Science and Culture Today | Discovering Design in Nature

Today

Abstract Thought Is from the Mind, Not the Brain

_{John Zmirak
September 2, 2025
7
Neuroscience & Mind}

We can cut perceptional abilities with a knife, but we can’t cut reason and abstract thought.

Eight Reasons Sex in Humans Is Binary

_{Denyse O’Leary
September 2, 2025
5
Reproductive Science}

Skeptics will eventually be forced to confront the problem: They posit laws with no lawgiver, principles with no foundation, minds from mud.

Horrors of AI Finally Come into View

_{David Klinghoffer
September 1, 2025
6
Technology}

A 56-year-old man, living with his mother in a wealthy New York suburb, developed a “friendship” with ChatGPT.

Bringing "Equity" to Scientific Citations

_{Denyse O’Leary
September 3, 2025
6
Uncategorized}

Some want “papers to include the proportions of citations in terms of the gender and race or ethnicity of the referenced authors.”

Next: “Digital Twins” as a Matter of “Equity”?

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 2, 2025
3
Bioethics}

Medicine is no longer just about treating disease, healing injuries, and promoting physical wellness.

Your Body’s Secrets, Revealed in a New Series

_{David Klinghoffer
September 1, 2025
2
Engineering}

It may seem like a morbid thought, pondering the billions of ways something in your body could “go wrong,” fatally, and then “you’re dead.”

"A Kind of Intelligence Evident Nowhere Else"

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 1, 2025
1
Intelligent Design}

"There is the mystery of life itself. If scientists thought that its origin and nature would yield to scientific reductionism, they have been disappointed."

ID the Future

with Andrew McDiarmid

How to Respond to Common Criticisms of Intelligent Design

_{2104
Casey Luskin
September 3, 2025}

God of the gaps. Lucy as human ancestor. Co-option to explain away irreducible complexity. Perhaps you've heard some of the most common objections to intelligent design, but do you know how to adequately respond to them? On today's ID The Future, geologist and lawyer Casey Luskin explains how to refute these and other objections to intelligent design as he concludes a conversation with host Jacob Vasquez that originally aired on the Truthful Hope podcast. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation.

Casey Luskin on the Core Concepts of Intelligent Design

_{2103
Casey Luskin
September 1, 2025}

Sometimes, it’s good to go back to the basics. Whether you’re brand new to intelligent design or you’re looking for a way to share the basics with a friend or family member, we’ve got you covered today. On this ID The Future, enjoy the first half of a discussion with geologist and attorney Dr. Casey Luskin on the basics of intelligent design that originally aired on the Truthful Hope podcast hosted by Jacob Vasquez. Here, Dr. Luskin unpacks two core concepts of intelligent design: specified complexity and irreducible complexity. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Share this podcast with a friend and start a conversation!

David Berlinski on the Immaterial, Alan Turing, and the Mystery of Life Itself

_{2102
David Berlinski
August 29, 2025}

Today's episode of ID The Future again spotlights the book Science After Babel. Author, philosopher, and mathematician David Berlinski and host Andrew McDiarmid conclude a three-part conversation teasing out various elements of the work. The pair discuss the puzzling relationship between purely immaterial mathematical concepts and the material world; World War II codebreaker and computing pioneer Alan Turing, depicted in the 2014 film The Imitation Game; and the sense that the field of physics, once seemingly on the cusp of a theory of everything, finds itself at an impasse. Then there is the mystery of life itself. If scientists thought that its origin and nature would soon yield to scientific reductionism, they have been disappointed. This is Part 3 of a three-part conversation.

