The joint meeting of the Royal Society and the British Academy of Science, New trends in evolutionary biology: biological, philosophical and social science perspectives was a rematch of sorts. The two sides had already exchanged views in a 2014 Nature Comment, “Does evolutionary theory need a rethink? Researchers are divided over what processes should be…

I got this question from an inquisitive reader: I’m wrestling with some essential Jerry Coyne here. I figure this is pretty fundamental and therefore worth my taking the time to understand better. Coyne says: What we mean by “random” is that mutations occur regardless of whether they would be good for the organism. That is,…

FRANCIS COLLINS, U.S. DIRECTOR OF THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT: “Will we turn our backs on science because it is perceived as a threat to God, abandoning all the promise of advancing our understanding of nature and applying that to the alleviation of suffering and the betterment of humankind? “Alternatively, will we turn our backs on…

“At the time of this writing, the biologist Craig Venter is engaging in the creation of artificial life. He conducted experiments and stated them in a famous paper titled “Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome.” “I have an immense respect for Craig Venter, whom I consider one of the smartest…

“A forest is much more than what you see,” says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery — trees talk, often and over vast distances. Learn more about the harmonious yet complicated social lives of trees and prepare to see the natural world with new…

I got this astute blog comment from Frank Morris: “I was so impressed by your debate with Stephen Meyer that I finally bought your Evolution 2.0 book. I can’t wait to read it to see how it compares with my own journey getting kicked around by hostile Darwinians on blogs as I continued to question…

“The universe really is “inspirational matter,” we now know, and is not merely inert. Now we might call it instinct, evolution, nuclear fusion, DNA, hardwiring, the motherboard, healing, growth, or just springtime, but nature clearly continues to renew itself from within. “God seems to have created things that continue to create and recreate themselves from…

I had a great exchange with a gentleman, Matthew Taylor, on the Unbelievable discussion board, following my debate with Stephen Meyer. Matthew said: I was intrigued by the suggestion by one of the guests that cells might have some form of intelligence. I’d like to know what experiments and tests have been proposed so that…

Issue Neo-Darwinism Intelligent Design Evolution 2.0 (a.k.a. Third Way, Extended Synthesis) Origin of Life Presumed to have emerged from random chemical processes Created by an Intelligent Designer Information theory says codes require a designer, or else an undiscovered emergent process that generates codes Speed Gradual Instantaneous events of intervention In real time Sources of Novelty…

After my debate with Stephen Meyer, the Discovery Institute Volleyed back.