Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
Author

Eric Cassell

pipistrelle
Photo credit: Dave, via Flickr (cropped).

In Bats and Other Animals, Evidence of Common Design in a Magnetic Compass

There has been little data previously to confirm that mammals navigate long distances using the earth’s geomagnetic field. Read More ›
ants
Photo credit: Rommel1999, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Can Algorithms Designed by Humans Catch Up with the Genius of Biological Systems?

While humans invented algorithms only within the last century, enabling the development of AI, animals exhibit behavioral algorithms that long predate humans. Read More ›
honey bee
Photo credit: Wolfgang Hasselmann via Unsplash.

The Role of Learning in the Honey Bee Waggle Dance

Learning is largely a programmed behavior, governed by a type of algorithm, particularly for animals with limited cognitive ability. Read More ›
zebrafish
Photo: Zebrafish, by Oregon State University, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Intelligent Design in Animal Self-Location and Navigation

A question is whether such mechanisms exist in more ancient brain regions of other animals. A new study has identified a self-location mechanism in zebrafish. Read More ›
black garden ants
Photo: Black garden ants, by Katja Schulz from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Animal Algorithms: Ant Foraging Is a “Rational” Behavior

Of course, ants and other animals do not make decisions in a “conscious” manner as humans would. Instead they rely on algorithms. Read More ›
Harvester_ant_hole
Photo: Harvester ants at the entrance to their nest, via Wikimedia Commons.

To Regulate Foraging, Harvester Ants Use a (Designed) Feedback Control Algorithm

These elements of harvester ant behavior present a severe challenge for the evolutionary paradigm. Read More ›
polar bear
Photo credit: Eva Blue via Unsplash.

Complex Programmed Behaviors — Intelligently Designed

Some discriminators don’t get us very far in deciding which is the better explanation between blind evolution and intelligent design. Read More ›
spider
design intuition
Photo credit: edbuscher, via Pixabay.

The Miracle of Spiderwebs

Spiders are another of nature’s master engineers. About half of known spider species (order Araneae) construct webs made of silk. Read More ›
desert ant
Photo credit: Muséum de Toulouse, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Ants Do Trigonometry: A Problem for Darwinism

How can a trigonometric mathematical computation be programmed into the brain of an ant through a neo-Darwinian process of genetic mutation and natural selection? Read More ›
Monarch butterfly
Photo: Monarch butterfly, by liz west from Boxborough, MA [CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons.

For Evolution, Monarch Butterfly Migration Is a Mystery

It typically takes up to three generations of butterflies to make the complete journey. This means that the navigation information is genetically programmed. Read More ›

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