Latest Videos

Engineered for Oxygen

_{The Center for Science and Culture
September 1, 2025
Intelligent Design
Secrets of the Human Body}

Without enough oxygen, your body will die. In Episode 1 of Secrets of the Human Body, learn about the astonishing engineering of the body that allows it to harness oxygen’s power and keep us alive. …

Secrets of the Human Body Trailer

_{The Center for Science and Culture
August 15, 2025
Intelligent Design
Secrets of the Human Body}

Premiering September 1, 2025, Secrets of the Human Body is a new YouTube series that will unravel the mysteries of the human body and explore its exquisite intelligent design. …

The Intelligent Design of Plants

_{Emily Reeves
July 14, 2025
Intelligent Design
2025 Dallas Conference on Science & Faith}

Learn about the incredible intelligent design of plants from Daniel Reeves, Director of Education and Outreach at Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, and biologist Dr. Emily Reeves, research scientist at the Center for Science and Culture. This talk was presented at the 2025 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith. …

Intelligent Design as Fuel for Scientific Discovery (2025 Dallas Conference on Science & Faith)

_{Casey Luskin
July 8, 2025
Intelligent Design
2025 Dallas Conference on Science & Faith}

Scientist Casey Luskin explains how the theory of intelligent design provides fuel for scientific discovery. Dr. Luskin is Associate Director of the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute. Presented at the 2025 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith. …

Intelligent Design

"A Kind of Intelligence Evident Nowhere Else"

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 1, 2025
1
Intelligent Design}

"There is the mystery of life itself. If scientists thought that its origin and nature would yield to scientific reductionism, they have been disappointed."

Postcard from Warsaw: Teleology in Science

_{William A. Dembski
August 31, 2025
1
Intelligent Design}

An English version of the debate, with Professor Sady's words translated into English, is now available on YouTube.

Communication Sets Us Apart

_{Andrew McDiarmid
August 21, 2025
2
Intelligent Design}

Communication is found across all life forms, from the signals sent by trees through fungal networks to the deep conversations we can have with each other.

Trailer: Secrets of the Human Body

_{David Klinghoffer
August 17, 2025
1
Intelligent Design}

“The human body. Nothing we know of is as complex or finely tuned. How did humans reach this level of sophistication?"

Historical Sciences

Origin of Life

The Origin Story of an Intelligent Design Classic

_{Andrew McDiarmid
July 21, 2025
2
Intelligent Design}

Today, we bring you the second half of Robert J. Marks’s 2020 interview with Dr. Bradley.

Tour Undermines Pillar of Origin-of-Life Theories

_{Brian Miller
July 16, 2025
5
Origin of Life}

Proteins and RNA degrade at rates that render their spontaneous formation under natural, undirected conditions highly implausible.

Walter Bradley on the Origin of Life

_{Andrew McDiarmid
July 15, 2025
1
Intelligent Design}

We are grieving the recent loss of Walter Bradley, a longtime Fellow of the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute.

Evolution

Cancer and the Limits of Darwinian Evolution

_{Andrew McDiarmid
August 28, 2025
2
Evolution}

Dr. Karl Krueger explains what led him to become a skeptic of Darwinian evolution and why he thinks ID can better explain the behavior and effects of cancer.

From Fantastic Four to First Causes

_{Andrew McDiarmid
August 26, 2025
2
Evolution}

Scientific materialism continues to have a strong hold on our culture today, as does the atheism that it fuels.

Why Dogmatic Materialism Is Bad for Science

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 15, 2025
6
Evolution}

Richard Lewontin addressed a controversy in evolution: Can life forms acquire characteristics during their lifespan that they pass on to their offspring?

Paleontology

Fossils as Magical Darwin Relics

_{David Coppedge
May 25, 2025
12
Paleontology}

Fossils can be handled in the present, but how they are used by evolutionists in stories of history resembles the practices of overeager medieval churchmen.

Cold Water on “Dire Wolves”

_{David Klinghoffer
April 9, 2025
2
Paleontology}

"These are not dire wolves," says evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin. "These are gray wolves with 20 edited genes."

Evolution Harms the Study of Human History

_{Denyse O’Leary
April 1, 2025
4
Paleontology}

Any state of affairs that dates to eons ago can be referred to as “evolution” even when, as in this case, the facts imply the opposite.

Cosmology

The Birth of Science and of the Cosmos

_{Andrew McDiarmid
June 15, 2025
2
Faith & Science}

Do we have to choose between science and God? Absolutely not, says philosopher of science Dr. Stephen Meyer.

