We've been primed by popular culture to expect a close encounter at any moment, governments have made preparations and the tin-hat brigade say they're already here. But now ufology is in crisis and alien agencies are being wound up. James Gray explores the case of the missing little green men
Jaron Lanier is a digital pioneer who has collaborated with Microsoft and Google. So why is he warning that technology is making us dependent and redundant? JP O’Malley logs on
Our new online rationalist community has 2350 members, which is a great start. Now we have to decide how to develop it, what it stands for and what it should be doing. Caspar Melville explains the options and how you can help decide
A new exploration of why people believe unprovable and outlandish things is enlivened by a healthy dose of scepticism towards scepticism, finds Andrew Mueller
The Irreducible Mind by Edward and Emily Kelly lends scientific credibility to the claim that near death experiences prove the existence of an immaterial soul. But does it stand up to scrutiny? Dale DeBakcsy looks for light at the end of the tunnel
No matter how far you roam around the universe, there's no place like home, finds Marcus Chown
The British Humanist Association have a new president, theoretical physicist and science broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili. What can we expect from him? Caspar Melville finds out
Science and religion are the most potent forces in the world, says ex-Monk, but still Catholic Thomas Jackson, who thinks that science is now discovering what religion has known all along. Come and argue with him.
We may be in awe of the elephant, humbled by the humpback whale or tremble at the tiger. But forget these aloof A-listers of the animal world. For a really profound relationship with nature fall head over heels for the hedgehog next door, just like Hugh Warwick
Unjustifiable moral objections mean that healthy organs are routinely wasted because of the need to opt-in to donation. It's time to change the law. If you don’t want your organs harvested then you should have to opt-out, says Craig Purshouse