[general_re]

I'm glad to hear your mother is showing further improvement - hopefully it won't be long now before she's up and around and ready to go home.

Some good points raised up until now, but unfortunately I don't have time to address them until later. In the meantime, here's the final disposition of all the images, since I'm sure people are interested in what all I dug up - so, here's what they are, and if they are known as a matter of fact to be designed:

1) photo of a basketball - designed by humans.
2) photograph of a (synthetic) snowflake - designed by humans.
3) false-color electron micrograph of a radiolarian.
4) close-up photo of a snake's scales.
5) photo of cobblestones from New York City street - designed by humans.
6) photo of African termite mound.
7) diagram of bacterial flagellum.
8) diagram of citric acid (Krebs) cycle.
9) photo of (synthetic) quartz crystals - designed by humans.
10) photo of beehive, or comb from beehive.

So, there you go. Thanks to all who contributed suggestions and images via freepmail - I got way more than I could use, which is the sort of embarassment of riches that I don't mind dealing with.

How did everyone do? What was the verdict on 1, 2, 5, and 9, especially?

[PatrickHenry]

I find it interesting that Diamond missed #4, the snake's scales. He thought they were designed. He said, at #173:

Running #4 through the filter, crudely, without any mathematical calculations, it comes out as a product of intelligent agency.

There is contingency. The configuration of the "tiles" is irreducible to the natural laws governing the motion and placement of "tiles". The relative straightness of the vertical lines in comparison to the horizontal lines between the "tiles" is highly improbable, ie. too uniform to be attributed to chance, indicating a very low probability of occuring by chance.

The snake doesn't "build" his scales, as the bee builds his hive, or the termite his mound. So what are we to make of an unmistakably natural object which gives -- to Diamond -- all the clues of being designed (like the cobblestones of #5)? What does this say for the theory of ID?

[Condorman]

I'm interested in the design conclusion for #10. Hexagonal cells are simply a very efficient use of space. There are equivallent principles for sphere packing. Regular, repeating patterns often occur naturally.

[js1138]

1. Diamond's answer in post 7 (photo of a basketball - designed by humans)
2. Diamond's answer in post 33 and 62 (photograph of a (synthetic) snowflake - designed by humans)
3. Answer at post 111 and 124 (false-color electron micrograph of a radiolarian.
)
4. Answer at 166 and 173-175 (close-up photo of a snake's scales.
)
5. Answer at 181 (photo of cobblestones from New York City street - designed by humans.
)
6. Answer at 257 and 310 (photo of African termite mound.
)
7. Answer at324 (diagram of bacterial flagellum.
)
8. Answer at 365 (diagram of citric acid (Krebs) cycle.
)
9. Answer at 391 (photo of (synthetic) quartz crystals - designed by humans.
)
10. Answer at 440 (photo of beehive, or comb from beehive. )