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International Zetetic Challenge
{{Short description, Former proof of paranormal prize The International Zetetic Challenge (from Greek ζητεῖν ''zēteîn'', "to search") was an attempt to prove or disprove the existence of, or demonstrate events related to, the paranormal. It ran from 1987 until 2002 and offered a €200,000 prize to "any person who could prove any paranormal phenomenon." The challenge was overseen by two scientists, Henri Broch and Jacques Theodor; as well as a professional illusionist, Gérard Majax. Investigations and tests were carried out in the Laboratoire de Zététique at France's University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis. After fifteen years and a number of investigations the challenge was ended, the prize was unawarded, as no verifiable paranormal incident had been witnessed by the challengers. The laboratory at the university still conducts research in fields related to the paranormal, however. See also * Prabir Ghosh's $50,000 challenge against miracles and astrologers * List of pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Language
Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer, ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting impo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Notable paranormal beliefs include those that pertain to extrasensory perception (for example, telepathy), spiritualism and the pseudosciences of ghost hunting, cryptozoology, and ufology. Proposals regarding the paranormal are different from scientific hypotheses or speculations extrapolated from scientific evidence because scientific ideas are grounded in empirical observations and experimental data gained through the scientific method. In contrast, those who argue for the existence of the paranormal explicitly do not base their arguments on empirical evidence but rather on anecdote, testimony, and suspicion. The standard scientific models give the explanation that what appears to be paranormal phenomena is usually a misinterpretation, mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . The euro is divided into 100 cents. The currency is also used officially by the institutions of the European Union, by four European microstates that are not EU members, the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, as well as unilaterally by Montenegro and Kosovo. Outside Europe, a number of special territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally, over 200 million people worldwide use currencies pegged to the euro. As of 2013, the euro is the second-largest reserve currency as well as the second-most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. , with more than €1.3 trillion in circulation, the euro has one of the highest combined values of banknotes and coins in c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Broch
Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France * Henri I, Duke of Nemours (1572–1632), the son of Jacques of Savoy and Anna d'Este * Henri II, Duke of Nemours (1625–1659), the seventh Duc de Nemours * Henri, Count of Harcourt (1601–1666), French nobleman * Henri, Dauphin of Viennois (1296–1349), bishop of Metz * Henri de Gondi (other) * Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon (1555–1623), member of the powerful House of La Tour d'Auvergne * Henri Emmanuel Boileau, baron de Castelnau (1857–1923), French mountain climber * Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (born 1955), the head of state of Luxembourg * Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway, French Huguenot soldier and diplomat, one of the principal commanders of Bat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Theodor
Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related to the surname by the Nobility & Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Origins The origin of this surname ultimately originates from the Latin, Jacobus which belongs to an unknown progenitor. Jacobus comes from the Hebrew name, Yaakov, which translates as "one who follows" or "to follow after". Ancient history A French knight returning from the Crusades in the Holy Lands probably adopted the surname from "Saint Jacques" (or "James the Greater"). James the Greater was one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles, and is believed to be the first martyred apostle. Being endowed with this surname was an honor at the time and it is likely that the Church allowed it because of acts during the Crusades. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Illusionist
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It is to be distinguished from paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world. Modern entertainment magic, as pioneered by 19th-century magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, has become a popular theatrical art form. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, magicians such as Maskelyne and Devant, Howard Thurston, Harry Kellar, and Harry Houdini achieved widespread commercial success during what has become known as "the Golden Age of Magic." During this period, performance magic became a staple of Broadway theatre, vaudeville, and music halls. Magic retained its popularity in the television age, with magicians such as Paul Daniels, David Copperfield, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gérard Majax
