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Ewan Morrison

22/09/2015

BBC Radio Scotland - Is There Anyone There?

Novelist Ewan Morrison finds out how science investigates the paranormal.

Novelist Ewan Morrison finds out how science investigates the paranormal with the help of Edinburgh University's Koestler Parapsychology Unit.

How do you scientifically investigate the paranormal - beyond the frontiers of science? As one academic told us, 'the way hedgehogs make love - very carefully indeed!'. It could be a motto for Edinburgh University's Koestler Parapsychology Unit who are celebrating their 30th anniversary. They investigate a subject that other scientists often regard with suspicion, (even asking whether some of what they study exists at all). It's a topic of long-standing interest for novelist Ewan Morrison who remembers the strange habits of his church-going God-fearing Highland granny who kept a secret ouija board. What is the attraction of the paranormal and can you really study it? Ewan sets out to explore with help from the KPU's Drs Caroline Watt and Peter Lamont and ex-KPU, Professor Richard Wiseman. Can we find why the spooky South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh seem so haunted? Can Caroline help Ewan unravel the secrets of the Ouija board? And is Ewan psychic? (Spoiler - probably not! But we had fun trying.).

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