"We were asking her to jump high, but that was because her claim would present a huge challenge to science if it were true. Professor Wiseman said he agreed that the number of matches Ms Demkina had to achieve to be deemed a success was set higher than the standardprobability of one in 20 normally used in psychology tests. but the experimenters concealed the fact with their talk ofher failing the test." Professor Josephson said: "A statistically very significant result was obtained. "Surely a case for celebrating Natasha's success?" he says.īut instead, it was declared that Ms Demkina had failed the test as the experimenters had agreed with her ahead of the test that anything fewerthan five matches did not "support any belief in her claimed abilities". He says that, in difficult circumstances, Ms Demkina overcame odds of more than 50 to one to correctly diagnose four patients. had been deliberately set up with a view to ensuring that she would fail it". Professor Josephson says, on his Cambridge University-hosted website, that "many viewers ended up with a strong impression that the test. In the programme, Ms Demkina correctly identifies the medical conditions of four out of seven patients, and misdiagnoses three. The experiment to test Ms Demkina's claims was filmed for a Discovery Channel documentary, The Girl with the X-ray Eyes, which is also due to appearon Channel 4 next year. He said that the attack from Professor Josephson, who is a physicist with no known record of publishing on parapsychology, "does not carry much weight", as it was posted on his personal website without any refereeing process.īut he admitted that the trial could have been improved. Richard Wiseman, professor of psychology at Hertfordshire Universityand a key member of the respected Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, who helped design the experiment, hit backthis week. The professor, who has been scorned by colleagues for his enthusiasmfor the paranormal, has claimed that an experiment for a forthcoming terrestrial TV documentary that apparently disproves Ms Demkina's claims was "a fix" designed to ensure she failed. See also published comment, concluding remarksĪ Nobel prizewinning scientist has clashed with one of Britain's leading experts on the paranormal in a row over the purported talents of a Russian schoolgirl who claims she uses X-ray vision to diagnose medical problems.īrian Josephson, a Cambridge University professor who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1973, has given his backing to claims by Natasha Demkinathat she can see inside people's bodies. ![]() Scientists fail to see eye to eye over girl's 'X-ray vision' Phil Baty
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