Tag: Natural Selection

^{Type
post

Author
Cornelius Hunter

Date
February 8, 2021

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
abiogenesis, Alexander Oparin, Biological Information, Brian Green, Charles Carter, Charles Darwin, chemical evolution, chemical soup, Cornelius Hunter, Epicureans, Eric Anderson, Evolution, first life, J.B.S. Haldane, Joseph Hooker, Natural Selection, Occam’s Razor, origin of life, origin-of-life research, prebiotic conditions, principle of parsimony, RNA world, RNA World hypothesis, RNA-DNA World, Robert Hook, self-replicating molecule, self-replication, simplest organism, synthetic organic chemistry, Urey-Miller experiment, warm little pond}

RNA World in a World of Hurt

_{Cornelius Hunter

February 8, 2021

Evolution}

On this ID the Future, biophysicist Cornelius Hunter and host Eric Anderson discuss the RNA World hypothesis, an explanation for how the first self-reproducing organism might have arisen via mindless chemical processes. Hunter and Anderson have each written on the topic, and together they unpack some of the many and growing problems with this RNA-first explanation for the origin of life. They also spotlight some recent admissions in mainstream scientific publications that it’s time to move on from the cherished but embattled RNA World. The conversation pivots off of a recent essay by Hunter at Evolution News, “RNA World: Repeated Downfalls, Repeated Resurrections.” For more on the challenges of creating the first self-reproducing biological entity, see Eric Anderson’s Chapter 3 Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Behe

Date
February 1, 2021

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
A Mousetrap for Darwin, ATPase, Chloroquine, chloroquine resistance, complex traits, Darwinian processes, Darwinism, Dollo’s Law, eukaryotes, Evolution, Evolutionary Biology, foresight, fungi, gene duplication, genetic mutations, Intelligent Design, irreducible complexity, Joseph Thornton, Larry Moran, Laurence A. Moran, Louis Dollo, malaria, malaria parasite, maliarology, Natural Selection, neutral evolution, Nicholas White, random mutations, steroid hormones, steroid receptor hormone, The Edge of Evolution, time-symmetric Dollo’s law, University of Toronto, V-ATPase, Vacuolar-type ATPase}

A Mousetrap for Blind Evolution, and Larry Moran

_{Michael Behe

February 1, 2021

Evolution}

Today’s ID the Future concludes our series on A Mousetrap for Darwin, Lehigh University biochemist Michael Behe’s new book on evolution and intelligent design. Here Behe and host Eric Anderson tackle an objection to Behe’s work from evolutionary biologist Larry Moran. Moran says that while the Darwinian process may find it difficult to find any particular solution requiring evolutionary innovation, there are countless possible solutions to a given problem, not just the one solution that evolution did hit upon and that is under investigation. According to Moran, Behe failed to take this into account, a factor that greatly enhances the chances of blind evolution to engineer novel solutions to ecological challenges. Behe counters that Moran’s objection misses the force of Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Behe

Date
January 18, 2021

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
beneficial mutations, citrate, degradatory mutations, devolution, E. coli, Evolution, fitness, genetic mutations, Intelligent Design, Long Term Evolution Experiment, LTEE, Michael Behe, Michigan State University, Molecular Machines, mutations, Natural Selection, population genetics, regulatory genes, Richard Lenski}

A Mousetrap for Darwin, and Another for Richard Lenski

_{Michael Behe

January 18, 2021

Evolution}

Today’s ID the Future extends the discussion of A Mousetrap for Darwin: Michael Behe Answers His Critics, the newest book from Discovery Institute Press. Here the focus is on Parts 4 and 7 of the new book, and in particular Richard Lenski’s Long Term Evolution Experiment at Michigan State. What has this long-running project demonstrated? As Behe explains in the book (and elaborates on in today’s podcast), “The study has addressed some narrow points of peculiar interest to evolutionary population geneticists, but for proponents of intelligent design the bottom line is that the great majority of even beneficial mutations have turned out to be due to the breaking, degrading, or minor tweaking of pre-existing genes or regulatory regions. There have Read More ›

^{Type
post

Date
January 13, 2021

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
altruism, ants, Darwinism, Determinism, Evolution, evolution of altruism, gene for love, genetic determinism, genetic propensities, genetic reductionism, green beards, group selection, Hamilton’s rule, heroism, honey bees, human dignity, human exceptionalism, human uniqueness, Inheritance, kin selection, love, Morality, Natural Selection, Neo-Darwinism, non-kin altruism, rationality, red queens, reductionism, reductionist philosophy, reductionists, scientific materialists, self-defeating arguments, self-sacrifice, self-sacrificial love, Titanic, W.D. Hamilton, watchman crows}

How to Destroy Love with Darwinism

_{January 13, 2021

Evolution}

On today’s ID the Future, host Andrew McDiarmid presents an Evolution News essay, “How to Destroy Love with Darwinism.” Altruism as defined by evolutionists means “behavior by an animal that may be to its disadvantage but that benefits others of its kind.” It’s not an easy fit with Darwinism, since Darwinian evolution is all about passing your favored genes onto your offspring. How can a creature do that if she gives her life for another, particularly when it’s not even her own children, and before she has produced any offspring? Such individuals fail to pass on their own genes — a seeming conundrum for Darwinism. Evolutionists have made some progress (they think) explaining such things with theories of group selection Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Behe

