Science and Culture Today | Discovering Design in Nature

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Flannery

Date
September 25, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Faith & Science
History of Science
Tagged
, argumentum ex silentio, Canon George D. Smith, Catholic Church, Catholic University of America Press, Chance or Purpose?, conflations, Darwinian evolution, Darwinism, Descent of Man, false dilemma, First Things, Fr. Michael Chaberek, Galileo Affair, Historical Aspects of Organic Evolution, Index Librorum Prohibitorum, intelligent evolution, Kenneth W. Kemp, Michael Keas, On the Genesis of Species, Origin of Species, Philip G. Fathergill, Pope Pius IX, Richard Owen, St. George Jackson Mivart, Stephen M. Barr, The Origins of Catholic Evolutionism, The Teaching of the Catholic Church, Unbelievable}

Slapdash History, Questionable Logic Applied to “Catholic Evolutionism”

_{Michael Flannery
September 25, 2026

Evolution, Faith & Science, History of Science

5}

When Pope Pius IX awarded St. George Jackson Mivart a doctorate, he was not by implication casting his imprimatur or approval on evolution. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
September 24, 2026

Categories
Ethics
Human Exceptionalism
Tagged
, agency, anthropomorphizing, arctic ice, Arctic Institute, Arctic sea ice, cattle ranches, crabs, elements, fossil fuel, geological features, glacier rights, human exceptionalism, humans, ice melt, intelligentsia, Jim Hightower, minerals, mystification, National Geographic Society, nature rights, NGOs, persons, rights of nature, sea ice, University of Helsinki}

Will You Take Ice with That? The Latest Madness from Nature Rights

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 24, 2026

Ethics, Human Exceptionalism

7}

Ice has no agency. It is frozen water. Water contains minerals and other elements. Do they have rights, too? Read More ›

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post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
September 24, 2026

Categories
Computational Sciences
Ethics
Zoology
Tagged
, animals, artificial inteligence, biologgers, Bloomberg, buzzards, cave paintings, chimpanzees, Coller Dolittle Challenge, communication, CUNY, Daniela Canestrari, Earth Species Project, ethics, fungi, Kristin Andrews, Marriah Alcantara, mind, New York Post, plants, privacy rights, Ronny Reyes, Spain, Topoi, University of Leon, WEIRD, whales}

Next Big Thing Is… Privacy Rights for Animals?

_{Denyse O’Leary
September 24, 2026

Computational Sciences, Ethics, Zoology

5}

If we came across chimpanzee cave paintings, we would, of course, reconsider. But the thing is, we don’t. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
September 24, 2026

Categories
Origin of Life
Science Reporting
Tagged
, bases, Canada, David Catling, gatekeepers, intelligent agency, Last Chance Lake, Leslie Orgel, life, Maikel Rheinstädter, McMaster University, metabolism, nucleotides, organic compounds, origin of life, origin-of-life researchers, phosphate, phosphate problem, planetary scientists, primitive earth, reporters, ribose, RNA, RNA world, Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, scientific consensus, self-replicating RNA, Stanley Miller, storytelling, The Origins of Life on the Earth, University of Washington, voodoo science, wishful thinking}

On Origin of Life, Scientific American Starts Sober, Quickly Relapses into Speculation

_{Brian Miller
September 24, 2026

Origin of Life, Science Reporting

6}

A proposal by University of Washington planetary scientist David Catling addresses what origin-of-life researchers call the phosphate problem. Read More ›

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post

Author
David Klinghoffer

Date
September 23, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, A Devil’s Chaplain, biology journals, Cell (journal), cell phones, Christians, Darwinism, Darwinist materialism, debates, detritus, ENCODE project, engineers, evolutionary biologists, expectations, function, genome, genomic function, informational sequences, intelligence, intelligent minds, junk DNA, materialism, mind, New Atheists, paradigm shift, paradigms, Richard Dawkins, scientific discovery, theistic evolutionists, Townhall}