Gérard Faier, known as Gérard Majax (April 28, 1943) is a French illusionist. He has appeared in many television programs, magic demonstrations, and movies. From 1987 until 2002 he, along with Jacques Théodor and Henri Broch of the Laboratoire de Zététique at the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, oversaw the International Zetetic Challenge. During the 1990s, on a late night television show by Thierry Ardisson Majax gave a demo of the "rotating table" ''supernatural phenomenon'': a group of "randomly" selected people from the audience stood around a round table, put their hands on it, and the table went up and started rotating. Observation of a video recording made of this event showed that some participants had metal hacks hidden in the sleeves of their jackets. When the participants put the hands on the table, the hacks "pinched" the table underneath, allowing it to be lifted. In 2000, he created a new theme park attraction called The Hallucinoscope. See also * James ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laboratoire De Zététique
The Laboratoire de Zététique (English: ''Zetetic Laboratory'') is a structure founded by professor in 1998. Purpose and history The laboratory is a Research center, research and information centre concerned with purported "paranormal" or "abnormal" phenomena. The goal is dissemination of the scientific method and ''zététique'' (defined as "the art of doubt", in English better known as scientific skepticism). The Laboratoire de Zététique is run by an association called the Centre d'Analyse Zététique (''Centre for Zetetic Analysis''), which publishes the ''CAZette'' (a portmanteau of ''gazette'' and its abbreviation ''CAZ'') since November 2011. Since 2005, it is affiliated with the Center for Inquiry as "Center for Inquiry–France", with Henri Broch as its spokesperson and ambassador of CFI–Transnational. Between 1987 and 2002, the laboratory offered the International Zetetic Challenge for an award of €200,000; no one has ever succeeded in demonstrating a paranor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its Metropolitan France, metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin (island), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Nice Sophia-Antipolis
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The first universities in Europe were established by Catholic Church monks. The University of Bologna (), Italy, which was founded in 1088, is the first university in the sense of: *being a high degree-awarding institute. *using the word ''universitas'' (which was coined at its foundation). *having independence from the ecclesiastic schools and issuing secular as well as non-secular degrees (with teaching conducted by both clergy and non-clergy): grammar, rhetoric, logic, theology, canon law, notarial law.Hunt Janin: "The university in medieval life, 1179–1499", McFarland, 2008, , p. 55f.de Ridder-Symoens, Hilde''A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prabir Ghosh
Prabir Ghosh (born 1 March 1945) is the founder and president of Science and Rationalists' Association of India, Bharatiya Bigyan O Yuktibadi Samiti, a science and rationalists' association based in Kolkata, India. He is the author of a number of books in Bengali language, Bengali disputing supernatural claims and is well known for his book series titled ''Aloukik Noy, Loukik''. Early life and family Prabir Ghosh born on 1 March 1945 at the Faridpur District, Faridpur (Now in Bangladesh). His parents were Mr. Prabhat Chandra Ghosh and Smt. Suhasini Ghosh. His father moved to Adra, Purulia, Adra, Purulia when he was six months old. He spent his early childhood in Adra. Young Prabir came to railway town Kharagpur in 1955. He completed his secondary education from Kharagpur. Later his father settled in Dum dum, Kolkata, in 1960. Ghosh completed graduation in Kolkata. He used to imitate the street magicians in those days. Indian rupee, ₹5,000,000 miracle challenge Similar to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Prizes For Evidence Of The Paranormal
Paranormal challenges, often posed by groups or individuals who self-identify as skeptics or rationalists, publicly challenge those who claim to possess paranormal abilities to demonstrate that they in fact possess them, and are not fraudulent or self-deceptive. Process After establishing procedures and measures of success agreed upon beforehand between the challengers and the claimants, a challenge is usually divided into two steps, the first being a "preliminary test" or "pre-test", where claimants can show their purported abilities under controlled conditions before a small audience, before being admitted to the final test. Sometimes these pre-tests have a smaller prize attached to them. Several local organisations have set up challenges that serve as pre-tests to larger prizes such as the JREF's One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge or the 2012–2013 SKEPP Sisyphus Prize (for one million euros). History In 1922, ''Scientific American'' made two US$2,500 offers: (1) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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