Book review: The Heretics by Will Storr
A new exploration of why people believe unprovable and outlandish things is enlivened by a healthy dose of scepticism towards scepticism, finds Andrew Mueller
Science & Technology
What is at the end of the tunnel?
Do the thousands of reports of spiritual near death experiences prove the existence of the soul, as some psychologists claim? Dale DeBakcsy burrows into the science
Home sweet home
It’s not the biggest or the most spectacular, but our little galaxy suits Marcus Chown just fine
Facing the future: an interview with Jim Al-Khalili
Theoretical physicist and star science presenter Jim Al-Khalili has just become the President of the British Humanist Association. Caspar Melville finds out what we can expect from his tenure
I love Dawkins but I think he’s wrong
Science and religion are the most potent forces in the world, says ex-monk, but still Catholic Thomas Jackson, who thinks that that science is now discovering what religion has known…
Wild Love
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
Opt-out is the best organ option
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…
Top 5 myths of Self-Help
‘Emotional intelligence’, ‘inner child’, ‘self-actualisation’ – the language of popular psychology has infiltrated every level of our culture, and persuaded us to let it all out to reach our life…
Islam’s evolution problem
Can Islam and evolution be reconciled? Alom Shaha meets the scientists who are trying to do just that
Darkness at noon, enlightenment at midnight
A brief conversation between two of the 20th centuries most vibrant minds stayed with Bryan Hamlin for over 40 years, but it is only now that it starts to make…