Eugene, OR, USA. Belief in God doesn't deter a person from cheating on a test, unless that God is seen as a mean, punishing one, psychology researchers say. On the flip side, they found that undergraduate college students who believe in a caring, forgiving God are more likely to cheat.

The research is part of a larger effort to understand cultural development, in particular the role of religion in encouraging — or even forcing adherence to — moral behavior.

Vancouver, BC, Canada. Anxiety over death can influence people to ignore the overwhelming evidence for Darwin's theory of evolution and support theories of intelligent design, despite overwhelming scientific consensus that ID is inherently unscientific.

Existential anxiety also prompted people to report an increased liking for Michael Behe, the main proponent for intelligent design, [N1] and increased their dislike for evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. [N2]

London, UK, USA. Martin J. Rees, 68, a theoretical astrophysicist whose profound insights on the cosmos have provoked vital questions that speak to humanity’s highest hopes and worst fears, has won the Templeton Prize for 2011.

The non-sectarian Prize is awarded to honor a living person for exceptional contributions to affirming the spiritual dimension of life, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.

Fairfax, VA, USA. The Rev. Cathryn Platine and her sisters walk a way of life that reorders priorities away from competitive striving and toward communal sharing and peaceful community service.

Platine is the principal founder of a movement toward the ancient form of feminine and shared divinity that predates the later, masculinized, version which separated the Divine and subordinated the individual. In the process, she and her sisters in belief have restored an ancient form of religious devotion while challenging outworn assumptions about the sterility of spirituality.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands. There is a universal property of musical scales that makes it possible to recognize the music in very different groups of sounds produced by many different cultures around the world.

Scientists find patterns throughout nature, but biology shows that humans are themselves part of nature and produce artifacts, such as poetry and music, that can be examined in view of their fundamental and universal patterns. Music lovers often cite the universality of music as a means by which disparate cultures can find a basis for common understanding.