Author: Brian Miller

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
July 21, 2021

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
abiogenesis, Brownian motion, building blocks of life, cell death, chemical evolution, Dave Farina, entropy, homochirality, information problem, James Tour, mass transfer problem, Molecular Machines, origin of life, synthetic organic chemistry, the Levinthal paradox of the interactome, yeast cell}

More on James Tour’s Abiogenesis YouTube Series

_{Brian Miller

July 21, 2021

Evolution}

On today’s ID the Future, physicist Brian Miller continues his review of James Tour’s origin-of-life YouTube series. As Miller explains, Tour, a world-renowned synthetic organic chemist and professor at Rice University, was inspired to create the series when YouTuber and evolutionist Dave Farina critiqued Tour’s critique of contemporary origin-of-life claims. In reviewing Tour’s video series, Miller and host Eric Anderson praise the Tour series and discuss the Levinthal paradox of the interactome, the ridiculously long odds of blind processes assembling the first living cell, and the challenge of cell death (think Humpty Dumpty and what all the king’s men couldn’t do). Also discussed: entropy, molecular machines, the challenges that Brownian motion and homochirality pose, the presence of intelligent design in Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
July 19, 2021

Categorized
Intelligent Design

Tagged
appearance of design, Biological Information, cells, emergence, Every Life is on Fire, Intelligent Design, Jeremy England, minimal cell, nano-technology, origin of life, RNA World hypothesis, self-organization, self-organized systems, self-reproduction, systems biology, top-down engineering}

The Origin of Life was the Origin of an Engineering Marvel

_{Brian Miller

July 19, 2021

Intelligent Design}

On today’s ID the Future, physicist Brian Miller touches on various challenges facing the origin of the first life. He and host Eric Anderson discuss Jeremy England’s origin-of-life ideas and the RNA World Hypothesis, and offer multiple reasons why they are convinced that various proposed mindless processes do not explain the origin of the first self-reproducing cell. Miller urges another approach, one that draws on engineering principles and embraces the evidence in even the simplest cell of highly intelligent engineering.

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
May 24, 2021

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
abiogenesis, Brian Miller, building blocks of life, chemical evolution, Dave Farina, Duke University, entropy, James Tour, MIT, Natural Selection, origin of life, prebiotic chemistry, Professor Dave, Rice University, Richard Dawkins, self-organization, synthetic organic chemistry, The Blind Watchmaker}

Brian Miller Distills the YouTube Debate between Dave Farina and James Tour

_{Brian Miller

May 24, 2021

Evolution}

On today’s ID the Future, host Eric Anderson and physicist Brian Miller, research director for Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, discuss a recent debate between YouTube science educator Dave Farina and Rice University synthetic organic chemist James Tour. Tour has argued that no one—not even the most elite of origin-of-life scientists–has a clue how life could have arisen through blind natural forces on the early earth. Farina created a YouTube response on his channel arguing that Tour is wrong and that origin-of-life researchers are well on their way to solving the mystery of life’s origin. Tour then responded in his own YouTube video series. Now Miller and Anderson boil it all down and argue that Tour is right Read More ›

Couple standing on the beach at sunset are having problems with each other

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
May 3, 2021

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
abiogenesis, alkaline thermal vents, Biological Information, Brian Miller, cell membrane, DNA, early Earth, entropy, Evolution, Helen Hansma, Intelligent Design, interfering cross reactions, Jack Szostak, Jeremy England, lipid bilayer, mica hypothesis, mica sheets, Michael Russell, natural templating, Nick Lane, origin of life, polymerase, prebiotic chemistry, protocell, raw energy, RNA, RNA World hypothesis}

Brian Miller Talks Star-Crossed RNA Strands and the Origin of Life

_{Brian Miller

May 3, 2021

Evolution}

On today’s ID the Future, physicist Brian Miller continues his conversation with host Eric Anderson. Here they explore more problems facing the idea that life began as strings of RNA. In their discussion of the RNA World Hypothesis and the origin of life generally, they touch on ideas advanced by Jeremy England, Jack Shostak, Nick Lane, Helen Hansma, and others. One of several big problems with the RNA-first hypothesis underscored by Miller and Anderson: For it to have even a slender chance of working, you need prebiotic Earth to generate not one but two information-rich RNA strands, and they somehow need to find each other before falling apart, and do so despite the fact that they aren’t looking for each Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
April 14, 2021

