SI July Aug 2010 v2_SI JF 10 V1 6/3/10 12:09 PM Page 1 THE REAL ‘GHOST WHISPERER’ | TESTING X-RAY VISION | UFOLOGY VS. TRUTH | CSI BALLES PRIZE THE MAG A ZINE FOR SCI ENCE AND REA SON Vol ume 34, No. 4 • July / August 2010 • INTRODUCTORY PRICE U.S. and Canada $4.95 Our Disinformation Culture Coma Patient: Fabricated Communication Climate Wars Follow-up Critical Thinking about Computer Security & SI July-Auugst CUT pgs_SI MJ 2010 5/27/10 3:45 PM Page 2 FORMERLY THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF THE PARANORMAL (CSICOP). AT THE CEN TER FOR IN QUIRY /TRANSNATIONAL. A Paul Kurtz, Founder Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Richard Schroeder, Chairman Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Ronald A. Lindsay, President and CEO Benjamin Radford, Research Fellow Bar ry Karr, Ex ec u tive Di rect or Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow James E. Al cock, psy chol o gist, York Univ., Tor on to Univ. of Wellington, New Zealand Irm gard Oe pen, pro fes sor of med i cine (re tired), Mar burg, Ger ma ny Mar cia An gell, M.D., former ed i tor-in-chief, New Eng land Jour - Mur ray Gell-Mann, pro fes sor of phys ics, San ta Fe In sti tute; Lor en Pan kratz, psy chol o gist, Or e gon Health Sci en ces Univ. nal of Med i cine No bel lau re ate Robert L. Park, professor of physics, Univ. of Maryland Thom as Gi lov ich, psy chol o gist, Cor nell Univ. Kimball Atwood IV, M.D., physician, author, Newton, MA Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy and Steph en Bar rett, M.D., psy chi a trist, au thor, con sum er ad vo cate, Sus an Haack, Coop er Sen ior Schol ar in Arts and Sci en ces, pro- director of the Hopkins Observatory, Williams College fessor of phi los o phy and professor of Law, Univ. of Mi ami Al len town, PA John Pau los, math e ma ti cian, Tem ple Univ. Harriet Hall, M.D., family physician, investigator, Puyallup, WA Willem Betz, M.D., professor of medicine, Univ. of Brussels Massimo Pigliucci, professor of philosophy, City Univ. of C.E.M. Han sel, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Wales Ir ving Bie der man, psy chol o gist, Univ. of South ern Cal i for nia New York-Lehman College David J. Helfand, professor of astronomy, Columbia Univ. Sus an Black more, Vis it ing Lec tur er, Univ. of the West of Stev en Pink er, cog ni tive sci en tist, Harvard Eng land, Bris tol Doug las R. Hof stad ter, pro fes sor of hu man un der stand ing and Philip Plait, astronomer, lecturer, and writer cog ni tive sci ence, In di ana Univ. Hen ri Broch, phys i cist, Univ. of Nice, France Mas si mo Pol id oro, sci ence writer, au thor, ex ec u tive di rect or, Ger ald Hol ton, Mal linc krodt Pro fes sor of Phys ics and pro fes sor Jan Har old Brun vand, folk lor ist, pro fes sor emer i tus of Eng - CI CAP, It a ly lish, Univ. of Utah of his to ry of sci ence, Har vard Univ. James “The Amazing” Randi, magician, CSICOP founding Ray Hy man, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Or e gon Mar io Bunge, phi los o pher, McGill Univ. member, founder, James Randi Educational Foundation Le on Jar off, sci en ces ed i tor emer i tus, Time Robert T. Carroll, emeritus professor of philosophy, Mil ton Ro sen berg, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Chic a go Sacramento City College, writer Stuart D. Jordan, NASA astrophysicist emeritus, science Wal la ce Sam pson, M.D., clin i cal pro fes sor of med i cine, Stan - Sean B. Carroll, molecular geneticist, vice president for science advisor to Center for Inquiry Office of Public Policy, ford Univ., ed i tor, Sci en tif ic Re view of Al ter na tive Med i cine education, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Madison, Washington, D.C. Wisconsin Ser gei Ka pit za, former ed i tor, Rus sian edi tion, Sci en tif ic Amer i can Am ar deo Sar ma*, chairman, GWUP, Ger ma ny John R. Cole, an thro pol o gist, ed i tor, Na tion al Cen ter for Sci - Law rence M. Krauss, foundation professor, School of Earth Ev ry Schatz man, former pres i