SI Art cover 2_SI JF 10 V1 7/31/12 10:30 AM Page 1 Skepticism in Art | Van Gogh’s ‘Murder’? | Top Ten Alien Mug Shots | Wiseman Wins CSI Balles Prize the Magazine for Science and Reason Vol. 36 No. 5 | September/October 2012 INTRODUCTORY PRICE U.S. and Canada $4.95 SPECIAL ISSUE Published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Sep­Oct­pages­cut_SI­new­design­masters­­8/1/12­­9:53­AM­­Page­2 at the Cen terfor In quIry –transnatIonal Paul Kurtz, Founder Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Ronald A. Lindsay, President and CEO Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Bar ry Karr, Ex ec u tive Di rect or Benjamin Radford, Research Fellow www.csicop.org Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow James E. Al cock*, psy chol o gist, York Univ., Tor on to Thom as Gi lov ich, psy chol o gist, Cor nell Univ. Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Mar cia An gell, MD, former ed i tor-in-chief, Wendy M. Grossman, writer; founder and first editor, Astronomy and director of the Hopkins New Eng land Jour nal of Med i cine The Skeptic magazine (UK) Observatory, Williams College Kimball Atwood IV, MD, physician; author; Sus an Haack, Coop er Sen ior Schol ar in Arts and John Pau los, math e ma ti cian, Tem ple Univ. Newton, MA Sci en ces, professor of phi los o phy and professor Massimo Pigliucci, professor of philosophy, of Law, Univ. of Mi ami Steph en Bar rett, MD, psy chi a trist; au thor; con sum er City Univ. of New York–Lehman College ad vo cate, Al len town, PA Harriet Hall, MD, family physician; investigator, Stev en Pink er, cog ni tive sci en tist, Harvard Univ. Willem Betz,MD, professor of medicine, Univ. of Brussels Puyallup, WA Ir ving Bie der man, psy chol o gist, Univ. of C.E.M. Han sel, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Wales Philip Plait, astronomer; lecturer; writer South ern CA David J. Helfand, professor of astronomy, Mas si mo Pol id oro, sci ence writer; au thor; ex ec u tive Sandra Blakeslee, science writer; author; New York Columbia Univ. di rect or of CI CAP, It a ly Times science correspondent Doug las R. Hof stad ter, pro fes sor of hu man Anthony R. Pratkanis, professor of psychology, Sus an Black more, vis it ing lec tur er, Univ. of the West un der stand ing and cog ni tive sci ence, In di ana Univ. Univ. of CA, Santa Cruz of Eng land, Bris tol Ger ald Hol ton, Mal linc krodt Pro fes sor of Phys ics and Benjamin Radford, investigator; research fellow, Mark Boslough, physicist, Sandia National Laborato- pro fes sor of his to ry of sci ence, Har vard Univ. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ries, Albuquerque, NM Ray Hy man*, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Or e gon James “The Amazing” Randi, magician; CSICOP Hen ri Broch, phys i cist, Univ. of Nice, France Le on Jar off, sci en ces ed i tor emer i tus, Time founding member; founder, James Randi Jan Har old Brun vand, folk lor ist; pro fes sor emer i tus Stuart D. Jordan, NASA astrophysicist emeritus; Educational Foundation of Eng lish, Univ. of Utah science advisor to Center for Inquiry Office of Mil ton Ro sen berg, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Chic a go Mar io Bunge, phi los o pher, McGill Univ., Montreal Public Policy, Washington, DC Wal la ce Sam pson, MD, clin i cal pro fes sor of med i cine, Robert T. Carroll, emeritus professor of philosophy, Ser gei Ka pit za, former ed i tor, Rus sian edi tion, Sacramento City College; writer Sci en tif ic Amer i can Stan ford Univ.; ed i tor, Sci en tif ic Re view of Sean B. Carroll, molecular geneticist; vice president Barry Karr, executive director, Committee for Al ter na tive Med i cine for science education, Howard Hughes Medical Skeptical Inquiry, Amherst, New York Am ar deo Sar ma*, chairman, GWUP, Ger ma ny Institute, Madison, WI Law rence M. Krauss, foundation professor, School Richard Saunders, vice president, Australian Thomas R. Casten, energy expert; founder and of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics Dept.; Skeptics; educator; investigator; podcaster; chairman, Recycled Energy Development, director, Origins Initiative, Arizona State Univ. Sydney, Australia Westmont, IL Harry Kroto, professor