A brief introduction to the history of death and funerals in England, and attitudes to the same, by Margaret Nelson, retired celebrant and blogger at Dead Interesting. We’ll be in the seminar room on the first floor of Hadleigh library, on the corner of Duke Street and the High Street, from 2pm. There’s ample free parking in the council car park opposite, accessed via Magdalen Road (see map). Tea and cake will be provided.

Our latest newsletter, with details of meetings between now and May, news and views. [Click here to download it](http://www.suffolkhands.org.uk/files/1/SH&S News Feb 2013.pdf “SH&S Feb 2013 news”) (pdf). Why not share it with like-minded or undecided friends and family?

If you’ve been asleep or off-planet for the last day or so, you might have missed the news that the Pope’s resigned and Catholics everywhere are “shocked”. If you weren’t asleep, you’ll be sick to death of the news coverage and the ruddy awful jokes on Twitter. Anyhow, since it’s topical, why not do Christina Martin’s Pope quiz to pass the time ’til the next news bulletin? Click here to start.

And now evolution, not creationism, must be included in the science syllabus of British free schools – a reason to celebrate on the 204th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin – Darwin Day.

Yesterday was Darwin Day. It’s not officially recognised, yet, though some people here and in America would like it to be. There’s even talk of making it a public holiday, in recognition of Darwin and his work. But if 12th February is Darwin Day, the 8th January should be Wallace Day, in recognition of the equally important work done by Alfred Russel Wallace, who worked out the theory of Natural Selection as a young man in Indonesia.

The Rationalist Association is aiming to set up a new online community. Caspar Melville of the RA writes: We do not think that irrationalism, intolerance, special interests and dogma should go unquestioned or unanswered. We are building a community that can offer questions and better answers. We want to invite you to our own “raising bee”. You’ll need to register, that is give us your email (and choose a password).