12 Discoveries Point to Intelligent Design

_{Granville Sewell
February 27, 2025
2
Intelligent Design}

Michael Kent is a Fellow with the Center for Science and Culture and a recently retired bio-scientist from Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque.

The Singularity that Atheists Try To Evade

_{The Singularity that Atheists Try To Evade}_{Andrew McDiarmid
February 15, 2025
1
Cosmology}

The singularity isn’t the supposed future singularity imagined by transhumanists, but the well-supported singularity at the foundation of the Big Bang.

Human Origins

Berlinski on Human-Chimp Differences and More

_{Andrew McDiarmid
August 29, 2025
2
Human Origins and Anthropology}

He challenges Stephen Jay Gould’s idea that the difference between humans and chimps is merely one of degree but not kind, calling this “utterly ridiculous.”

Hey Smithsonian, Make Humans Exceptional Again

_{David Klinghoffer
August 15, 2025
2
Human Origins and Anthropology}

Denying human exceptionalism is intended to make human visitors to the museum feel animal-like and without special dignity.

Calling on Smithsonian to Fix Errors to Be Mean?

_{David Klinghoffer
August 13, 2025
4
Human Origins and Anthropology}

The errors and biased oversimplifications of scholarly material all run in one direction: to persuade visitors that humans aren’t exceptional beings in nature.

Archaeology

More Discoveries Point to Neanderthal Intelligence

_{Denyse O’Leary
December 5, 2024
5
Archaeology}

This very ancient people we know the most about can’t be the missing link that many paleontologists are looking for.

The Joy of (Neanderthal) Cooking

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 30, 2024
5
Archaeology}

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.

Dallas Conference: Archaeology & the Life of Jesus

_{Titus Kennedy
January 19, 2024
1
Archaeology}

My presentation will explore archaeological discoveries illuminating a major event in the life of Jesus — his trial in Jerusalem.

History of Science

Darwin as a Prefiguration of Postmodern Man

_{Neil Thomas
August 25, 2025
17
History of Science}

Whether we like it or not, Erasmus Darwin’s simple and predictable world is no more, and we now find ourselves subject to a profoundly mysterious cosmos.

The Legacy of Baruch Spinoza

_{Andrew McDiarmid
April 2, 2025
1
History of Science}

Join host and geologist Casey Luskin and historian of science Michael Keas for a lively conversation puncturing a series of anti-Christian myths.

Conservation of Information: History of an Idea

_{William A. Dembski
January 20, 2025
30
History of Science}

Conservation of information” is a term that appears in both the physics and the computer science literature.

Geology

Plate Tectonics and Scientific Discovery

_{Guillermo Gonzalez
September 3, 2024
4
Geology}

Plate tectonics is important for advanced life in multiple ways and planets with plate tectonics are very rare.

Luskin: Our Intelligently Designed Planet

_{Science and Culture
November 3, 2022
1
Geology}

Dr. Luskin offers an additional design argument, this one aesthetic in nature, and takes questions from the audience.

Biominerals Could Predict Life on Exoplanets

_{Science and Culture
August 3, 2022
4
Geology}

One-third of minerals — chemical solids whose atoms are highly ordered — are created directly or indirectly by life forms.

Life Sciences

Fireweed: An Example of Intelligent Latent Design

_{Eric Hedin
February 5, 2025
7
Life Sciences}

The photo with fireweed in the foreground at the top of this article was taken by my father, Robert Hedin, at Mount Shuksan in Washington State.

Biological Information in Static Electricity

_{David Coppedge
December 5, 2024
5
Life Sciences}

The influence of static charge in pollination is one demonstrable case — not only for bees, but for moths and hummingbirds as well.

Plant Missile Technology: A Peek in the Armory

_{David Coppedge
December 2, 2024
5
Life Sciences}

Ballistic missiles are common in plants and fungi. Take a look at how they launch their payloads.

Neuroscience

The Tiniest Brain Is Not Simple

_{Eric Cassell
March 14, 2025
9}

Even a cursory examination of the connectome shows the complexity of the brain, despite its tiny size.

