In case you need any last minute Christmas gift ideas. Give it to anyone who either believes or refuses to believe that people can fall for a robot or an AI companion.

New SoMA Newsletter: Glad Lucia! A digital advent calendar + new papers and books open.substack.com/pub/scienceo...

Open PhD Position at Lund University that could accommodate a Science of Magic Project (Deadline Dec 20) open.substack.com/pub/scienceo...

Nice write up of my event @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social w/@drkatedevlin.bsky.social, where we discussed how the science of magic/illusion can be applied to psychological research on AI and neurotechnology www.kcl.ac.uk/news/digital...

Then on Friday evening, find out about the link between magic, brains and AI with @mattltompkins.bsky.social: www.kcl.ac.uk/events/magic...

New SoMA Newsletter: Happy Maundy Thursday! Ft. Witches, Tarot Exhibits, New Publications, A Book Review, Podcasts, and Philosophy Debates: open.substack.com/pub/scienceo...

My review of 'Conjuring The Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums' is live on @spr1882.bsky.social (w/thanks to @nemomorck.bsky.social for inviting me to write this) spr.ac.uk/node/19583

I currently have two fully-funded PhD opportunities in my lab - both providing a chance to work on the incredible LEAF data set that we have been collecting the last couple of years (220 children followed longitudinally from 10-30 months on measures of attention and early EF). Please share!

Science of Magic Association January Newsletter open.substack.com/pub/scienceo...

Edgar being festive

New SoMA Newsletter: Post Conference Updates and Eyeball Gouging Celebrations open.substack.com/pub/scienceo...

And we're off! The Science of Magic Conference has begun. @mattltompkins.bsky.social leads off with a historical overview of interaction between science and magic. #SoMA24

I was too distracted to make social media posts yesterday. It was an amazing first day of the Science of Magic Conference! Here's some documentation. #SoMA24

I was trying to think of my favourite HP page. It could be this. It discusses infrasound creating visual distortions, we use the Herman grid illusion to create said visual distortions, the effect is entirely tied into the medium and it has this elegant (if I do say so), spooky astronaut sequence.

SoMA September Newsletter: Conference Updates, New Books, a Paper, and a Podcast open.substack.com/pub/scienceo...

Delighted to debut the new poster for our upcoming conference: scienceofmagicassoc.org/home#confere... (Art created by the amazing Kyla Moffatt kylamoffatt.com)

Cognition folks: I REALLY love teaching about the mental imagery debate. Even though I tend to live on the propositional code side of the debate, much of my discussion is about analog code. I've never found a reading that focuses on propositional code and that's accessible to undergrads. Any help?

Reminder about the Early Registration Deadline for SoMA 2024 + A Preview of Coming Attractions (i.e. all confirmed presenter abstracts) You have until August 17 to take advantage of the discount! t.co/Aw2DnQJKsQ

DEADLINE Reminder: SoMA 2024 Conference Presentation Proposals Due July 14! open.substack.com/pub/scienceo...

SoMA Newsletter July 2024: Deadlines for Conference Abstracts, New Interview Series, & Two New Stories HT @annamerlan.bsky.social @magictony.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/scienceo...

Today in delightful: I got to write about John Gaughan, a legendary magic builder and inventor who has a semi-secret museum of magic history in the back of his shop. www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a...

New SoMA Newsletter: Featuring conference updates, new publications, a contest, and a case study of nonmagical needle swallowing. t.co/ujpPSpVvK3

Next week @jordancollver.bsky.social and I will be chatting with Professor Richard Wiseman about our comic Hocus Pocus and how to make science comics. We’ll also be doing a Q&A! Tickets are free! Available in person and online. www.ticketsource.co.uk/comicsatleed...

Sent to me by a colleague. Funny stuff.

Philosopher, Helen De Cruz, explores the transformative role of wonder and awe in an uncertain world, and why we practice magic. press.princeton.edu/ideas/why-we... #Philosophy #philosopher

New SoMA Newsletter: A Call for Abstracts, Book Recommendation, New Neuroscience Study, and A Breaking-ish (simultaneously very old) Story About Magic & Tech open.substack.com/pub/scienceo...

Happy Leap Day from The Science of Magic Association! scienceofmagicassoc.substack.com/p/happy-leap...

Had an excellent first gig of the year at “Ringar på vattnet–En varm kväll för Ukraina” in Åland. Was a privilege to share the stage with amazing artists, including the Lviv women's choir, to help raise money for Ukrainian medical aid. (Pics by Daniel Eriksson) www.alandstidningen.ax/nyheter/gala...

My talk "Seeing through magic," presented at Forskning & Framsteg's 'Brain Day 2023 in Stockholm, is now up online (in English). Great venue/crowd and was a pleasure to share the stage with some excellent speakers urplay.se/program/2353...

SoMA Halloween Newsletter: Some of the latest science of magic-related news including graduate degrees in witchcraft, prizes, wellbeing books, spirit photos, hallucinated coins, and my own formative experience with an allegedly cursed Ouija board. t.co/pWIzlklyLJ