Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

Researchers: Basic tenet of evolutionary theory “upended” by new find

Looking past the tabloid prose, they say they found that selection can occur at the level of the epigenome. So what becomes of neo-Darwinism if selection isn’t tied to the all-powerful but accidental gene? Read More ›

Karsten Pultz: The Information Problem, Part Two

My main postulate is that information is strictly tied to an idea, a product, or a message. I cannot see how it is possible to have information prior to the idea, product, or message because information is an abstract representation of those things. How can an abstract representation exist prior to the phenomenon which it represents? Read More ›

Key points in plant evolution featured “fundamental genomic novelties”

Researchers: "This approach reveals an unprecedented level of fundamental genomic novelties in two nodes related to the origin of land plants: the first in the origin of streptophytes during the Ediacaran and another in the ancestor of land plants in the Ordovician." Stuck for what to call this, some of us would call it creationism. Read More ›

At Salvo: The language barrier with animals is not a “cultural construct”

If human intelligence is an accidental outcropping of the animal world, a sufficiently diligent researcher may expect to find the same intelligence in many other animals. But, so the argument runs, we are too prejudiced to see it. Read More ›

What a Simple Kirigami Star Can Reveal About Nature’s Own Form of the Ancient Craft

Emily Morales January 17, 2020 Even with just ten steps, there are countless ways to fail in making a kirigami star. Embryogenesis – natures complex expression of kirigami, and being possessed of literally thousands of steps, yields an unlimited number of possibilities for failure! While most concede that kirigami is carried out by intelligent agents, they would argue that the folding, creasing, snipping and tucking that occurs during embryogenesis is the consequence of undirected, materialistic processes – no intelligent agent required. https://salvomag.com/post/folding-creasing-snipping-amp-tucking

Yes, Jerry. Split brains are weird, but not the way you think

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor, who knows some details about the brain, responds: What is most remarkable about these patients is that after the surgery they are unaffected in everyday life, except for the diminished seizures. Read More ›

At Evolution Institute, of all places, evolutionary psychology is savaged

Philosopher of biology Subrena E. Smith: Furthermore, evolutionary psychological hypotheses turn on inferences about hypothetical structures for which there is a dearth of empirical support, and there is no evidence that the minds of our prehistoric ancestors possessed this sort of architecture. Read More ›

Writing Science Fiction Helps Students Understand Science Better

A recent study published in Issues in Teaching Earth Science suggests that having student write a science fiction story incorporating a concept helps them understand the concept better. Students in an introductory college geology course engaged in one of two exercises to learn more about the concept of cross cutting relationships, a major principle in stratigraphy. One exercise involved writing a report on the concept, the other involved writing a science fiction story based on the concept. Preliminary results suggest that students who engaged with the material within the context of science fiction writing gained a deeper understanding. While the study was focused on geological concepts, we might suggest that Darwinists have been writing science fiction for decades and publishing Read More ›

Theoretical biologist quit over growing panpsychism, it turns out

In 2012, Italian theoretical biologist Marcello Barbieri resigned as editor of the journal Biosemiotics because he felt that research in this area had become unscientific. Read More ›

Home-schooled Christian students as tomorrows science leaders? Jonathan Wells responds

Jonathan Wells: I have consistently found that these two groups [home-schooled students or students from private Christian schools] are among the brightest and most interested of attendees, and they raise most of the best questions. Read More ›