Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
Topic

copper

grass
Photo credit: Ochir-Erdene Oyunmedeg via Unsplash.

Biology Helps Us Understand the Blessing of Grasses

Don’t walk on the grass, that “often undervalued” form of life, without looking down. It’s amazing down there. Read More ›
20-Mule-Team-2019_NPS_Patrick-Taylor-14
Photo credit: NPS, Patrick Taylor.

Prior Fitness for Life: The Problem of Boron

The atomic element boron is essential for life, but how do you get it from stars to plants and animals? Read More ›
Cardamine hirsuta
Photo: Flowers of Cardamine hirsuta, by Aelwyn, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Copper Reveals Its Role in Exploding Plants — and in the Miracle of Man

The exploding pods of the popping cress send the plant’s seeds flying in all directions, as far as a meter from the parent. Read More ›
Zinc
Photo: Zinc, by Alchemist-hp (talk) (www.pse-mendelejew.de), FAL, via Wikimedia Commons.

Do Proteins Lack Metals, Reflecting Poor Design?

According to Erika DeBenedictis, “one of the big limitations of biology are the basic building blocks themselves.” Read More ›
Klondike Gold Rush
Photo: A scene from the Klondike Gold Rush, by Hegg, E.A (1867-1948) / Public domain.

Does Gold Have a Purpose? Science Hints at Answers

A gold rush makes sense. But a copper rush? Not so much. And yet, perhaps there is more to gold than aesthetics. Read More ›
copper penny
Photo: A 100 percent copper penny, by US Mint (coin), National Numismatic Collection (photograph by Jaclyn Nash) / Public domain.

In Praise of Copper, a Gift from Nature

If the conductivity of copper were ten times less, wires would have to be ten times the cross-sectional area to provide the same conductivity. Read More ›
steel
Photo credit: Alfred T. Palmer / Public domain.

For a Technological Civilization, We Must Have Metals

It is very doubtful that any beings in the universe could develop a civilization remotely comparable with our own without the use of metals. Read More ›
ironwork
Photo: Decorative ironwork, Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, by Jebulon / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

For Mankind, the Leap from Copper to Iron Was a Landmark Advance

The importance of metals, particularly iron, and the importance of the discovery of metallurgy can hardly be exaggerated. Read More ›
traffic cop

Security Gates in the Cell

A key characteristic of life is active transport: control over what enters and exits the cell. Closer looks reveal exquisite “selectivity filters” with moving parts that make active transport work. Read More ›

© Discovery Institute