All About Science FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions on Science

• Abiogenesis – What about enzymes? - Enzymes dramatically increase the rate of biological reactions. How long would the reactions necessary for life take in the absence of enzymes?
• Abiogenesis – What is directed panspermia? - Is there an extraterrestrial alternative to the theory of abiogenesis? What is directed Panspermia? Is it a viable alternative to spontaneous generation?
• Abiogenesis – What is the chicken and egg paradox? - DNA houses the information necessary for folding proteins into the shape critical to their function. Proteins facilitate the process by which DNA replicates. Does this cause problems for evolution?
• Life and Abiogenesis – How simple can life be? - What is the minimum life-permitting complexity of a cell’s genome? How does this line up with Darwin’s theory?

• What is biochemical homology? - Biochemical homology is often hailed as decisive evidence for the common ancestry of all life. What is biochemical homology? Does biochemical homology support evolution?

• Chirality – What is the Murchinson meteorite? - Could the fragments of the 1969 Murchison meteorite provide vital clues regarding the origin of homochirality?

• Co-option – Are constructive mutations possible? - Co-option requires an abundance of constructive mutations in order to facilitate the development of novel functionality from previously existing macromolecules. Do such mutations exist?

• Cosmic Fine Tuning -- Mass of the cosmos - How does the cosmic mass density exhibit fine-tuning and the activity of an intelligent agent? Must the density of protons and neutrons be finely-tuned to permit life?
• Cosmic Fine Tuning and Life - There exist many physical factors which must be precisely set for any planet to be hospitable to life. What are they?
• Cosmic fine-tuning – Is the universe designed for discovery? - Was the universe created with us in mind? Was the universe finely-tuned to permit scientific discovery?

• Cosmological Arguments and the Expansion of the Universe - Study the references to the beginning of the universe and to its expansion. Did the authors have inside information?
• Cosmological Arguments and the Laws of Thermodynamics - How does the Laws of Conservation of Energy and the Law of Increased Entropy relate to the Cosmological Argument? Find out here.
• Prominent Scientists and the Cosmological Arguments - What do prominent scientists say about this argument for the existence of God? Read their views here.

• How did Sir Charles Lyell influence Charles Darwin? - Renowned geologist of the mid-nineteenth century who popularized uniformitarianism, the geological foundation for Darwin's biological theory of gradual evolution.
• How did Thomas Malthus influence Charles Darwin? - Population growth overpowers food supply growth, creating perpetual states of hunger, disease, and struggle. This sociological premise grounded Darwin's biological theory.
• What did Darwin say about the Evolution of the Eye? - What did Darwin say about the evolution of the eye? What is the quote? Find out here.
• What is evolution? - The process by which an organism becomes more sophisticated over time and in response to its environment. Are there gaps?
• What is Social Darwinism? - A social theory with nagging issues. Those with economic, physical, and/or technological power flourish, while others are destined for extinction.
• Why was Thomas Huxley nicknamed "Darwin's Bulldog"? - A scientist and philosopher of the 19th century, Huxley was most famous for his vehement defense of Darwin and evolution.

• Richard Dawkins: The Greatest Show on Earth – Do Dawkins’ claims regarding the fossil record follow logically? - Do Dawkins’ claims regarding the fossil record follow logically? What can we learn from his book?
• The Greatest Show on Earth – What about bad design? -
• The Greatest Show on Earth by Dawkins – What about the Missing Link? - How did Dawkins define the concept of the missing link? What does he say about Lucy?

• Endoplasmic reticulum and proteins – What is the unfolded protein response? - Can the ER's machinery become overwhelmed with unfolded proteins? What is the result?

• Have we found the missing link? - Has the missing link been finally located? What about discoveries like Piltdown Man, Neanderthal Man, Nebraska Man, and Lucy?
• How do scientists explain the evolution of the human brain? - Learn how scientists defend the evolution of the human brain. Is natural selection the best method? Understand the challenges.
• How Does Isolation Affect the Theory of Evolution? - Does the isolation concept make the theory of evolution more viable? How does the concept of Punctuated Equilibrium affect it?

