In 1979, two magicians walked into a study. It sounds like the start of a joke, but Project Alpha was more of a trick – a hoax, intended to investigate the scientific rigor of researchers conducting parapsychology research using, of all things, magic tricks. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

Magic as a tool for science is more widespread than you might realize. We’ve used card tricks to investigate primate behavior, and misdirection to explore everything from cybercrime to the placebo effect (sound intriguing? Join us at CURIOUS Live on December 11 to speak to magician and psychologist, Dr Gustav Kuhn ).

James Randi's big idea

In the late 1970s, magician and parapsychology skeptic the late James Randi received lett

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