain is weakest? We begin a two-part conversation discussing the phenomenon of terminal lucidity.

Medicine

When Doctors’ Faith Loses to Bureaucratic Power

_{Wesley J. Smith
January 30, 2026
3
Medicine}

In Canada, the family of a euthanized woman, forced to leave a Catholic hospital to be killed, is seeking to compel Catholic hospitals to permit euthanasia.

For MAHA’s Sake, Don’t Eliminate Animal Research

_{Wesley J. Smith
January 7, 2026
5
Medicine}

Years ago, Dr. Edward Taub hypothesized that brain function could exhibit greater plasticity than it was believed at the time.

From C. S. Lewis, Prophetic Warnings on Scientism

_{Andrew McDiarmid
December 6, 2025
2
Medicine}

What happens when science leaves human values behind? Or when governments become beholden to scientists?

Biology

Evolution: What We Can Believe with Confidence

_{Rob Stadler
February 4, 2026
8
Genetics}

In a pair of YouTube videos, Rice University chemist James Tour and I reviewed more than ten recent studies of experimental evolution.

An Evening with Michael Egnor at Cornell

_{Tom Winkler
February 3, 2026
3
Neuroscience & Mind}

The talk itself provides the basis for the Q&A, so it is worth listening to. But for a real treat, don’t miss the exchange afterward. It is golden.

When Can I Trust Scientists About Evolution?

_{Rob Stadler
February 3, 2026
4
Evolution}

The most commonly cited areas of evidence in favor of common ancestry include the fossil record and homology.

Physical Sciences

Physics

Fine-Tuning Argument and Its Cultured Despisers

_{Bruce Gordon
February 13, 2026
18
Scientific Reasoning}

Carroll is a prolific physicist and cosmologist who has been a prominent popularizer of science.

Wheelbarrows, Watches, Designers: More on Carroll

_{Eric Hedin
February 11, 2026
6
Cosmology}

Describing luxury mechanical watches as “marvels of engineering and design” is not a religiously motivated claim.

Why a Multiverse Doesn’t Refute Fine-Tuning

_{Eric Hedin
February 10, 2026
5
Cosmology}

With the multiverse hypothesis, a key supposition is that the physical parameters within alternative universes somehow vary over an undefined range.

Chemistry

The Messy Reality of Prebiotic Chemistry

_{Andrew McDiarmid
January 15, 2026
2
Origin of Life}

The interview explores the professional risks faced by scientists who question the standard evolutionary paradigm.

Organic Chemistry Without Intelligence

_{Andrew McDiarmid
January 13, 2026
2
Origin of Life}

While amino acids can be produced in experiments or found on meteorites, they are often consumed by side reactions that create non-living tar.

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.

Astronomy

Should Mysterious Signals Be Attributed to ET?

_{David Coppedge
January 27, 2026
4
Astronomy}

Intelligent design advocates agree that you don’t infer intelligence until there is sufficient reason to reject chance and natural law.

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.

Fine-Tuning

New Paper Defends Fine-Tuning Argument

_{Jonathan McLatchie
January 14, 2026
11
Fine-tuning}

Fumagalli does not in the end state whether he himself lands on the multiverse hypothesis, cosmic design, or unknown physics as the best explanation.

No. 10 Story: Wiki Co-Founder on Arguments for God

_{Larry Sanger
December 23, 2025
8
Faith & Science}

I was impressed by a lecture by philosopher of science Stephen Meyer, who presented versions of the cosmological argument and the fine-tuning argument.

Beyond Fine-Tuning: Design in the Laws of Nature

_{Brian Miller
December 3, 2025
7
Physics}

There is only one way to explain why our universe is governed by such simple and elegant laws that support life.

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

Are We Just Animals? A Tempting Delusion

_{J. Budziszewski
February 5, 2026
5
Human Exceptionalism}

Some of my students argue that humans should be wiped off the face of the earth to make room for the other species.

Oregon Law: Goodbye, Burger

_{Wesley J. Smith
January 30, 2026
4
Human Exceptionalism}

In an era where many among us “feel” more than “think,” the potential for such radical proposals becoming law cannot be dismissed out of hand.

Bees Are Granted the Right to Life

_{Wesley J. Smith
January 7, 2026
2
Human Exceptionalism}

It is not as if nature or animals need to be granted rights in order to be protected robustly.

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

A Mentally Ill Woman and a Lethal Prescription

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 12, 2026
7
Bioethics}

A troubling look at how systemic gaps enabled a vulnerable woman to obtain lethal drugs unchecked.

Darwinism’s “Pernicious Cultural Implications”

_{Emily Sandico
February 11, 2026
5
Social Sciences}

What are we to make of rationality and creativity, of our awareness of the moral order? In the Judeo-Christian tradition, these markers are elevated.

Bioethicist Jumps Shark, Goes After Whole Milk

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 10, 2026
3
Bioethics}

To paraphrase Freud: Sometimes whole milk is just whole milk. It’s about improving health, not promoting bigotry.

Social Sciences

Darwinism’s “Pernicious Cultural Implications”

_{Emily Sandico
February 11, 2026
5
Social Sciences}

What are we to make of rationality and creativity, of our awareness of the moral order? In the Judeo-Christian tradition, these markers are elevated.

Revisiting Atheism’s Creation Myth

_{Neil Thomas
January 29, 2026
15
Faith & Science}

The fact that Darwin’s evolutionary ideas could not be shown to be scientifically coherent remained for the uncritical a side issue.

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.

Faith and Science

Revisiting Atheism’s Creation Myth

_{Neil Thomas
January 29, 2026
15
Faith & Science}

The fact that Darwin’s evolutionary ideas could not be shown to be scientifically coherent remained for the uncritical a side issue.

Catholicism and Evolution: A Response to Dr. Barr

_{Michael Chaberek, O.P.
January 28, 2026
17
Faith & Science}

These publications are far from telling, in Barr’s words, “the full story of how the Church did react to the theory of evolution.”

New God Proofs Episode: Making Logic Adorable

_{David Klinghoffer
January 26, 2026
1
Faith & Science}

The series for young and old, with its two recurring characters (the smart blue one, the red doubter), develops three foundational truths.

Science Education

“My Public Education Was Ruined,” Weeps Dover Grad

_{David Klinghoffer
January 8, 2026
2
Science Education}

A bit melodramatic, perhaps? Attorney and geologist Casey Luskin, who was present for part of the Dover trial, has this to say.

Creepy Crawly Complexity: The Design of Insects

_{Andrew McDiarmid
December 22, 2025
2
Science Education}

Far from being mere nuisances, these creatures function as tiny engineers that elegantly solve complex problems to sustain global ecosystems.

Myth No. 5: “Discovery Supported Dover Policy”

_{Sarah Chaffee
December 17, 2025
6
Science Education}

Both Judge John E. Jones and the media have promoted the myth that Discovery was somehow behind the events that sparked the case.

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.