• Evolution of Gender/Sex – Why is gender a problem for evolution? - Is gender a problem for evolutionists? Why? Does sexual reproduction conflict with the standard Darwinian paradigm?
• Evolution of Sex and the DNA repair hypothesis - What is the DNA repair hypothesis? Does it explain the origin of sex, or just why sex exists now?
• Evolution of Sex and the Lottery Principle - What is the Lottery Principle? Did sex evolve to increase variability and hence increase the likelihood of survival?
• Evolution of Sex and the Red Queen Hypothesis - What is the Red Queen Hypothesis? How does it relate to survival-of-the-fittest? Does it account for the evolution of sex?
• Evolution of Sex and the Tangled Bank Hypothesis - What is the Tangled Bank Hypothesis? What are the difficulties it faces in trying to account for the evolution of sex?

• Are there any intelligent design peer-reviewed publications? - Real science? Objective studies supporting design theory are now more common, appearing more frequently in respected journals and publications.
• How and when did the intelligent design movement begin? - The compelling case for design, and the background of this scientific and logical approach to origins and the development of life.
• Why is there such resistance to teaching intelligent design in the public schools? - Science or superstition? The evidence points to the deliberate influence of a self-aware creator in many aspects of the universe.

• Intelligent Design vs. Evolution – Bad News for Science - Are those who believe in Intelligent Design free to follow the phenomena wherever it leads? Or do they need to worry about the consensus view?
• Intelligent Design vs. Evolution – Bad News for Social Engineers - What is the bad news for social engineers who view humanity as an intermediary life form in the march to our utopian, transhuman future?
• Intelligent Design vs. Evolution – Bad News for the Culture of Death - Do all persons, even the smallest ones, have intrinsic value? Are they worthy of protection against threats?

• What are the different theories on the origin of life? - Learn about the theories: random and natural unguided forces, created and designed by a designer, and self generation. What is the truth?
• What is spontaneous generation? - Learn the history. Can life generate itself from non-living matter? What are the explanations? Examine the evidence and decide.
• What is the theory of the extraterrestrial origin of life? - Study the theories and weigh the evidence. What studies are being done to find the truth regarding the origin of extraterrestrials?
• Who was Louis Pasteur? - Learn the history of this man and his greatest accomplishments, including pasteurization. What else did he research and discover?

• How does Darwin's theory of natural selection explain the origin of species? - A process of adaptation, where the strong survive in certain environments and change the balance of populations within a species.
• The Origin of Species and Common Descent - Darwin proposed that all forms of life as observed today can be traced back to a single universal common ancestor. Is this conclusion justified?
• Who is Thomas Malthus? - A British scholar and minister, he influenced Darwin's theory by proposing a population-food imbalance that creates a struggle to survive.

• RNA world and Beta-D-ribonucleotides? - What are Beta-D-ribonucleotides? Was there really a prebiotic pool of these molecules as the RNA world model necessitates?
• RNA world – What is Ribozyme Engineering? - What is Ribozyme Engineering? Do the procedures used in research on RNA catalyses support the concept of naturalism, or of intelligent design?

• What is the First Law of Thermodynamics? - Neither matter nor energy can be created or destroyed. An observable law of nature that begs the question of origins.
• What is the third law of thermodynamics? - Refers to a state known as "absolute zero," which relates the entropy (randomness) of matter to its absolute temperature.
• When were the laws of thermodynamics first described? - As science advanced, researchers developed coherent theories about the workings of matter and energy. A look at Joule, Clausius, and Nernst.
• Why are the three laws of thermodynamics so important? - Rules of the observable universe -- no exceptions. Ideas that don't follow these laws are either wrong or caused by supernatural influence.

• What are some accomplishments of Albert Einstein? - Relatively Speaking! His theoretical concepts in physics formed the basis for technologies and philosophies that have a profound effect today.
• What can we infer from relativity about the character of God? - What can we infer from relativity about the character of God? Learn more here.
• What is General Relativity? - What does the General Theory of Relativity tell us about space, time, and existence? The profound effects of this revolutionary theory!
• What is Special Relativity? - Understand the basics of special relativity and how it was discovered. Learn about the Michelson-Morley experiments and Lorenz transform equations.
• Why was Einstein's theory of relativity such a monumental discovery? - Learn why this was a monumental discovery in science. Why did it completely change what we intuitively believed about physics?