Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
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efficiency

fruit-fly
Photo: A fruit fly, by Macroscopic Solutions, via Flickr (cropped).

Design, Engineering, Specified Complexity: Appreciating the Fruit Fly Brain

Groundbreaking new research has documented the complexity and design of the brains of fruit flies. Read More ›
panda
Photo credit: 江戸村のとくぞう, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Panda’s Thumb: An Extraordinary Instance of Design?

Optimizing a structure can sometimes come at the cost of certain design constraints. Read More ›
panda
Photo credit: Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Is the Panda’s Thumb Suboptimal?

The basic argument is that “[o]dd arrangements and funny solutions” point to evolution whereas “ideal design” points to a “sensible God.” Read More ›
Tetrahymena thermophila
Image: Tetrahymena thermophila, CC BY 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Compact Factory Optimizes Shape for Efficiency — A New Level of Intelligent Design in Life

A microbe was found to organize its electron transport machinery in a way that bends the membrane for optimum energy utilization. Read More ›
humpback whale
humpback whale
Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Denton’s “Puzzle of Perfection,” Then and Now

The flip side of Darwin’s proposal of natural selection as a designer substitute is that “things look designed — because they are designed.” Read More ›
ATP Synthase

Design for ATP Extends Beyond the Rotary Engine

New discoveries explore the astonishing efficiency of the cell’s rotary engine ATP synthase, and describe new roles for other motors that deliver ATP. Read More ›

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