Date
December 23, 2020

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
amino acids, antibiotic resistance, blood clotting, blood clotting cascade, cells, chloroquine resistance, Darwin’s Black Box, Darwinism, DNA, Eugene Koonin, Evolution, evolutionary pathway, genetic mutations, Intelligent Design, irreducible complexity, Jerry Coyne, look-ahead mutation, malaria, molecular biology, Mt. Improbable, Natural Selection, Neo-Darwinism, protein-protein binding, Proteins, random mutation, Richard Dawkins, scientific paradigms, Sean B. Carroll, The Edge of Evolution}

Michael Behe’s Mousetrap on the Edge

_{Michael Behe

December 23, 2020

Evolution}

On this ID the Future Lehigh University biologist Michael Behe dives deeper into A Mousetrap for Darwin. Behe and host Eric Anderson pivot to the new book’s section defending Behe’s earlier work, The Edge of Evolution. In that earlier book, Behe reviewed hard data from evolution studies of malaria parasites, HIV, and E. coli, showed that blind evolutionary processes face severe limits as to what they can build, and argued that intelligent design was required for the origin of life’s great diversity. In this new conversation Behe touches on some of the attempts to refute that argument and suggests why those refutations fail. For a more in-depth look at his defense of The Edge of Evolution, get your copy of Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Behe

Date
December 21, 2020

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
A Mousetrap for Darwin, blood clotting, blood clotting cascade, Darwinism, fibrinogen, gene duplication, genetic mutations, irreducibly complex systems, Keith Robison, Kenneth Miller, Natural Selection, neutral evolution, plasminogen, Russell Doolittle, TAGS: irreducible complexity, waiting time problem}

Behe: Blood Clotting Remains a Mousetrap for Darwin

_{Michael Behe

December 21, 2020

Evolution}

On this ID the Future, Michael Behe continues discussing his new book, A Mousetrap for Darwin, with host Eric Anderson. Here the focus is the blood clotting cascade. Behe has argued it’s irreducibly complex, like a mousetrap, and that blind evolution couldn’t build it one small functional step at a time. Behe says a better explanation is that it was intelligently designed. His critics have responded to his argument over the years. Here Behe returns the favor. His most prominent interlocutor on the matter is the recently deceased Russell Doolittle. Behe shows that Doolittle misread the paper he relied on to refute Behe. Professor Behe also responds to Kenneth Miller and Keith Robison. According to Behe, his critics have managed Read More ›

^{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
Howard Glicksman

Date
November 23, 2020

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
arteries, artery, carpal tunnel syndrome, circulatory system, Darwin Devolves, embryology, embryonic development, Evolution, evolution and medicine, gene regulation, human evolution, media hype, median artery, Michael Behe, Microevolution, Natural Selection, radial median artery, science journalism, selection pressure}

Deflating Median Artery Evolution Hype, Pt. 2

_{Howard Glicksman

November 23, 2020

Evolution}

On this ID the Future Eric Anderson and physician Howard Glicksman further discuss a recent Journal of Anatomy article suggesting possible evolutionary changes in humans: a persistent, prominent median artery in some people’s arms. Journalists have hyped this as evolution in action, but Anderson and Glicksman say there’s little reason to treat this as an evolutionary change, even if it’s real. And they say it’s far from clear how natural selection could select for this as an “adaptation” when its most obvious effect is to contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome and other health problems.

3d rendering of pink jellyfish floating in the dark blue ocean background with sunlight.

^{Type
post

Date
November 9, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience and Mind

Tagged
agnosticism, Aristotle, Atheism, consciousness, emergent property, epiphenomena, Evolution, final causes, genetic mutations, God, idealism, instinct, Intelligent Design, Jerry Fodor, Materialism, meta-cognitive, Natural Selection, organizing principles, panpsychism, philosophical materialism, pre-meditation, random mutations, randomness, self-reflection, teleology, What Darwin Got Wrong}

The Evolution (or not) of Consciousness

_{November 9, 2020

Neuroscience and Mind}

On this ID the Future neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviews Bernardo Kastrup, a philosopher with a background in computer engineering, about consciousness, evolution, and intelligent design. Did consciousness evolve? What does the evidence suggest? And how do materialists deal with the seemingly immaterial reality that is consciousness? This is a guest episode borrowed with permission from Mind Matters, a podcast of Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence.

An old man shakes hands with an opponent in a game of chess, he lost and acknowledges it.

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Flannery

Date
October 21, 2020

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
Alfred Russel Wallace, Charles Darwin, Darwinism, Evolution, fine-tuning, human exceptionalism, methodological materialism, methodological naturalism, Natural Selection, Natural Theology, Privileged Planet, science and religion, teleology, Theism, Theory of Evolution, Tom Wolfe, World of Life}

Alfred Russel Wallace and His Friendly Battle with Darwin

_{Michael Flannery

October 21, 2020

Evolution}

On this ID the Future, science historian Michael Flannery continues discussing his newly updated Intelligent Evolution: How Alfred Russel Wallace’s World of Life Challenged Darwin. Wallace was co-founder with Charles Darwin of the theory of evolution by random variation and natural selection, but unlike Darwin he saw teleology or purpose as essential to life’s history, and a teleological view as essential to the life sciences. According to Flannery, Wallace’s views on the nature of the cell, the special attributes of humans, the irreducible nature of life, and the fine tuning of the universe hold up well today. He and Darwin disagreed on much of this, yet they maintained mutual respect. In this, Flannery says, the two are a great model Read More ›