If you ever wondered how the biological world could have arisen from random events and a few simple natural laws then you might be interested in a recent paper introducing some basic, fundamental problems confronting evolutionary theory. For whereas man-made machines may have a great number of components, these machines are specifically designed to limit the number of interactions. The components only interact with a small number of other components and a matrix describing these interactions would be very sparse. Not so for many biological systems. The paper shows that the magnitude of the interactome—the sum total of all interactions in systems such as the nervous system—is on the order of Bell’s number, which scales faster than exponentially. Indeed, for n discrete components, the Read More ›

Maybe briefly. Origin of life studies, like all science thinking influenced by Darwinism, focus on a single accidental event that made all the difference. (Remember, a suite of events that made a lot of difference would add up to design.) At a recent NASA conference, hydrothermal vents were offered as the big explanation: Three new papers co-authored by Mike Russell, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., strengthen the case that Earth’s first life began at alkaline hydrothermal vents at the bottom of oceans. A paper published in the journal Biochimica et Biophysica Acta analyzes the structural similarity between the most ancient enzymes of life and minerals precipitated at these alkaline vents, an indication that the first Read More ›

President Joanne Gora of Ball State University has publicly declared that the worldview of philosophical naturalism (PN) is the only legitimate worldview that may be taught in any science classroom at BSU.  Her comments were in response to the controversy raised by the Freedom From Religion Foundation over certain aspects of an upper level elective course taught by Science Prof. Eric Hedin on the Boundaries of Science.  Including in his reading list for the class were books favorable to the theory of Intelligent Design (ID) with respect to the origin of natural systems, including biological systems. ID stands in contrast to the favored view within science that all things in nature are the result of undirected, natural cause and effect.  Read More ›

Dear President Gora, As an intelligent design advocate (Web page here) who contributes regularly to the ID Website Uncommon Descent, I would like to thank you for your recent statement to the faculty and staff of Ball State University, which clarifies your university’s official position regarding the teaching of intelligent design theory. I hope you will not object if I ask you a few questions which your own faculty staff might want to pose to you, in future meetings. Question 1 You referred to “intelligent design” in your email to Ball State University faculty and staff, without saying what you meant by the term. So I’d like to ask: exactly how do you define “intelligent design”? Specifically: does it include Read More ›