Discovery Institute | Page 66 | Public policy think tank advancing a culture of purpose, creativity, and innovation.

The-Origin-of-Life-and-the-Information-Problem-front-cover
Eric H. Anderson
August 15, 2024
Intelligent Design
1

The Origin of Life and the Information Problem

Eric H. Anderson
August 15, 2024
Intelligent Design
1

The realization in the twentieth century that even the simplest cells are packed with software tells us something profound about the origin of life. Design theorist and computer programmer Eric Anderson relates the exciting history of the discovery of DNA and shows how the dance of this digital information in each of our cells points insistently away from blind evolution. Read More ›

Front-Cover_The-Big-Bang-and-the-Fine-tuned-Universe
Robert A. Alston
August 15, 2024
Intelligent Design
1

The Big Bang and the Fine-tuned Universe

Robert A. Alston
August 15, 2024
Intelligent Design
1

In easy-to-understand language, former NASA special projects engineer Robert Alston tackles cosmology’s profoundest questions: Where did the universe come from, and how were its laws and constants finely tuned to allow for life? From Albert Einstein’s biggest blunder to the perfect parameters that allow fragile life to persevere, this mini-book explores how astronomy and physics point to a cosmic architect. Read More ›

person-casting-vote-into-ballot-box-stockpack-adobe-stock
Person casting vote into ballot box
Image Credit: roibu - Adobe Stock
Keri D. Ingraham
August 15, 2024
Education
4

Parents Reward School Choice Candidates at Ballot Boxes Across the Country

Keri D. Ingraham
August 15, 2024
Education
4
The primary election results in a handful of states have made one thing clear — Republican elected officials who are anti-school choice are getting voted out of office while education freedom champions are securing state house and senate seats. Read More ›
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Piles Of Rare Earth Elements Mined And Refined
Image Credit: Anastasiia - Adobe Stock
Eric Hedin
August 14, 2024
2

Metals: The Gifts That Keep On Giving

Eric Hedin
August 14, 2024
2
A confluence of conditions conspired to bring metals to Earth and make them accessible to humans. Can a Darwinian process take the credit? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes a two-part conversation with Dr. Eric Hedin, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Ball State University in Indiana. Dr. Hedin describes the conditions within ourselves and the conditions within our environment that were finely tuned to allow for our successful utilization of metals. He also speaks to what our use of metals reveals about the moral character of human nature, and why metals remain vital to us today. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Don't miss Part 1! Read More ›
Process of casting in foundry, liquid molten metal pouring in ladle. Heavy metallurgy industry
Process of casting in foundry, liquid molten metal pouring in ladle. Heavy metallurgy industry.
Image Credit: DedMityay - Adobe Stock
Eric Hedin
August 12, 2024
2

Metals & Life: A Finely Tuned Alliance

Eric Hedin
August 12, 2024
2
Humans have successfully utilized metals for millennia, and trace amounts of metals are crucial to our survival. Is that coincidence or something more? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid begins a two-part conversation with Dr. Eric Hedin, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Ball State University in Indiana. Dr. Hedin tells the fascinating story of the origin of metals, the finely tuned set of conditions that allow for our use of metals, and the crucial role metals play in our survival. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Look for Part 2 next! Read More ›
A closeup of a scientist using AI to simulate climate change effects on a digital globe
A closeup of a scientist using AI to simulate climate change effects on a digital globe, suggesting environmental research, set against a softfocus background of a scientific institution, in clean look colors, enhanced by a sharpened banner
Image Credit: JK_kyoto - Adobe Stock
Wesley J. Smith
August 12, 2024
Human Exceptionalism
5

Blessed Are the Peacemakers, for They Shall Be Called Bioethicists

Wesley J. Smith
August 12, 2024
Human Exceptionalism
5
Reinforcing my earlier point, the Hastings Center has now published an utterly naive article advocating that war itself be transformed into a bioethics issue. True to form in the field, the authors propose six bioethical "principles" to apply to considering whether potential combatants should resort to war or make "wiser choices." Read More ›
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Marvin Olasky
August 10, 2024
Discovery Institute
4

Barbarous obliteration and invisible immortality

Marvin Olasky
August 10, 2024
Discovery Institute
4

Victor David Hanson’s The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation (Basic, 2024) has chapters on the destruction of Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan that the author, or a good editor, should have abridged. Maybe the repetition, though, can drum into our heads a lesson we try to keep out: “Modern societies are not immune to the horror of Read More ›

ring-of-power-scaled
Image Credit: paxillop - Pixabay
Michael Newton Keas
August 9, 2024
2

The Gollum Effect: When Guarding Research Impedes Progress

Michael Newton Keas
August 9, 2024
2
On this ID the Future out of the vault, host Andrew McDiarmid sits down with historian and philosopher of science Michael Keas to discuss a recent article at Times Higher Education, “My Precious! How Academia’s Gollums Guard Their Research Fields.” The article looks at how scientific progress is being impeded by a culture in which scientists jealously guard their research instead of sharing it. Keas says the problem seems to have gotten worse in recent years but isn’t a new one. He illustrates with the story of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Read More ›