For decades, the intellectual descendants of Darwin have pored over ancient bones and bits of fossils, trying to piece together how fish evolved into man, theorizing about the evolutionary advantage conferred by each physical change. And over the past 10 years, a small group of academics have begun to look at religion in the same way: they've started to look at God and the supernatural through the lens of evolution.

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84-year-old Vietnamese zen master Thich Nhat Hanh ("Thay"), a prolific author with more than 85 titles under his belt, has taken a particular interest in climate change and recently published the best-selling book 'The World We Have – A Buddhist approach to peace and ecology.'

In it, he writes: "The situation the Earth is in today has been created by unmindful production and unmindful consumption. We consume to forget our worries and our anxieties. Tranquilising ourselves with over-consumption is not the way."

In his only interview in the UK, Thay calls on journalists to play their part in preventing the destruction of our civilisation and calls on corporations to move away from their focus on profits to the wellbeing of society.

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Queendom.com released their Paranormal Beliefs test after collecting data from over 20,000 people from all walks of life. They uncovered gender, age, ethnic and other differences in views of the supernatural.

Their Paranormal Beliefs Test assessed a number of beliefs, including the afterlife, the concepts of fate and karma, and aliens. Although superstitions are no longer as prominent as they used to be – the two most prevalent superstitions were the belief that thinking negative thoughts can make something bad happen (24%), and that "jinxing" something can cause you to lose it (24%) – there are many paranormal aspects that people strongly supported.

The afterlife, religion, and karma were the most widespread beliefs, followed by the belief in fate and psychic phenomenon. Superstitions brought up the rear, while folklore/myths/legends, witchcraft, telekinesis, and existence of UFOs and aliens fell somewhere in the middle on people's belief system. Interestingly, women believed much more strongly in paranormal phenomenon than men did, particularly in terms of the idea of karma (average score for women 71, 57 for men). The only exception was that of aliens and UFOs, where men outscored women 52 to 49.

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The power of prayer really can help to heal the sick, an international study has found – especially if the well-wisher is standing near the person they are praying for.

Researchers say the vision and hearing of patients in their tests improved after healing practitioners prayed for them.

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Thinking about God reduce distress, but only in believers, while atheists are more distressed after thinking of God-related ideas, Canadian researchers say.

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Hallelujah diets. Body by God. Karate for Christ. Gospel groove workouts.

Using the Lord's name (not in vain), fitness and diet enthusiasts are injecting the Almighty into nutrition programs, exercise DVDs, martial arts and healthy living courses. 

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Hearing God's voice, it seems, is no longer just for prophets.

A poll recently released by an evangelical Christian research group shows that about three-quarters of Americans say Jesus speaks directly to them.

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The Dalai Lama's not getting any younger.

He turned 75 on Tuesday and by all accounts he's in good health. But, inevitably, the question of who will succeed one of the world's most revered spiritual leaders looms large.

Increasingly, the spotlight has been turned to the Karmapa Lama. He is close to the Dalai Lama and calls him "a spiritual and personal father figure." As head of one of the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, he is also an accomplished scholar in his own right. But he's of a new generation.

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The topic of spirituality in the workplace has grown exponentially in the past decade or so, though it is not always clear what the term means.

Does it mean business people starting and managing their enterprises with a godly mission? Does it mean businesses allowing religious practices to permeate the enterprise as a form of worker freedom of expression? Or, does it mean businesses permitting emphases on holism, creativity, and the seeking of the deeper meaning to one's life?

It turns out that spirituality in the workplace embraces all these forms and activities and you have to look carefully to see what is going on in order to properly understand it.

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An explosion of smart-phone software has placed an arsenal of trivia at the fingertips of every corner-bar debater, with talking points on sports, politics and how to kill a zombie. Now it is taking on the least trivial topic of all: God.

Publishers of Christian material have begun producing iPhone applications that can cough up quick comebacks and rhetorical strategies for believers who want to fight back against what they view as a new strain of strident atheism. And a competing crop of apps is arming nonbelievers for battle.

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