Hell

Thanks to Catherine Bennett, I've learned a new 'ology - eschatology, literally the study of the last. So, if there's an eschatology, there must be eschatologists, right? Gosh, they must be fun in the pub. "Oh, hello, what do you do?" "I study the end of the world." Pause. "Really? How does that happen?" "Well, the dead could be resurrected, or the Devil could be set free, or adultery and fornication will be performed in the open, or ..." "Where's my drink?"

A few of the stories that have caught my eye on the Interweb this week:

* As an antidote to the depressing news that a significant proportion of British people think that creationism ought to be included in school science lessons, we can celebrate a development in education. Evolution will be in the national curriculum for primary schools when the new version is published soon. Andrew Copson from the BHA wrote in the Guardian:

The new primary curriculum, together with the 2007 government guidance that prohibits the teaching of creationism and intelligent design in science lessons, should put English schools in the forefront of education about evolution. Coming in the month which marks the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species, and at a point when good science education is a matter of urgency, it could not be more timely.

* We will have to remain vigilant, however, when loonies of all sorts seek access to our classrooms. The Times Educational Supplement reported a couple of days ago that ...

A school initiative that trains children in “energy therapy” has been criticised as unscientific by two senior academics.