ID the Future Intelligent Design, Evolution, and Science Podcast
Topic

engineering

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A giant panda walking, portrait
Image Credit: Pascale Gueret/Wirestock Creators - Adobe Stock

More Than a Thumb: Integrated Design in the Giant Panda

Is the famous “panda’s thumb” evidence of unguided evolutionary processes, or is it a masterpiece of engineering and the result of intelligent design? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes his conversation with retired geneticist, Dr. Wolf-Eckehard Lönnig, an intelligent design pioneer who has been offering robust criticism of Darwinian theory and advocating for intelligent design for over 50 years. The topic is Dr. Lönnig's new paper reviewing the debate over the panda’s thumb. Giant pandas have an extra digit, an elongated wrist bone, that aids the animal in walking and manipulating bamboo with great dexterity. Some claim it's a clumsy structure produced by evolutionary processes. It wouldn't win any design awards, but it gets the job done. Others call it one of the most extraordinary manipulation systems in the mammalian world and clear evidence of purposeful engineering. So which is it? Dr. Lönnig helps us answer that question. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
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Panda bear eating bamboo and wave
Image Credit: Photobookroom - Adobe Stock

Evolved or Engineered? A Geneticist Evaluates the Panda’s Thumb

In 1980, influential paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote that “we can know that evolution has happened by the imperfections and oddities that life shows.” But is that true? And what if we take a closer look at those assumed evolutionary oddities and see instead evidence of engineered elegance? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes retired geneticist Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig to the podcast to discuss his new paper reviewing the debate over the panda’s thumb. Giant pandas have an elongated wrist bone, the radial sesamoid, that allows them to handle and eat bamboo with great dexterity. Some claim it’s an imperfectly and inefficiently formed structure that is clear evidence of evolutionary processes at work. Others Read More ›

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Robotic engineer automatic mechanic checking quality system of automation robot arms machine in factory. Service programming machinery welding robots in production at factory industry.
Image Credit: eakgrungenerd - Adobe Stock

How to Study Biology with Systems Engineering Principles

Traditional methods in biology have proven insufficient for understanding and accurately predicting complex biological systems. Why? The great majority of biologists are trained to study life from the bottom up, as the result of unguided evolutionary processes. It turns out there are better ways to observe, question, hypothesize, experiment, and analyze a complex system. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes biochemist and metabolic nutritionist Dr. Emily Reeves to the podcast to discuss her co-authored paper on how biologists can apply principles from systems engineering to biology to better approach the study of complex living systems. Dr. Reeves explains how the new methodology works and how it can produce fruitful scientific research. Read More ›
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Humpback whale breaching
Image Credit: davidhoffmann.com - Adobe Stock

The Universal Optimal Design of Vertebrate Limbs

When we look at feats of human engineering, like vehicles, skyscrapers, and computers, we don't doubt our intuition that they're intelligently designed. But when it comes to marvels of the natural world, like bird wings, whale flippers, and our own arms and legs, we're expected to suspend our design intuition and credit a gradual, undirected evolutionary process. Bio-engineer Dr. Stuart Burgess has been studying vertebrate limbs for over thirty years. On this episode of ID The Future, Burgess shares his cutting-edge insights on the universal optimal design of vertebrate limb patterns and the implications for fields like robotics. Read More ›
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sweet baby foot in mom's hands. Mother massaging her child's foot,
Image Credit: Leka - Adobe Stock

How the Origin of Our Digits Points to Process of Foresight

Let's talk about your digits. No, not your phone number - your fingers and toes, those dangling things on the ends of our hands and feet! Ever wondered how they form during embryonic development? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes back Dr. Jonathan McLatchie to discuss the incredible process of apoptosis that shapes our fingers and toes, and why the operation is better explained by intelligent design than a stepwise evolutionary process. Read More ›
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A lonely bench on an observation deck above a steep cliff with a picturesque view of the beautiful mountains
Image Credit: kosmos111 - Adobe Stock

How Evolutionary Fitness Landscapes Bolster Design Arguments

Imagine a large area with gentle rolling hills and valleys, or perhaps a rugged terrain complete with steep mountains and impassible gullies. Now imagine those scenes plotted out in a three-dimensional graph. What your picturing may look similar to the virtual fitness landscapes biologists generate to visualize the variation in population for some species. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes Dr. Brian Miller to discuss evolutionary fitness landscapes and how they bolster the conclusion of design in living things. Dr. Miller also discusses how fitness landscapes relate to the work of bio-engineer Stuart Burgess and to the arguments made by Dr. Stephen Meyer about epigenetic information at the heart of life. Read More ›
Horse Jumping, Equestrian Sports, Show Jumping themed photo.
Photo by Marcin Kilarski/Wirestock on Adobe Stock

How Animal Joints Challenge Evolutionary Pathways

Dr. Stuart Burgess has been studying the arrangement, design, and shape of vertebrate limbs and joints for years. He shares what he learns with engineers working in the field of biomechanics. On this ID The Future, Dr. Burgess discusses his new paper on multi-functioning animal joints with host Dr. Brian Miller. Read More ›
IDTF 1929 Eric Hedin and McDiarmid ID of Sleep Part 2 Post Image (Eva Gonzales Sleep Painting Public Domain)
Image Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sleeping and Waking: A Designer’s Gift

Are we to credit an unguided evolutionary process for the gift of sleeping and waking? Or are these intricate systems further evidence of design? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes his conversation with Dr. Eric Hedin on the intelligent design of sleep. In Part 2, the pair dig deeper into the purpose of sleep and why it’s so essential to living organisms. They also look at why it’s unlikely that a gradual Darwinian process can be credited for the origin of sleeping and waking, and why intelligent design is a better explanation. This is Part 2 of a two-part discussion. Read More ›
Image licensed from Adobe Stock

Eric Hedin on the Intelligent Design of Sleep

We’re asleep an average of about 26 years of our life! Most people have a sense that sleep is important, but many of us aren't sure exactly why. Why is sleep so crucial to survival? And how did the processes of sleep emerge in living things? Could a gradual Darwinian process be responsible, or are the systems involved another instance of intelligent design? On this episode, host Andrew McDiarmid begins a conversation with Dr. Eric Hedin about the origin and intelligent design of sleep. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Look for Part 2 next! Read More ›
green caterpillar on a leaf
Image licensed from Adobe Stock

Emily Reeves on Intersection of Biology and Engineering

The biochemical revolution of the last century has revealed powerful evidence of design in living things. Now, scientists are beginning to realize the benefits of studying designed systems through an engineering lens. On today's episode, Dr. Emily Reeves discusses the intersection of biology and engineering with Fred Williams and Doug McBurney, hosts of the Real Science Radio podcast. In this 45-minute chat, Dr. Reeves explains the importance of using engineering principles to understand biological systems. This interview originally aired on Real Science Radio. Read More ›