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
abiogenesis, amino acid sequences, ATP Synthase, Biological Information, enzymes, Every Life on Fire, high energy, Ilya Priogine, Jeremy England, low entropy, Michael Russell, Molecular Machines, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, origin of life, origin-of-life research, Proteins, self-organization, Thermodynamics}

Brian Miller on Life, Thermodynamics and Jeremy England

_{Brian Miller

April 14, 2021

Evolution}

In today’s ID the Future physicist Brian Miller discusses fellow physicist Jeremy England’s book Every Life Is on Fire: How Thermodynamics Explains the Origin of Living Things. Has England made a significant step toward solving the mystery of how life first began? In Miller’s conversation with host Eric Anderson, he argues that while England’s laboratory work is fascinating and innovative, what’s happening in his experiments differs dramatically from what is required of even the simplest life, so much so that the experiments do not shed the kind of light on the mystery of life’s origin that some may hope they do. Moreover, life does certain crucial things with energy that are unknown outside of the biological realm, Miller says, and Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
December 18, 2020

Categorized
Life Sciences}

Tour and Miller Tackle Cells as Computers, Alien Life and More

_{Brian Miller

December 18, 2020

Life Sciences}

Today’s ID the Future is Part 3 of a conversation between Rice University chemist/inventor James Tour and Brian Miller, research coordinator for Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. In this concluding portion of their conversation, Miller fields questions Tour pulls from his mailbag. They cover everything from how simple can a cell get and still survive and reproduce to questions of design detection, bouncing cosmologies, the possibility of alien life, and the similarities between computers and cells in how they process information. The interview is borrowed, with permission, from Tour’s Science and Faith podcast, available here.

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
December 16, 2020

Categorized
Intelligent Design}

Tour and Miller on a Design Perspective in Origin of Life

_{Brian Miller

December 16, 2020

Intelligent Design}

Today’s ID the Future is Part 2 of an extended interview between synthetic organic chemist James Tour and physicist/engineer Brian Miller. Here the conversation turns to the challenge and necessity of quickly evolving error-correction mechanisms in origin-of-life scenarios and the way origin-of-life researchers slip information and design into their origin-of-life work in the lab. Miller also makes a case for the research benefits of studying cells from a design perspective.

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
December 14, 2020

Categorized
Faith and Science

Tagged
amino acid chains, amino acids, ATP, ATP synthesis, Biological Information, cells, cellular information, chemical evolution, chemical reactions, disorder, DNA, Elbert Branscomb, energy, engines, entropy, enzymes, equilibrium, feedback loops, fidelity, free energy, high energy, improbable states, information, Jeremy England, low entropy, Michael Russell, molecular engines, Molecular Machines, Natural Selection, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, order, origin of life, physical impossibilities, polymers, pre-biology, Proteins, Stanley Miller, Yasir Demirel}

James Tour and Brian Miller Talk Engines We Can’t Live Without

_{Brian Miller

December 14, 2020

Faith and Science}

Today’s ID the Future features Part 1 of an extended interview that first appeared on a podcast show hosted by distinguished Rice University synthetic organic chemist James M. Tour. As he typically does, since it’s the Science & Faith podcast, Dr. Tour begins his show by asking his guest for a statement of faith. Miller, a Christian, gives his, and then they dive into origin-of-life science. In a surprisingly accessible discussion given the depth of the material, the pair cover a range of issues—thermodynamics and the origin of the first cell, entropy, free energy, order and disorder, molecular engines, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and the need for engines and information to overcome the vicissitudes of entropy. Also in the mix—feedback loops, Jeremy Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
September 4, 2020

Categorized
Science

Tagged
__edited, irreducible complexity}

Omega-3 Nutrition Pioneer Tells How He Saw Irreducible Complexity in Cells 40 Years Ago

_{Brian Miller

September 4, 2020

Science}

On this episode of ID the Future from the vault, Jørn Dyerberg, the Danish biologist and co-discoverer of the role of omega-3 fatty acids in human health and nutrition, talks with Brian Miller about finding irreducible complexity in cells 40 years ago.

Dr. Brian Miller On Complex Systems and ‘Intellectual Captivity’

_{Brian Miller

August 21, 2019}

On this episode of ID the Future, physicist Dr. Brian Miller explains several challenges to the origin of life, from thermodynamic challenges to the need for complex systems to create complex systems: information processing, energy production, manufacturing, auto-assembly, control systems, and feedback loops are all required from the start.