Science and Culture Today | Page 1188 | Discovering Design in Nature

A new paper in the journal Science reports results of a survey of how science teachers cover evolution. Titled “Defeating Creationism in the Courtroom, But Not in the Classroom,” the paper laments that more teachers aren’t pushing neo-Darwinian evolution in a dogmatic fashion, even attacking one teacher who dared to suggest, “Students should make up their own minds” on evolution. The survey forces teachers to fit into 1 of 3 categories: “Advocates of evolutionary biology,” “Advocates of creationism,” or “Advocate of neither.” According to the survey, 28% of teachers are “Advocates of evolutionary biology,” 13% are “Advocates of creationism,” and a full 60% are “Advocates of neither.” (These are the percentages reported in the survey–odd how they add up to Read More ›

With David Coppedge’s case being just the latest, there is a long line of Darwin doubters who have been discriminated against. David Klinghoffer has a published a piece at NRO’s The Corner,

According to the Pasadena Star News: A computer administrator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who was laid off last week plans to add retaliation charges – and a possible free speech violation claim – to a pending discrimination suit against his former employer, an attorney said Wednesday. You can read the full PSN story here. Please call (preferably) or at least email Charles Bolden, NASA’s administrator, to express your outrage at the fact that Coppedge was fired. Here’s the contact information: phone: 202-358-1010 and email: charles.bolden@nasa.gov. For more background on the Coppedge case go here.

An interesting paper published in Nature by Evgenia et al. documents the ability of the DNA double helix to exist in a functional alternative form for 1% of the time, called an “excited state.” What does this mean for neo-Darwinism?

When it comes to origin of life scenarios, the only way to explain the emergence of life from purely naturalistic premises is that life, and all of its necessary components, arose by chance, or by natural laws or by some combination of both.