Consciousness... In All the Wrong Places

_{Michael Egnor
March 9, 2025
8}

If concept cells nestled in the hippocampi were the seat of consciousness, bilateral hippocampal destruction would cause loss of consciousness. It doesn’t.

Did Evolution Give Us Free Will? (Continued)

_{Daniel Witt
March 5, 2025
10}

The door is open to other causes — even those that neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell himself would prefer to keep out.

Medicine

Killing for Organs — Who Could Possibly Object?

_{Wesley J. Smith
August 5, 2025
4
Medicine}

Three doctors promote the idea of “redefining death” to allow patients to be killed for their organs.

Organ-Procurement Goofs Threaten Trust

_{Wesley J. Smith
August 4, 2025
5
Medicine}

The “dead donor rule” is the cement that binds the public’s trust in organ transplant medicine.

Finding Purpose in Medicine and Science

_{Andrew McDiarmid
July 18, 2025
2
Medicine}

Ultimately, Dr. Iacoboni aims to help his fellow physicians escape the “suffocating boundaries of mechanism and materialism.”

Biology

An Evolutionist Decries Private Truth

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 22, 2025
4
Scientific Reasoning}

Ironically, the ultimate origin of private truth is the materialism that you yourself, Dr. Coyne, espouse.

Cohesins, Condensins: Next-Generation Bobby Pins

_{Emily Reeves
August 22, 2025
4
Genetics}

Picture this: you grab a box of bobby pins, clip them to the ends of your hair, and sit in front of a mirror.

Information Processing as a Hallmark of Life

_{Andrew McDiarmid
August 19, 2025
3
Biology}

I begin a two-part conversation with Dr. Eric Hedin, a physicist and author who’s been asking bold questions about the hidden patterns of life.

Physical Sciences

Physics

The Flakiness and Groupthink that Plague Physics

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 26, 2025
6
Physics}

This episode is worth keeping in mind when we hear pundits complain that the public doesn’t trust science or that government doesn’t support it enough.

What (If Anything) Physics Says About Consciousnes

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 13, 2025
5
Neuroscience & Mind}

What about objects? If we want to argue that they have consciousness too, we need to define the term differently from the experiential way we usually do.

A “Quantum Miracle” that Leads to Life

_{Eric Hedin
May 28, 2025
5
Intelligent Design}

To eventually form stars, planets, and life, neutral atoms are a definite prerequisite.

Chemistry

Postcard from São Paulo

_{Casey Luskin
July 23, 2025
4
Intelligent Design}

Kristin Marais spoke about “How to Make Chemistry Fun by Teaching Intelligent Design and the Origin of Life.”

Homeschool High‑School Science Courses

_{Brian Westad
July 16, 2025
3
Science Education}

Give your high‑schooler a course that sparks curiosity today and prepares them for the science of tomorrow.

DI Academy “Meet the Teachers” Zoom

_{Kristin Marais
May 28, 2025
4
Science Education}

If you weren’t able to drop by our booth in Florida, why don’t you consider joining our “Meet the Teachers” Zoom event on Thursday, May 29 at 5:00 pm (PDT).

Astronomy

An Icon of Intelligent Design

_{David Klinghoffer
August 6, 2025
2
Faith & Science}

If wokeness leads to promoting surgical sexual mutilation of children, maybe we need to rethink the whole thing.

Dave Farina Gives Avi Loeb the Hamas Treatment

_{David Klinghoffer
July 30, 2025
4
Evolution}

Farina was known to us before for his puerile attack videos aimed at intelligent design proponents.

Reflections on Astronomy in Iconic National Parks

_{Eric Hedin
July 3, 2025
5
Intelligent Design}

The most poignant evidence of design intervention on planet Earth is certainly life itself.

Fine-Tuning

Geometric Design in the Solar System

_{Eric Hedin
August 11, 2025
8
Intelligent Design}

My favorite example of such geometric design arises from the mean orbits of our innermost two planets, Mercury and Venus.

We Are Children of Light and Water

_{Andrew McDiarmid
August 10, 2025
2
Intelligent Design}

“In this vast range, there’s only one…infinitesimally small band which has the right energy for photosynthesis,” a prerequisite for human life. Coincidence?

