SUPREME BEINGS are divinities whose nature reveals a unique quality of being—generally, a transcendent spiritual power—in a culture's religious system. Such divine beings figure in many different religious systems, yet they...

DEITY. As a symbol, deity represents the human struggle at its highest; it represents humanity's effort to discover its identity in confrontation with the limits of its universe. Deity is the symbol of what transcends the human being and the...

GODS AND GODDESSES. In human religious experience, manifestations of sacred power (hierophanies) provide centers of meaning, order, worship, and ethics. Humans have always felt that real life is in close contact with sacred power, and that sacred power...

A deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural being, who is always of significant power, worshipped, thought holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, or respected by human...

Deities for Atheists A review of Civilized Life in the Universe: Scientists on Intelligent Extraterrestrials by George Basalla, Cambridge University Press, 2006. 224 pp. $29.95. ISBN: 0-19-517181-0 On February 8, 2000, the New York Times science section featured a newly published book, Rare...

Who cares if totems and lucky charms are unscientific-they can do the trick | By Caryn Evilia As a young postdoc, I accidentally stumbled upon the secret to getting my protein preps to work; unfortunately, my solution is unpublishable. It's an unnamed, hand-sized,...

A large truck crammed with Hindu pilgrims crashed into a gorge in northwestern India on Friday night, killing at least 85 people and injuring 64, police said.The truck driver lost control while taking a sharp turn in Nagbavji, a village more than 350 miles southwest...

A man threw a bucket of red paint or dye into Rome's Trevi Fountain on Friday, coloring the waters of the 18th-century monument bright red in front of a crowd of astonished tourists and residents.The man escaped, leaving the fountain, which normally runs on a...