Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
Year

2024

Robert_Brown
Photo: Robert Brown, 1855, via Wikimedia Commons.

Embrace the Chaos: How Cells Harness Disorder for Function

In three classes of examples, cells are shown to manipulate chaotic forces toward functional purposes. Read More ›
Macaca_fuscata_juvenile_yawning
Photo credit: Daisuke Tashiro, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Lee Spetner on What Natural Selection Can Do — And What It Can’t

Dr Spetner also explores aspects of population genetics and the constraints the Earth’s history imposes. Read More ›
moon
Photo credit: NASA, ESA/Matthias Maurer.

Is NASA in a Slump?

NASA is outsourcing a good deal now to private industry. The trouble is, it’s hard to attract creative engineers to a job supervising the work of others. Read More ›
african-american-new-born-baby-hand-holding-mom-finger-on-wh-379518413-stockpack-adobestock
african american new born baby hand holding mom finger on white bed
Image Credit: Mongkolchon - Adobe Stock

The Formation of Our Digits Points to a Process with Foresight

Our digits are sculpted from a paddle-like structure in the embryo through the process of apoptosis. Read More ›
Eosinopteryx
Image credit: El fosilmaníaco, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fossil Friday: More Evidence That “Feathered Dinosaurs” Were Secondarily Flightless Birds

It definitely looks like the common dino-to-bird narrative has been massively oversold to the public. Read More ›
black hole
Image: An artist imagines a black hole, by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; background, ESA/Gaia/DPAC.

Were We Made to Make Black Holes?

I want to compare our book with a 2020 paper by Jeffery Shainline of the National Institutes of Standards and Technology. Read More ›
eclipse
Photo: Total solar eclipse, 2024, by NASA/Keegan Barber.

Richards to Aliens: We’ll Show You Our Perfect Solar Eclipses if You’ll Show Us Yours

Jay Richard had a really fun and interesting conversation with Sean McDowell about the new updated edition of his book with Guillermo Gonzalez. Read More ›
Dülmen,_Wildpark,_Brücke_am_Herzteich_--_2022_--_4642
Photo credit: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Dülmen, Wildpark, Brücke am Herzteich -- 2022 -- 4642” / CC BY-SA 4.0For print products: Dietmar Rabich / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D%C3%BClmen,_Wildpark,_Br%C3%BCcke_am_Herzteich_--_2022_--_4642.jpg / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.

Why Are We Drawn to Beauty?

While I love Haidt’s emphasis and regard for the beautiful, I question the power of his argument about beauty as a remnant of our collective survival instinct. Read More ›
sunset
Photo: Puget Sound from West Seattle, by David Klinghoffer.

The Science of a Sunset: Unlocking the Secrets of Our Atmosphere

Many of us have enjoyed a colorful twilight or a stunning sunset. But how often do we think about the science behind these memorable conditions? Read More ›
Earthquake_at_Lisbon
Image: An 1883 depiction of the great Lisbon earthquake, via Wikimedia Commons.

Darwin and the Problem of Pain

For many Enlightenment Age Europeans, the death-knell for belief in an omnipresent, interventionist God had been sounded by the great Lisbon earthquake. Read More ›

© Discovery Institute