On this day in history: Derren Brown born.
Derren Victor Brown (born 27 February 1971) is an English magician, mentalist, painter and self-professed sceptic regarding paranormal phenomena.
Your comments welcome.
No Miracle As Brain-Damaged Patient Proved Unable To Communicate
“It seemed to be a medical miracle: the car crash victim assumed for 23 years to be in a coma who was suddenly found to be conscious and able to communicate by tapping on a computer.
The sceptics said it was impossible – and it was. The story of Rom Houben of Belgium, which made headlines worldwide last November when he was shown to be “talking”, was today revealed to have been nothing of the sort.
Dr Steven Laureys, one of the doctors treating him, acknowledged that his patient could not make himself understood after all. Facilitated communication, the technique said to have made Houben’s apparent contact with the outside world possible, did not work, Laureys declared.”
Read more at The Guardian
Mental Health Clinic Filled With Optical Illusions
“Japanese designers Nendo have completed the interior of a mental health clinic in Akasaka, Tokyo, where none of the doors open and patients and staff instead move around the building by opening sections of the walls.”
Read more at Dezeen Magazine (thanks, SonOfSam)
Why The Media Seems Biased When You Care About The Issue
“Research shows both pro-Arabs and pro-Israelis watching the same news reports think it is biased against their own side.
The media may well be biased, in fact it would be a miracle if it were permanently and perfectly balanced, that isn’t what this post is about.
Instead this is about how you and I perceive the presence or absence of bias in the media.
This study, conducted in the 1980s, helps to explain a lot of the heat and light that gets produced by those commenting on media bias across the political spectrum, including the remarkably vitriolic outpourings often seen in the comment sections of newspaper websites and across the internet.”
Read more at PsyBlog
Torquay Enigma Tickets Winner
Congratulations go to Olivia and Harry who have won 2 tickets to see Enigma on Monday!
We hope you both enjoy the show 
Apologies to all that missed out this time, but keep your eyes on the blog for more chances.
Patrick Page lives on
I’ve just heard the very sad news that Patrick Page has passed away. Magicians worth their salt will be know that Patrick was a genius of our craft, and a famously generous man. I knew him a little from his consultancy work on some of my projects: he was a brilliantly rude, sharp-witted, sensationally likeable Scot, better at magic and more knowledgeable than any of us. All of us at Objective are devastated by the news. For some time, the sheer force of his personality has kept him going through illness, but now he doesn’t need to fight any more. At the same time, as with any powerfully creative force, he will live on strongly and defiantly through his work and the legacy he leaves. There’s a bit of Patrick every night in Enigma, and in countless other performances happening now across the world.
It is an honour to have known him, and to continue to know him through his particular genius. Much love to his friends and family from all of us.
x
Win Tickets to Enigma at the Torquay Princess
Yes you heard it – we’re giving away two free tickets to the fantastic Enigma 2010 show at the Princess Theatre in Torquay. Tickets are for Monday 15th of February and all you have to do to win them is the following:
Find someone to go with. Get THEM to email US with the best (true) reason as to why YOU should win. You can ask as many friends as you like to email us - but each friend can only email us once.
You have just a few days to win so get out there and ask someone if they would like to go with you to see Mr Brown and his incredible Enigma show.
ENIGMA nominated for second Olivier!
For those in the US, the Olivier Awards are the equivalent of the Tony’s – Theatreland’s highest accolade. In 2006, “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, written by Derren and his collaborator Andy Nyman (who also directs the shows) won an Olivier, and was the first time that any sort of magic show had won such an esteemed award. Now Enigma is shortlisted, the show that Derren is about to reprise on a 5 month sell-out tour, his longest yet due to huge demand. It kicks off in Swansea this week.
Details for tickets are available on this blog. We believe extra tickets have now been made available in Torquay for Valentine’s weekend. If you find your theatre is sold out, you can try for returns or, if you wish, keep an eye on eBay, where they sometimes appear for huge amounts.
Derren says, “Touring with the stage show is by far my favourite part of the year. I’m so excited to get it up and running again. This tour had to double in size to accomodate demand, which makes it doubly fun to do. Particularly this show, which is such a massive pleasure to perform.” On the subject of a possible second Olivier, he added, “It’s amazing to be nominated. And if the show does win, it has the advantage that means that if you come and don’t like it, then you’re wrong and I can prove it.”
There are whispers of Derren hitting Broadway with a show in 2011. Nothing has been confirmed, and no details are being offered.
Coops and Iain, two of the small crew that travels with Derren, are personally requesting this year that the more “generous and sexy” fans bring them packets of Roast Beef Monster Munch. “They can be left at stage door before the show. Leave your details and we’ll announce a prize for the person who leaves the most…”
They don’t know what they’re letting themselves in for.
Anyone attending the show is respectfully asked by Derren to keep its contents secret…
The Cutaneous Rabbit Illusion
“IF a rapid series of taps are applied first to your wrist and then to your elbow, you will experience a perceptual illusion, in which phantom sensations are felt along the skin connecting the two points that were actually touched. This feels as if a tiny rabbit is hopping along your skin from the wrist to the elbow, and is therefore referred to as the “cutaneous rabbit”. The illusion indicates that our perceptions of sensory inputs do not enter conscious awareness until after the integration of events occuring within a certain time window, and that the sensory events taking place at a certain point can be influenced by future events.
A group of Japanese researchers now shows that this illusion is not just confined to the body. In a new study published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, they report that the cutaneous rabbit can easily be induced to “hop out” of the body, so that the illusory sensations are perceived to originate not from the body itself, but from external objects that interact with it. ”
Read more at NeuroPhilosophy Blog
Homeopathic Society ‘Misled’ MPs In Inquiry
“The British Homeopathic Association has been accused of misrepresenting scientific evidence on alternative medicine in documents it gave to a parliamentary inquiry.
The organisation claimed several scientific reviews offered support for homeopathy in material submitted to the cross-party science and technology select committee, which is holding an investigation into the products. Robert Mathie, a researcher at the BHA, said the reviews found evidence for a difference between homeopathic remedies and sugar pills, which contain no active ingredients.
But the claim has dismayed some of the scientists who wrote the reviews and angered MPs on the committee who are in the final stages of writing their report.
One review cited was written by Edzard Ernst, a scientist who investigates complementary medicine at the Penisula Medical School in Exeter. He said the BHA’s interpretation of his study was “grossly misleading” because they failed to mention important caveats published in the study. Another review, by Jean-Pierre Boissel at the Hospitals of Lyon and University Claude Bernard in France, was quoted as evidence that homeopathic treatments differ to placebos. Boissel said his conclusion was that homeopathy tended to fare worse in the best-designed studies.
“It is extremely disappointing to be fed misrepresentations of science, whether it’s deliberate or incompetence,” said Evan Harris MP, science spokesman for the Lib Dems and a member of the parliamentary committee.
Homeopathic treatments are usually made by diluting a substance so much there are no molecules of the original ingredient left. In November the chief pharmacist at Boots, Paul Bennett, told the inquiry he had no evidence that homeopathy works. At the weekend, hundreds of people took part in a “mass overdose” of homeopathic pills outside branches of Boots to protest against the company selling the products.
The row emerged as a survey for the medical journal, Pulse, found 80% of GPs want the Health Department to stop funding homeopathy on the NHS. Only 14% were in favour of the health service continuing to provide the treatments.”
Read more at The Guardian (Thanks Tammy)
LC x"