dent, French Phys ics As so ci a tion ence Ed u ca tion and Space Exploration and Physics Dept., director, Origins Eu ge nie Scott, phys i cal an thro pol o gist, ex ec u tive di rect or, Initiative, Arizona State Univ. K.C. Cole, science writer, author, professor, Univ. of Na tion al Cen ter for Sci ence Ed u ca tion Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism. Harry Kroto, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Florida Rob ert Sheaf fer, sci ence writer State Univ.; Nobel laureate Fred er ick Crews, lit er ary and cul tur al crit ic, pro fes sor emer i tus El ie A. Shne our, bi o chem ist, au thor, president and research of Eng lish, Univ. of Cal i for nia, Berke ley Ed win C. Krupp, as tron o mer, di rect or, Grif fith Ob ser va to ry director, Bi os ys tems Re search In sti tute, La Jol la, CA Rich ard Dawk ins, zo ol o gist, Ox ford Univ. Paul Kurtz,* professor emeritus of philosophy, SUNY at Buffalo Seth Shostak, senior astronomer, SETI Institute, Mountain Ge of frey Dean, tech ni cal ed i tor, Perth, Aus tral ia Law rence Kusche, sci ence writer View, CA Cor nel is de Ja ger, pro fes sor of as tro phys ics, Univ. of Utrecht, Le on Le der man, emer i tus di rect or, Fer mi lab; No bel lau re ate Dick Smith, film pro duc er, pub lish er, Ter rey Hills, N.S.W., Aus tral ia in phys ics The Neth er lands Rob ert Stein er, ma gi cian, au thor, El Cer ri to, CA Scott Lil i en feld, psy chol o gist, Emory Univ. Dan i el C. Den nett, Univ. pro fes sor and Aus tin B. Fletch er Pro - Vic tor J. Sten ger, emer i tus pro fes sor of phys ics and as tron o my, fes sor of Phi los o phy, di rect or of Cen ter for Cog ni tive Stud ies Lin Zix in, former ed i tor, Sci ence and Tech nol o gy Dai ly (Chi na) Univ. of Ha waii; ad junct pro fes sor of phi los o phy, Univ. of CO at Tufts Uni v. Je re Lipps, Mu se um of Pa le on tol o gy, Univ. of Cal i for nia, Berke ley Jill Cor nell Tar ter, as tron o mer, SE TI In sti tute, Moun tain View, CA Ann Druyan, writer and producer, and CEO, Cosmos Studios, Eliz a beth Loft us, pro fes sor of psy chol o gy, Univ. of CA, Ir vine Car ol Tav ris, psy chol o gist and au thor, Los Ange les, CA Ithaca, NY Da vid Marks, psy chol o gist, City Univ., Lon don Da vid Thom as, phys i cist and math e ma ti cian, Per al ta, NM Ken neth Fed er, pro fes sor of an thro pol o gy, Cen tral Con nec ti cut Mar io Men dez-Acos ta, jour nal ist and sci ence writer, Mex i co Steph en Toul min, pro fes sor of phi los o phy, Univ. of South ern CA State Univ. City, Mex i co An to ny Flew, phi los o pher, Read ing Univ., U.K. Kenneth R. Miller, professor of biology, Brown Univ. Neil de Gras se Ty son, as tro phys i cist and di rect or, Hay den Plan e tar i um, New York City Barbara Forrest, professor of philosophy, SE Louisiana Univ. Marv in Min sky, pro fes sor of me dia arts and sci en ces, M.I.T. An drew Fra knoi, as tron o mer, Foot hill Col lege, Los Al tos Hills,CA Da vid Mor ri son, space sci en tist, NA SA Ames Re search Cen ter Ma ri lyn vos Sa vant, Pa rade mag a zine con trib ut ing ed i tor Stev en Wein berg, pro fes sor of phys ics and as tron o my, Univ. of Kend rick Fra zi er*, sci ence writer, ed i tor, SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER Rich ard A. Mul ler, pro fes sor of phys ics, Univ. of Ca lif., Berke ley Tex as at Aus tin; No bel lau re ate Christopher C. French, professor, department of psychol- Joe Nick ell, sen ior re search fel low, CSI ogy, and head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Jan Willem Nienhuys, mathematician, Waalre, The E.O. Wil son, uni ver si ty pro fes sor emer i tus, Har vard Univ. Unit, Goldsmiths College, Univ. of London. Netherlands Rich ard Wis e man, psy chol o gist, Uni ver si ty of Hert ford shire Yv es Gal i fret, executive secretary, l’Union Rationaliste Lee Nis bet, phi los o pher, Med aille Col lege Benjamin Wolozin*, professor, department of pharmacology, Mar tin Gard ner, au thor, crit ic Steven Novella, M.D., assistant professor of neurology, Boston Univ.