Study Finds No Evidence of ESP

But you knew we were going to say that, right?
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 14, 2008 3:55 PM CST
Study Finds No Evidence of ESP
A New Orleans psychic and Tarot card reader reads a spread of Tarot cards in this file photo. (AP Photo/Cheryl Gerber)   (Associated Press)

You might have had a feeling, but ESP is not real—at least according to two Harvard researchers who used brain-scanning technology to investigate the existence of extrasensory perception. The brain registers familiar images differently than new ones, but researchers found no difference in activity when subjects processed images "sent" from another room, the Boston Globe reports.

Believers, take heart: One critic says, "The absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence." Partners, relatives, and even twins were used to "send" images to test subjects, but the study subjects were random, not individuals who believe they have ESP, because the researchers were worried about skewing the results.. (More extrasensory perception stories.)

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