Casey Luskin: A Chasm Between Paradigms

_{David Klinghoffer
September 23, 2026

Evolution, Intelligent Design

2}

To speak of a “paradigm shift” on Junk DNA is another way of saying that the debate is over and ID won. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
September 23, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Physics
Scientific Reasoning
Tagged
, Alexander Vilenkin, Boltzmann brain, Borde-Guth-Vilenkin, cosmologists, Everettian universe, fine-tuning, Hartle-Hawking model, Ijjas-Steinhardt model, inflationary string landscape, intelligent design, John Leslie, knowledge, Lawrence Krauss, metalevels, observer-selection effect, past-eternality, quantum cosmology, quantum mechanics, Samson, Sean Carroll, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Meyer, temporal beginning, The Grand Design, The Telegraph, universe, Vilenkin model}

So, You Say that No Cosmologists Have Ever Claimed the Universe Came from Nothing?

_{Bruce Gordon
September 23, 2026

Cosmology, Physics, Scientific Reasoning

6}

Like mighty Samson of old, in a single-handed effort physicist Bruce Gordon responded to 1,870+ comments. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Winston Ewert

Date
September 23, 2026

Categories
Intelligent Design
Scientific Reasoning
Tagged
, calculations, description, evolution, intelligent design, lake, logic, material, probability, rocks, scientific reasoning, specified complexity, stair-maker, staircase, stairs, steps, The Design Inference, words}

Stairs on a Lake: Inference to Design?

_{Winston Ewert
September 23, 2026

Intelligent Design, Scientific Reasoning

3}

Why exactly was I immediately convinced that someone had deliberately created the staircase? The material for the staircase, after all, is unremarkable. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Bruce Gordon

Date
September 23, 2026

Categories
Cosmology
Philosophy of Science
Tagged
, "God of the gaps", abductive inferences, ad hominems, Arkansas, Bruce Gordon, chemistry, contingency, cosmology, creator, dark matter, demarcation problem, evolutionary biologists, existence, forensic scientists, genetic fallacies, geologists, Larry Laudan, necessary being, New Atheists, philosophy of science, red herrings, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Meyer, The God Delusion, The Telegraph}

“God of the Gaps,” and Other Old Friends: Responding to Critics in The Telegraph

_{Bruce Gordon
September 23, 2026

Cosmology, Philosophy of Science

4}

There are a lot of commenters refuting arguments that Stephen Meyer never made. What he is offering is what philosophers of science call an abductive inference. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
David Klinghoffer

Date
September 22, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Faith & Science
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, Alex O’Connor, atheist biologists, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, biologists, Christianity, Christopher Hitchens, cosmology, cultural Christianity, Daniel Dennett, dark matter, intelligent design, Japanese soldiers, John Gray, Lawrence Krauss, military history, molecular biology, Neil deGrasse Tyson, New Atheists, Philippines, physicists, physics, Return of the God Hypothesis, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Stephen Meyer, Steven Bartlett, The God Delusion, The Telegraph, World War II}

Meyer: Twenty Years Later, Debate with New Atheists Is Over

_{David Klinghoffer
September 22, 2026

Evolution, Faith & Science, Intelligent Design

3}

In the Philippine jungles after World War II, a few lonely Japanese soldiers carried on fighting for decades, not realizing the war was over. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
David Klinghoffer

Date
September 22, 2026

Categories
Medicine
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, abstract thought, arithmetic, brain, denial, Denyse O’Leary, dualism, emotions, human existence, humans, intellect, materialism, memories, Michael Egnor, mind, movement, neuroscience, neuroscientists, open-brain surgery, organs, philosophers, reality, Secrets of the Human Body, sensations, soul, The Immortal Mind, theologians, Wilder Penfield, will}

Dr. Egnor: Denying the Mystery of the Mind

_{David Klinghoffer
September 22, 2026

Medicine, Neuroscience & Mind

2}

The mind, operating outside the body, can use reason to add 1 and 1 and reach a sum of 2. The brain cannot. Read More ›