The "Nature of the Universe" Puzzles Physicists

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 27, 2025
7
Intelligent Design}

The more physicists know about the universe, the larger loom some questions about ultimate realities.

Earth Sciences

Geophysics

Aurora Borealis: Scientific and Aesthetic Design

_{Casey Luskin
May 12, 2024
9
Astronomy}

You appreciate the aurora borealis or aurora australis because you were not created by strictly material evolutionary processes.

Geoengineering on an Intelligently Designed Planet

_{Tova Forman
August 30, 2023
4
Intelligent Design}

Scientists are still discovering how many systems, controls, and other aspects of planetary fine-tuning are in place to ensure that we have abundant life.

No Iron, No Life: Design in Iron Availability

_{Science and Culture
January 25, 2022
9
Biology}

As an exercise, count the number of lucky breaks that had to occur for the evolutionary story to work.

Environment

Even Scientists Starting to Doubt "Approved Views"

_{Science and Culture
August 28, 2025
3
Environment & Climate}

A recent Orwellian firing gives some insight into what happens when an academic collides with Political Correctness.

Is Geomimetics an Intelligent Design Science?

_{David Coppedge
August 19, 2025
7
Environment & Climate}

Biomimetics, the imitation of nature’s designs, clearly qualifies as an ID science. What about “geomimetics” — the imitation of geophysics?

Only Bioethicists Can Save the Planet!

_{Wesley J. Smith
August 13, 2025
3
Bioethics}

Apparently, anyone with any claim to victimization or marginalization can be a bioethicist now.

Rare Earth

Study: Geological Habitability Parameters

_{Casey Luskin
August 14, 2024
8
Rare Earth}

One thing that is likely to get some pushback is the study’s claim that modern-style plate tectonics on Earth did not commence until the Neoproterozoic.

Earth and Mars — A Rare Gem and a Sharp Contrast

_{Eric Hedin
August 5, 2024
9
Rare Earth}

Apparently, simple living organisms must exist for eons on a planet before more advanced life can thrive.

Rare Earth: How Vital Minerals "Evolve"

_{David Coppedge
August 29, 2022
4
Rare Earth}

It's intriguing that life as we know it depends on a seemingly un-natural distribution of minerals.

Planetology

Hope for Mars Life Is Dashed Again

_{David Coppedge
March 4, 2025
1
Planetology}

Subsequent landers discovered a high concentration of perchlorates in the soil. Perchlorates are chlorinated salts, often used in fireworks.

How NASA Might Change Soon

_{Science and Culture
March 2, 2025
3
Planetology}

There has been much speculation in the tech media over the current government shakeup.

God and the Odds of ET

_{Jonathan Witt
January 13, 2025
9
Planetology}

There is a rational and intellectually defensible strategy for maintaining a measure of optimism about the possibility of extra-terrestrial life.

Culture

Human Exceptionalism

Smithsonian Denigrates the Human Race

_{David Klinghoffer
August 20, 2025
3
Human Exceptionalism}

I have not yet heard that the Trump Administration is looking at what the NMNH says about human origins. But reforming the Smithsonian requires it.

C. S. Lewis and the Advent of the Posthuman

_{James A. Herrick
August 21, 2020
9
Human Exceptionalism}

In Julian Savulescu’s view, rapidly advancing brain science will provide some of the data necessary to shaping a better human race.

Oral Cavity’s “Lousy” Design Is Key to Speech

_{Science and Culture
July 5, 2018
5
Human Exceptionalism}

We’re constantly told that the design of the human larynx, trachea, and oral cavity is poor because it allows for choking on food.

Arts

Toward a Post-Literate Culture?

_{Peter Biles
August 29, 2025
5
Arts}

Whatever one’s opinions regarding solutions for declining literacy rates, people can always start to brew change in their own lives and communities.

The “Music Model” of Consciousness

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 13, 2025
6
Neuroscience & Mind}

Gazzaniga and Queenan’s new model accounts for missing brain parts but it leaves out the very thing that creates the music.

