Science and Culture Today | Discovering Design in Nature

Today

What’s in a Name? Darwin’s Confusing Terminology

_{Neil Thomas
November 17, 2025
10
Scientific Reasoning}

In the English language prior to Darwin, “natural selection” was a term used by those who reared animals to denote nature’s serendipity.

What Is the Source of Design in Organisms?

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
November 17, 2025
8
Engineering}

The genesis of structure-function relationships in human artifacts is as well understood as are their mechanics.

Life’s Informational Discontinuities

_{Andrew McDiarmid
November 16, 2025
3
Intelligent Design}

In our experience, this type of specified information always comes from a mind, whether it’s hieroglyphics or the origin of a car.

Science Journals Go Anti-Science

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 18, 2025
5
Scientific Freedom}

If more scientists follow Anna Krylov’s lead, perhaps these journals can regain the high regard in which they were once held. I certainly hope so.

Enlisting the Peppered Moth to Attack Religion

_{Casey Luskin
November 17, 2025
12
Evolution}

If this is an “excellent” example of “Darwinian evolution in action,” it shows that Darwinian evolution doesn’t do very much.

Francesco Redi and the Founding of Modern Biology

_{Giuseppe Sermonti
November 17, 2025
4
Biology}

Why was it so important that the flea should have come out of an egg and not simply from filth?

Don’t Let Elites Settle Question of Design

_{Andrew McDiarmid
November 14, 2025
3
Scientific Reasoning}

When it comes to science, many people don’t take the time to learn the evidence and arguments directly.

ID the Future

with Andrew McDiarmid

Did God Use Evolution to Produce Life? Why Theistic Evolution Fails

_{2136
Casey Luskin
November 17, 2025}

Some people attempt to reconcile belief in God with the standard evolutionary account of life’s origins by combining the two. Theistic evolution is the view that God used evolutionary mechanisms to create life. But does this view stand up to scrutiny? Today, Dr. Casey Luskin critiques this perspective in the first half of a conversation that originally aired on the Truthful Hope podcast. The conversation kicks off with some clarity over terms, including what is meant by “evolution.” The theistic evolution perspective, also sometimes called evolutionary creation, accepts the standard scientific evolutionary account—the same view held by atheists—and simply adds the theological claim, “but this is how God did it”. Critically, these proponents reject the idea that design can be empirically or scientifically detected in nature. As Luskin highlights, the central scientific problem with theistic evolution is that it inherits all the numerous scientific problems associated with the standard evolutionary account. This first half of the conversation rounds out with examples of those problems, specifically from the issue of the origin of life. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation.

Bayesian Probability and Intelligent Design: A Beginner’s Guide

_{2135
Jonathan McLatchie
November 14, 2025}

If the phrase “Bayesian calculus” makes you run for the hills, you’re not alone! Bayesian logic can sound intimidating at first, but if you give it a little time, you’ll understand how useful it can be to evaluate the evidence for design in the natural world. On this ID The Future, Dr. Jonathan McLatchie gives us a beginner’s guide to Bayesian thinking and teaches us how it can be used to build a strong cumulative case for intelligent design, as well as how we can use it in our everyday lives. Enjoying the podcast? Leave a written review at Apple Podcasts to help new listeners find the show!

Life’s Informational Discontinuities: Where Unintelligent Processes Fail

_{2134
Michael Kent
November 12, 2025}

Here’s an experienced scientist who thinks YOU should have the power to settle the question of design in nature, not the scientific experts. Why? Because the majority of scientific authorities are committed scientific materialists, a view that hinders unbiased scientific inquiry by forbidding explanations outside the material realm. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes his conversation with recently retired bio-scientist Dr. Michael Kent. In Part 2, Dr. Kent continues to unpack the scientific discoveries of the last century that have changed the debate over design in nature and made materialism an increasingly irrational view of the history of life and the universe. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation.

Latest Videos

Living in a 3-D World

_{The Center for Science and Culture
November 3, 2025
Intelligent Design
Secrets of the Human Body}

Human beings possess uncanny abilities to perceive and navigate within a three dimensional world. In this episode of Secrets of the Human Body , join medical doctor Howard Glicksman and systems engineer Steve Laufmann as they investigate the hidden systems that make our astounding spatial awareness possible.