of chemistry and Eu ge nie C. Scott*, phys i cal an thro pol o gist; ex ec u tive John R. Cole, an thro pol o gist; ed i tor, Na tion al biochemistry, Florida State Univ.; Nobel laureate di rect or, Na tion al Cen ter for Sci ence Ed u ca tion Cen ter for Sci ence Ed u ca tion Ed win C. Krupp, as tron o mer; di rect or, K.C. Cole, science writer; author; professor, Grif fith Ob ser va to ry, Los Angeles, CA Rob ert Sheaf fer, sci ence writer Univ. of Southern California’s Annenberg Paul Kurtz, professor emeritus of philosophy, El ie A. Shne our, bi o chem ist; au thor; president and School of Journalism SUNY at Buffalo research director, Bi os ys tems Re search In sti tute, Fred er ick Crews, lit er ary and cul tur al crit ic; pro fes sor Law rence Kusche, sci ence writer La Jol la, CA emer i tus of Eng lish, Univ. of CA, Berke ley Le on Le der man, emer i tus di rect or, Fer mi lab; Seth Shostak, senior astronomer, SETI Institute, Rich ard Dawk ins, zo ol o gist, Ox ford Univ. No bel lau re ate in phys ics Mountain View, CA Ge of frey Dean, tech ni cal ed i tor, Perth, Aus tral ia Scott O. Lil i en feld*, psy chol o gist, Emory Univ., Simon Singh, science writer; broadcaster; UK Cor nel is de Ja ger, pro fes sor of as tro phys ics, Atlanta, GA Dick Smith,film pro duc er; pub lish er; Ter rey Hills, Univ. of Utrecht, the Neth er lands Lin Zix in, former ed i tor, Sci ence and N.S.W., Aus tral ia Dan i el C. Den nett, Aus tin B. Fletch er Pro fes sor Tech nol o gy Dai ly (Chi na) Keith E. Stanovich, cognitive psychologist; of Phi los o phy and di rect or of Cen ter for Cog ni tive Je re Lipps, Mu se um of Pa le on tol o gy, Univ. of CA, Stud ies, Tufts Uni v. Berke ley professor of human development and applied psychology, Uni v. of Toronto Ann Druyan, writer and producer; CEO, Eliz a beth Loft us*, pro fes sor of psy chol o gy, Cosmos Studios, Ithaca, NY Univ. of CA, Ir vine Rob ert Stein er, ma gi cian; au thor; El Cer ri to, CA Sanal Edamaruku, president, Indian Rationalist Da vid Marks, psy chol o gist, City Univ., Lon don Vic tor J. Sten ger, emer i tus pro fes sor of phys ics Association and Rationalist International Mar io Men dez-Acos ta, jour nal ist and sci ence writer, and as tron o my, Univ. of Ha waii; ad junct pro fes sor Edzard Ernst, professor, Complementary Medicine, Mex i co City of phi los o phy, Univ. of CO Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Kenneth R. Miller, professor of biology, Karen Stollznow*, linguist; skeptical investigator; Plymouth, Exeter, UK Brown Univ. writer; podcaster Ken neth Fed er, pro fes sor of an thro pol o gy, Marv in Min sky, pro fes sor of me dia arts and sci en ces, Jill Cor nell Tar ter,as tron o mer, SE TI In sti tute, Cen tral Con nec ti cut State Univ. M.I.T. Barbara Forrest, professor of philosophy, Moun tain View, CA Da vid Mor ri son, space sci en tist, NA SA Ames Re search Car ol Tav ris,psy chol o gist and au thor, Los Ange les, CA SE Louisiana Univ. Cen ter An drew Fra knoi, as tron o mer, Foot hill Col lege, Rich ard A. Mul ler, pro fes sor of phys ics, Univ. of CA, Da vid E. Thom as*, phys i cist and math e ma ti cian, Los Al tos Hills, CA Berke ley Per al ta, NM Kend rick Fra zi er*, sci ence writer; ed i tor, Joe Nick ell, sen ior re search fel low, CSI Neil de Gras se Ty son, as tro phys i cist and di rect or, SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER Jan Willem Nienhuys, mathematician, Waalre, Hay den Plan e tar i um, New York City Christopher C. French, professor, Department The Netherlands Ma ri lyn vos Sa vant, Pa rade mag a zine of Psychology, and head of the Anomalistic Lee Nis bet, phi los o pher, Med aille Col lege con trib ut ing ed i tor Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths College, Univ. of London Steven Novella, MD, assistant professor Stev en Wein berg, pro fes sor of phys ics and as tron o my, Yv es Gal i fret, executive secretary, of neurology, Yale Univ. School of Medicine Univ. of Tex as at Aus tin; No bel lau re ate Bill Nye, sci ence ed u ca tor and tel e vi sion host, l’Union Rationaliste E.O. Wil son, Univ. pro fes sor emer i tus, organismic and Nye Labs Luigi Garlaschelli, chemist, Università di Pavia evolutionary biology, Har vard Univ.