Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
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fruit flies

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Photo: Bogong moth, by Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Animal Algorithms: Moth Celestial Navigation

The origin, genetic inheritance, and how such algorithms are programmed in the brain remains a mystery. Read More ›
IndianBullfrogHoplobatrachustigerinusbyDrRajuKasambe
Photo credit: Dr. Raju Kasambe, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Homeostasis Is More than Treading Water

From bacterium to brontosaur, stability in a dynamic environment requires an astonishing array of systems for sensing, signaling, and responding to change. Read More ›
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 ›
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Photo credit: David Clode on Unsplash.

Optimization: A Theoretical Principle That Is Predictive for Biology

Are biological mechanisms optimized, or do they function poorly, evidence of their “poor design”? Read More ›
Drosophila melanogaster
Photo: Drosophila melanogaster, by Sanjay Acharya, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fly Flight Is More Sophisticated than Imagined

Biological structures usually appear more complicated up close, and the fly wing is no exception.  Read More ›
pipistrelle
Photo credit: Dave, via Flickr (cropped).

Being a Bat: Some Scientists Push Animal Consciousness

A group of scientists and philosophers have published a declaration that there is evidence that a wide range of animals exhibit signs of consciousness. Read More ›
fruit-fly
Photo: A fruit fly, by Macroscopic Solutions, via Flickr (cropped).

Sophisticated Precision in Fruit Fly Sensory Systems

Pause before you swat. The sensory systems of fruit flies that let them discern their surroundings look as if they had been engineered. Read More ›
Drosophila melanogaster
Photo: Drosophila melanogaster, by Sanjay Acharya, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fruit Fly Eyes and More Surprises for Darwin

Don’t swat too quickly! There’s more awe in that little fly than might be apparent from  a cursory glance. Read More ›
earth
Photo credit: NOAA.

The Phosphorus Cycle: Cause or Effect?

Phosphorus, oxygen, and microbes cooperate in a delicate balance that sustains our productive biosphere. How did they come to interact? Read More ›
hand in mirror 2
Photo credit: Shoeib Abolhassani via Unsplash.

Same-Handed Molecules Are an “Overarching Design Principle” in Life, Say Researchers

Without foresight to solve heterochiral incidents, a primordial cell would quickly perish even if, against all odds, it began homochiral.  Read More ›

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