…

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.

…

The Common Woodpecker: Chance or Design?

_{Raymond Bohlin
August 25, 2025
Intelligent Design
2025 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith}

Biologist Ray Bohlin explores the incredible intelligent design of the common woodpecker. Dr. Bohlin is a Fellow of the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute. This talk was presented at the 2025 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith. …

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.

…

Intelligent Design

Life in 3-D: Not a Big Deal? It’s a VERY Big Deal

_{David Klinghoffer
November 6, 2025
2
Intelligent Design}

Living in three dimensions is crucial not only for athletes, who excel at exploiting the body’s abilities, but for any one of us walking down the street.

Engineering on Steroids

_{Andrew McDiarmid
November 4, 2025
3
Intelligent Design}

Every day your body must solve hundreds of hard engineering problems simultaneously, or else you’ll die.

Emergence and Irreducible Complexity

_{Stephen J. Iacoboni
October 29, 2025
7
Intelligent Design}

We are all familiar with the duality — structure and function — from both technology and biology.

Information, Intelligence, and Decision

_{William A. Dembski
October 29, 2025
8
Intelligent Design}

Darwin’s great coup was to co-opt the term “selection,” previously associated with the conscious choice of purposive agents.

Historical Sciences

Origin of Life

Basic Challenge to Origin-of-Life Theories

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 7, 2025
2
Origin of Life}

“All natural processes tend to create greater disorder (entropy)…The origin of life requires chemicals to go into a state of both high order and high energy.”

Interview with Edward Peltzer on Origin of Life

_{William A. Dembski
August 20, 2025
70
Origin of Life}

A student of Stanley Miller and Jeffrey Bada explains the failure of materialistic origin-of-life scenarios.

From Dead Ends to Design

_{Andrew McDiarmid
August 7, 2025
3
Intelligent Design}

“Molecules,” chemist James Tour notes, “have “no propensity… to move toward life.”

Evolution

Enlisting the Peppered Moth to Attack Religion

_{Casey Luskin
November 17, 2025
12
Evolution}

If this is an “excellent” example of “Darwinian evolution in action,” it shows that Darwinian evolution doesn’t do very much.

Getting Out Truth Around Mainstream News

_{Kelley J. Unger
November 13, 2025
4
Evolution}

This was a major accomplishment, considering how intelligent design proponents or anyone who critiques evolution is treated in mainstream media.

In Evolution, Explaining vs. Explaining Away

_{David Klinghoffer
November 13, 2025
6
Evolution}

Says Casey Luskin, “If you’re an evolutionist, you have a serious problem. Where do South American monkeys come from?”

Paleontology

Ancient Eyes, Modern Design

_{Emily Reeves
October 23, 2025
3
Paleontology}

Does this discovery suggest that the principles of compound vision emerged nearly half a billion years ago as the authors concluded?

Luskin Answers Objections to Intelligent Design

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 3, 2025
3
Paleontology}

Dr. Luskin highlights a “large unbridged gap” in the fossil record between ape-like species like Lucy and human-like species.

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.

Cosmology

Murray and Others Rediscovering God: No Accident

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 19, 2025
5
Faith & Science}

Not what you heard? Well, if you heard something else from traditional media, maybe those media aren’t so reliable any more.

Further Objections to “God in 3 Minutes”

_{Bruce Gordon, Casey Luskin and Brian Miller
October 17, 2025
16
Physics}

A transcendent, supernatural first cause is necessary to explain why our universe and all of its matter and energy exist.

Innovative Book Complements God Hypothesis

_{Brian Miller
October 13, 2025
4
Cosmology}

Kurt Gödel is not as widely known in popular culture as Einstein, but mathematicians consider his work just as revolutionary and foundational.

Human Origins

The Neanderthal Story Keeps Evolving

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 14, 2025
5
Human Origins and Anthropology}

The University of Seville announces that Neanderthal footprints found along Portugal’s Algarve coast have led to unexpected insights about Neanderthal culture.

Perhaps Neanderthals Never Truly Went Extinct

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 14, 2025
5
Human Origins and Anthropology}

A critical part of the original tale of the Neanderthals is that, because they were stupid, we smarter, more evolved modern humans finished them off.

