Towards the end of last year, while celebrating Christmas with family and friends, I came up with the phrase "Don't get god, get good". I posted it on Facebook and Tweeted it. It was seen by some religious people as an oxymoron and some said my words were "bad". Others offered that it might be a new mantra for secular humanism. And, speaking of mantras, there are profound psychological and physiological reasons that chanting, prayer, and other rituals bring coherence to communities and improve ... Read on...

A crowd-sourced remake of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope by Casey Pugh, cut together from 15-second user submissions remaking the complete movie. Plenty of hilarious, ironic, animated, amateurish bits and lots of really, really well done bits. Far more entertaining than the original Lucas Film. Well...

Guido Masé also known as @herbalist on Twitter, has provided many a fascinating riposte to complementary medicine conversations with @sciencebase and others. Much of it seems to home in on the same conclusions despite the perceived polarity of the debate. One such point of agreement is in the myth of "detox". Here, Masé discusses why even a herbalist is averse to the term. I often get asked about using herbs for cleansing, or “detox”. Many seem to think that using certain plants for a week or ... Read on...

Happy New Year to all our Chinese readers. It's the Year of the Dragon. Ever wondered how they date the start of the Chinese year, because, as you probably know, it changes year to year? It's actually the day of the second New Moon after the Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere). So, there you go. Easy on the wonton this evening and not too much rice wine y'all. Happy Chinese New Year 农历新年 « thecuriousastronomer.

Stephen Fry was awarded the 2011 lifetime achievement award from the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University. Molly Lewis serenaded Stephen with her song An Open Letter To Stephen Fry. Molly Lewis (aka Sweetafton23) is an American musician known for her wonderful ukulele playing. She plays both covers and original songs and her original music sings of pop culture topics and nerdiness. Viz: Mr Stephen Fry I see no reason why you wouldn't want some day, maybe to let me have your baby You would be amazed what science does these days so ... Read on...