Parapsychology - 20080810

Parapsychology is the scientific study of ostensibly paranormal phenomena such as psychic abilities and life after death. Laboratory research and fieldwork of this sort is conducted at privately funded laboratories and some universities around the world,although there are fewer universities actively sponsoring parapsychological research today than in years past. Such research is usually published in parapsychological publications, and some articles have appeared in more mainstream journals. Experiments have included the use of random number generators to test for evidence of psychokinesis, sensory-deprivation Ganzfeld experiments to test for extrasensory perception, and research trials conducted under contract to the United States government to investigate whether remote viewing would provide useful intelligence information.

The scientific community has not accepted evidence of the existence of the paranormal.Some science educators and scientists have called the subject pseudoscience.Scientists such as Ray Hyman, Stanley Krippner, and James Alcock have criticized both the methods used and the results obtained in parapsychology, suggesting that methodological flaws explain any apparent experimental successes.