“First Multi-Purpose ‘Swiss Army Knives’ Made by Hominins”

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 7, 2025
5
Human Origins and Anthropology}

The tools date from about 2.75 through 2.44 million years ago (Pliocene). They underwent little change over the years, despite the changing environment.

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

Science Before the Rise of Modern Science

_{William A. Dembski
October 27, 2025
25
History of Science}

An interview with Winston Ewert about his fascinating new book on the interaction between science and faith before Copernicus.

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.

Geology

The Wonders of a Hard Mineral

_{David Coppedge
September 5, 2025
11
Geology}

Explore the features of a remarkable mineral erupted from volcanoes that is found in our teeth. How did it get there?

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.

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

Near-Death: Explaining vs. Explaining Away

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 12, 2025
6
Neuroscience & Mind}

The first rule of a scientific approach should be to take seriously what is happening before rushing in with a “science can explain this” hypothesis.

Murray and Pinker Debate Terminal Lucidity

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 5, 2025
7
Neuroscience & Mind}

Pinker himself is fresh from getting a book tour Canceled by a humanist group. He’s apparently not one of the atheist heroes any more.

Researchers Find Memory Outside the Brain

_{Science and Culture
October 30, 2025
3
Neuroscience & Mind}

It it is very difficult to look at the natural world seriously and not see a mind in there somewhere.

Medicine

“Harm Reduction” Harms the Homeless

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 12, 2025
5
Medicine}

San Francisco was allowing harm reducers to give away “starter kits” to people so they could begin injecting drugs!

For a Long Time, Dementia Was the New Leprosy

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 24, 2025
5
Medicine}

I use the term “delay” rather than “prevention” for a reason: It may be that the human brain will inevitably start to break down after a century or so.

Consciousness and ID: Hear Dr. Simmons Tonight

_{Science and Culture
October 1, 2025
1
Medicine}

He tells us, “My patients have contacted me from all over the world having heard me on this show on previous occasions.”

Biology

Francesco Redi and the Founding of Modern Biology

_{Giuseppe Sermonti
November 17, 2025
4
Biology}

Why was it so important that the flea should have come out of an egg and not simply from filth?

War Between Evolutionary Biologists May Be Looming

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 11, 2025
5
Biology}

Nathan Lents says it doesn’t make a lot of sense” to think of sex in humans as binary. Colin Wright says, “Stop misleading the public.”

Centrioles as Part of a Large Signaling Network

_{David Coppedge
October 24, 2025
10
Biology}

What molecular structure forms cartwheels, is architecturally beautiful, and is vital for cell division?

Physical Sciences

Physics

Building the Foundations: The Strong Nuclear Force

_{Eric Hedin
November 10, 2025
7
Physics}

If the strong force suddenly turned off, the nuclei in an object as small as a gold ring would explode with energy equivalent to a small atomic bomb.

The Forces that Shape our Universe: Gravity

_{Eric Hedin
October 31, 2025
9
Physics}

One of the most remarkable aspects of our universe is the discovery that just four fundamental forces of nature govern interactions among all particles.

Maturing Toward God: Update from Charles Murray

_{David Klinghoffer
October 20, 2025
3
Physics}

Why there is something rather than nothing is the question posed in our video, “Proof of God in 3 Minutes,” about the law of conservation of matter and energy.

Chemistry

When Science Degenerates into a Spoils System

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 2, 2025
5
Scientific Freedom}

Chemistry professor Anna Krylov forces us to look at that in discouraging detail.

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.

Astronomy

Astrobiology as a Secular Quest for Meaning

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 13, 2025
6
Astronomy}

I don’t think this stuff does any harm — as long as it is understood as drama and not given undue importance in science or philosophy.

Rights for Planets, Moons, and Space Microbes?

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 29, 2025
3
Planetology}

The ultimate purpose in granting such rights would be to disincentivize investments in space exploration and keep us Gaia-bound.

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.

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 Levengood
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

Great Science Cancellation Continues

_{David Klinghoffer
September 18, 2025
3
Scientific Freedom}

In the domination of science by ideology, by the myth of “settled science,” the stakes couldn’t be more profound.

