This Guardian article describes a curiosity of Edinburgh University: a parapsychology department. The Koestler Parapsychology Unit, founded using money donated by the famous Nobel-winning author, is not a collection of cranks, though: they’re trying very hard to find things they can’t explain using conventional means. A hardcore sceptic though I am, I think this is definitely a worthwhile pursuit, even if strange effects end up being explained as experimental errors and statistical anomalies.
One of the researchers working at KPU is Peter Ramakers, my former flatmate — he also gets a mention in the article:
Research by Peter Ramakers, a doctoral student at the KPU, demonstrates the pitfalls inherent in a science without an overarching theory. His area of study is the possible telepathic transmission of emotional responses. In his experiment, the sender is shown pictures that trigger strong positive responses (erotica, cuddly animals or extreme sports), strong negative responses (such as mutilated bodies) and neutral responses (such as household items), the receiver is shown nothing…
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