Fantastic Four and a Walk-On for Darwin

_{David Klinghoffer
August 5, 2025
4
Evolution}

Great tensions fuel engaging drama, always. If there’s a conflict, it has to be stark and serious, and the stakes have to be high.

Ethics

Next: “Digital Twins” as a Matter of “Equity”?

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 2, 2025
3
Bioethics}

Medicine is no longer just about treating disease, healing injuries, and promoting physical wellness.

Conversation with Dr. Egnor: Are We Meat Machines?

_{John Zmirak
August 28, 2025
7
Neuroscience & Mind}

I found yours to be a fascinating and persuasive book on a crucial subject. You lay out the issues starkly.

Netherlands Already Allows Infanticide

_{Wesley J. Smith
August 27, 2025
2
Bioethics}

In a more righteous world, allowing infanticide would make the Netherlands a pariah nation, but we have become morally stunted in the West.

Social Sciences

Toward a Post-Literate Culture?

_{Peter Biles
August 29, 2025
5
Arts}

Whatever one’s opinions regarding solutions for declining literacy rates, people can always start to brew change in their own lives and communities.

Even Scientists Starting to Doubt "Approved Views"

_{Science and Culture
August 28, 2025
3
Environment & Climate}

A recent Orwellian firing gives some insight into what happens when an academic collides with Political Correctness.

Reassessing Dennett on Consciousness as Illusion

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 27, 2025
5
Neuroscience & Mind}

It is a waste of time to pretend that consciousness is simply an “amazing collection of almost mundane tricks in the brain.”

Faith and Science

NDEs Fail to Confirm Any Single Belief System

_{Science and Culture
August 24, 2025
5
Faith & Science}

People of different faiths tend to have experiences consistent with their culture. What does that say about the reality of the experiences?

What’s Bothering Augustine?

_{Winston Ewert
August 12, 2025
7
Faith & Science}

I began to understand that there was a rich history of the interaction between the Church and premodern science, but not one that is widely known.

An Icon of Intelligent Design

_{David Klinghoffer
August 6, 2025
2
Faith & Science}

If wokeness leads to promoting surgical sexual mutilation of children, maybe we need to rethink the whole thing.

Science Education

Homeschool High‑School Science Courses

_{Brian Westad
July 16, 2025
3
Science Education}

Give your high‑schooler a course that sparks curiosity today and prepares them for the science of tomorrow.

DI Academy “Meet the Teachers” Zoom

_{Kristin Marais
May 28, 2025
4
Science Education}

If you weren’t able to drop by our booth in Florida, why don’t you consider joining our “Meet the Teachers” Zoom event on Thursday, May 29 at 5:00 pm (PDT).

HS Biology and Chemistry with ID Integration

_{Andrew McDiarmid
May 21, 2025
4
Science Education}

The integration is key; the courses don’t just tack on ID concepts but place them directly where they fit with the underlying scientific understanding.

Scientific Freedom

The Wrong Tool to Fix Woke Science Journals

_{Wesley J. Smith
May 3, 2025
2}

The government has no business pressuring medical journals about their content — no matter how biased.

Hysteria in the Science Sector Over DOGE

_{Wesley J. Smith
March 30, 2025
4}

Whatever problems now exist for the public medical research funding sector, the disappointing Francis Collins helped create them.

Stand Up for Science or... for Naked Ideology?

_{Wesley J. Smith
March 12, 2025
4}

“Stand Up for Science 2025” protests were clearly aimed at reaffirming control by the now discredited science establishment.

Science Reporting

Science Struggles with Reality

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 27, 2025
7
Science Reporting}

There seems to be little relationship between many science writers’ current concerns and the reasons that public trust in science has been steadily declining.

Introducing a New Design, and a New Name

_{David Klinghoffer
August 18, 2025
6
Science Reporting}

Conjoining science with culture, while it is the CSC’s calling card, is not our invention.

Evolution News Evolves

_{The Design of Science and Culture Today}_{Nathan Jacobson
August 18, 2025
7
Science Reporting}

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