"Amazing Randi" to Talk at Summer Science Program at NM Tech

by George Zamora

SOCORRO, N.M., July 2, 2004 – “The Amazing Randi,” world-famous magician, escape artist, author, and most recently, debunker of pseudo-sciences, will be the featured speaker at an upcoming presentation at the Summer Science Program at New Mexico Tech.

James Randi will present “Investigating Pseudo-Science and Pseudo-Technology in the 21st Century” at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, July 9, at the university’s Workman Center, room 101/102. The lecture is offered free of charge and is open to the public.

Randi is recognized internationally for his tireless and successful investigations of psychic, supernatural, and “magical” claims, dealing with popular subjects that border on both science and mythology. In the recent past, he has been featured on various national television programs, including Nova, Dateline, 20/20, and Larry King Live.

The Summer Science Program (SSP) is a six-week-long residential enrichment program in which gifted high school students from around the world study and work to complete a challenging, hands-on astronomical research project involving asteroids.

SSP has proven to be one of the most prestigious research programs for secondary school students since its founding in Ojai, California in 1959. Last summer, SSP opened a second campus in Socorro, with the support of New Mexico Tech, Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, and others, attracting 36 teenage scientists from Massachusetts to Hawaii.

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