Michael Egnor: Determinism at the quantum level is not true. Nature is not deterministic.
The real reason why zebras have stripes: To shoo away flies
Now, another question arises: Why don’t more life forms show colorful patterns to deter flies? Are there costs and drawbacks as well?
Is academia to blame for pop science hype?
There are indeed remarkable breakthroughs happening out there but, as the study showed, the relationship between hope and hype is often not as advertised.
Remembering quasicrystals as formerly an object of ridicule
It’s conventional to recall a famous person putting down an idea that turns out later to be correct. In reality, the majority of putdowns come from people who would never have an original idea themselves, who are frightened by the concept in principle.
ID predictions on orphan genes and symbiosis
“We suspect that if one’s model system or species of study does something unique and interesting, TRGs [taxonomically restricted genes, aka orphans] will be at least partially responsible, and worth seeking out.” Curiously, the PNAS paper seems to show that.
Dark matter vs. dark energy in a world where neither have been discovered
Hossenfelder’s clarifications will at least help us understand what we are all confused about.
Co-evolution: How does the need to sync development affect a system’s complexity?
We are told that little is known about co-evolution and symbiosis, which prompts a question: How does the requirement for synchronization affect the overall complexity of the system?
Researchers identify a new form of brain communication
If we were in the middle of an information revolution, how would you know?
Researchers: Cambrian explosion ended surprisingly quickly
The explosion lasted only about 20 million years, their research shows, and the subsequent 520 million years featured more even rates of change: At (or shortly before) the start of the Cambrian Period (541 million years ago), modern animals evolved. They rapidly diversified into all the major groups (phyla) of animals we see today, such […]
Researchers: Biodiversity today is not higher than in the past
That wasn’t what we expected to hear, of course. But it makes sense that there would usually be as many animals of interdependent types as could physically support themselves in the environment.
Evolution crime: Grasses are “stealing” genes from neighbors, researchers tell us
Horizontal gene transfer isn’t even that uncommon, as the researchers admit. If this is how people who are used to explaining evolution in Darwinian terms react, maybe they should just stick to propounding Darwinism and leave the rest to people who take a broader and more balanced view.
A review of Behe’s Darwin Devolves that looks at what Behe actually says
In a review, one reviewer has decided to talk about what Michael Behe actually says in Darwin Devolves. For example, In a section called “The Blind Metaphor,” Behe notes: “The primary way by which natural selection makes evolution self-limiting is by promoting poison-pill mutations. Whatever genetic alterations that help an organism survive and reproduce better […]
How Do You Know an Artificial Intelligence Advocate is Shining You On?
When they say they “know” that an AI machine is conscious. How can I be so sure? Easy. As I have discussed before, we cannot in principle “know” that even other humans are conscious; far less can we know that an AI is conscious. By its very nature, consciousness, as evidenced by subjective self-awareness, can […]
Reference: Fertilisation and Implantation
Thanks to Wikipedia, a summary illustration: For reference. END
For Progressives, the Only “Principle” That Matters is This: We Advance Principles When They Suit Our Interests, and we Abandon Them When They Don’t
Two recent posts have highlighted the moral and intellectual rot that threatens Western Civilization. In the first, materialist Seversky expressed a moral nihilism that is breathtaking in its scope. I asked him if the ancient practice of killing unwanted girl babies was an affirmatively good thing. His answer: “It was an affirmatively good thing for […]