Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature

ID the Future

with Andrew McDiarmid

Why Aliens Won’t Solve the Origin of Life on Earth

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Casey Luskin
July 29, 2026
Does invoking aliens to explain the origin of life on Earth solve the problem of biological information, or does it simply kick the can down the road? On this ID The Future, enjoy the second half of a conversation with geologist Dr. Casey Luskin and his wife, science educator Kristin Marais, as they discuss intelligent design, evolution, and alien life with host Daniel Ray on the Apologetics Profile podcast. In Part 2, the conversation shifts from the theoretical framework of intelligent design to the physical and biological hurdles that challenge both Darwinian evolution and the search for extraterrestrial life. Dr. Luskin also discusses the professional risks and academic pressures faced by scientists who dare to suggest that the design evident in nature may be actual design from an actual designer. The conversation wraps with a surprising conclusion: that the possible future discovery of alien life would actually be the ultimate disproof of Darwinism, pointing instead to a common design blueprint shared across the cosmos.

Signs of Intelligence: ID, Evolution, and the Search for Alien Life

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Casey Luskin
July 27, 2026
If alien life were to be discovered elsewhere in the cosmos, would it be evidence of intelligent design or blind evolutionary forces? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid brings you the first half of a recent conversation with geologist Dr. Casey Luskin and his wife, science teacher Kristin Marais, that originally aired on the Apologetics Profile podcast. The conversation explores the scientific theory of intelligent design, and in particular, the intuitive ways we recognize patterns in life, from forensic science to archaeology. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. We’re grateful to the producer of Apologetics Profile for permission to share this conversation at ID The Future.

Giving Up Darwin’s “Brilliant and Beautiful Theory”

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David Gelernter
July 24, 2026
Seven years ago, Yale University professor of computer science David Gelernter wrote that he was bidding farewell to neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory. Why would he take such a bold step? What convinced him that the neo-Darwinian paradigm no longer satisfied the scientific evidence? On this classic ID The Future out of the vault, host Andrew McDiarmid reads Gelernter’s important essay in full.

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Endowed with an Ultimate Body

Stuart Burgess
July 6, 2026
2026 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith

Stuart Burgess, an award-winning engineer, argues that biological systems surpass even the best human engineering. As detailed in his book, the human body exhibits “Ultimate Engineering” that operates at near-perfect physical limits. Using examples like synovial fluid, the human foot, and the heart, Burgess explains how biological performance far exceeds human technology and cannot be explained by evolutionary processes.

Endowed with a Special Genome

Casey Luskin
June 22, 2026
2026 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith
Casey Luskin shows how the common claim that humans are about 99% genetically similar to chimpanzees is misleading. Citing newer research, Luskin suggests the difference may be closer to about 15% when the entire genome is considered. Earlier comparisons overstated similarity due to methodological choices, such as aligning genomes in ways that minimized differences. Moreover, much of the genetic difference — especially in repetitive DNA — is functionally important, not “junk.” It influences things like brain development and gene regulation. Luskin notes that in any case percentage similarity alone cannot prove common ancestry, since similarities could also be explained by “common design.” The human genome, it turns out, supports a view of human uniqueness rather than

Intelligent Design

Historical Sciences

Origin of Life

Evolution

Paleontology

Cosmology

Who Pushed the Button?

While answers may venture beyond the limits of the empirical sciences, that doesn’t mean the sciences don’t offer meaningful information to bear on them.

Human Origins

Archaeology

The Joy of (Neanderthal) Cooking

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.

History of Science

Geology

Life Sciences

Life Sciences

Neuroscience

Medicine

Biology

Physical Sciences

Physics

Chemistry

Astronomy

Fine-Tuning

Earth Sciences

Geophysics

Environment

Rare Earth

Planetology

Culture

Human Exceptionalism

Why AI Won’t Replace Us Spiritually

AI systems increasingly resemble human intelligence. But resemblance alone does not make them image bearers. It cannot. AI systems do not represent God.

Arts

E.T., Phoned In

Steve Deace has called the film a direct assault on Christianity. This wasn’t exactly my impression. I didn’t feel assaulted so much as vaguely condescended to.

Ethics

Social Sciences

Faith and Science

Science Education

Scientific Freedom

Science Reporting

On the Origin of Our New Name

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.

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