COSM Will Feature Nobel Laureate John F. Clauser

_{Science and Culture
September 12, 2025
5
Physics}

Discovery Institute’s upcoming COSM 2025 tech conference will feature something a little different.

Put Mother Nature on the Board of Directors?

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 9, 2025
6
Ethics}

Nature can’t “own” anything. That’s a human construct. Moreover, nature would be represented by environmental “flesh flake” radicals.

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

The Search for ETs: Keeping Hope Alive

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 15, 2025
5
Planetology}

The question looms: How much can science avoid facts while retaining the character of science?

Rights for Planets, Moons, and Space Microbes?

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 29, 2025
3
Planetology}

The ultimate purpose in granting such rights would be to disincentivize investments in space exploration and keep us Gaia-bound.

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.

Culture

Human Exceptionalism

Nature Right Pushes Neo-Pagan Mysticism

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 25, 2025
3
Human Exceptionalism}

Most recently, the Harvard Kennedy School hosted a symposium on “nature rights” undergirded by “indigenous knowledge.”

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.

Arts

False Messiah: An Addendum on Darwin and Theism

_{Neil Thomas
October 22, 2025
12
Evolution}

The standpoint of poet John Keats is certainly gaining resonance in our doubt-ridden 21st century. I for one welcome its openness to questioning and wonder.

J. K. Rowling Comes Out Against Assisted Suicide

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 26, 2025
2
Bioethics}

Two of the core tenets of liberalism are (supposed to be) protecting vulnerable people from exploitation and promoting equality among all people.

Darwin, Faust, and the Alchemist: Unexpected Roots

_{Neil Thomas
September 25, 2025
19
Evolution}

Today we would of course brand both Faust and the Alchemist fantasists or “mad scientists” of the first order. Was Darwin prone to such wishful thinking?

Ethics

“Harm Reduction” Harms the Homeless

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 12, 2025
5
Medicine}

San Francisco was allowing harm reducers to give away “starter kits” to people so they could begin injecting drugs!

China Jumps on the Transhumanism Train

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 12, 2025
4
Bioethics}

It is said to be is devoting much energy and many resources to the life-extension project.

We Are Becoming a Suicide Nation

_{Wesley J. Smith
November 4, 2025
2
Bioethics}

We are well on the way now to becoming more like Canada, where we have seen how the euthanasia virus leads to terrible abuses.

Social Sciences

In Study of Human Psychology, the Power of “Maybe”

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 22, 2025
5
Psychology}

This is not science and is not a good look for a psychology that purports to have some relationship with science.

Can Evolution Explain Altruism or Heroism?

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 20, 2025
2
Evolutionary Psychology}

Casey Luskin and I share separate recent examples of people who have run towards burning cars to save complete strangers.

If You Want Creative Storytelling, Look No Further

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 19, 2025
2
Uncategorized}

If evolutionary psychology attempts to explain every behavior, including each behavior’s opposite, can it really explain anything?

Faith and Science

What Can Science Tell About the Existence of God?

_{Andrew McDiarmid
October 28, 2025
3
Faith & Science}

The worldview of materialism is increasingly at odds with the latest scientific discoveries of the last hundred years.

Discoveries That Make Materialism Irrational

_{Andrew McDiarmid
October 24, 2025
2
Faith & Science}

For the last 150 years, many have assumed science has ejected God from the picture, a quaint relic of a less enlightened past.

Murray and Others Rediscovering God: No Accident

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 19, 2025
5
Faith & Science}

Not what you heard? Well, if you heard something else from traditional media, maybe those media aren’t so reliable any more.

Science Education

ID Education Day Is Coming to Tacoma, November 6!

_{Kate Kavanaugh
October 1, 2025
2
Science Education}

This is a fantastic field trip opportunity for middle and high school students in homeschool and private school settings to interact directly with scientists.

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).

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

On the Origin of Our New Name

_{Andrew McDiarmid
September 27, 2025
3
Science Reporting}

First, the conversation delves into the site’s launch in December 2004, when the modern intelligent design movement and the Internet were both relatively new.

On Genetic (Dis)Similarity, Give Credit Where Due

_{David Klinghoffer
September 10, 2025
4
Science Reporting}

Would anyone know that the 1 percent icon has finally fallen, if we hadn’t broken the story? It seems not.

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.