Psychophysical Interactions with Electrical Plasma: Three Exploratory Experiments
📄 Original study ↗📌 Appears in:
Plain English Summary
Can you move glowing plasma with your mind? IONS researchers ran three experiments using a xenon plasma ball — those novelty lightning globes from science shops. Unlike their double-slit studies, this tested classical ionized gas, but the question was the same: can intention alter a physical system? Results were a rollercoaster. Experiment 1 (one person) found a significant effect — in the wrong direction. Experiment 2 (ten people) hit jaw-dropping 1-in-5-million odds, but controls also showed something odd, pointing to light contamination. Experiment 3 sealed everything with shielded chambers and fiber-optic isolation; thirteen participants tried pushing plasma in specific directions, delivering roughly 1-in-17-million odds. Both frosted and clear balls showed nearly identical effects. Major caveats: nothing was pre-registered (no locked analysis plan), effect direction flipped between experiments, and true blinding was absent — everyone knew the task. Only one independent team has tried replicating this.
Research Notes
A paradigm physically distinct from the double-slit series (classical ionized gas, not quantum optics) but part of the same IONS research program testing intentional influence on dynamic physical systems. Author Joyce Anastasia contributed 15 of 29 sessions in Exp. 3. Key limitations: no pre-registration; effect direction inconsistent across experiments (Exp. 1 was backwards); 'double-blind' label in original catalog entry was incorrect — participants knew their assigned task and experimenters were unblinded. Awaits independent replication. The Schwartz (2021, Explore) plasma study is the only known independent attempt; Radin cites Tiller (1990) as the historical precursor in JSE.
Three sequential experiments at IONS testing whether focused intention can alter the behavior of ionized gas streams in a commercially available xenon plasma ball lamp. Exp. 1 (N=1, 10 sessions): plasma in sealed opaque box at 3 m; significant result in wrong direction (z=−3.00, p=0.003). Exp. 2 (N=10, 21 sessions): plasma in open EM-shielded chamber; significant result (z=5.20, p=2×10⁻⁷) but controls also significant (z=2.3, p=0.02), implicating ambient-light artifact. Exp. 3 (N=13, 29 sessions): plasma in closed EM-shielded chamber with optical-fibre USB isolation; directional protocol (aim right vs. aim up); primary comparison z=5.42, p=6×10⁻⁸, effect size z/√N=1.00. Both frosted and clear plasma balls showed nearly identical effects.
Related Papers
Same Research Program
- Consciousness and the Double-Slit Interference Pattern: Six Experiments — Radin, Dean (2012)
- Psychophysical Interactions with a Double-Slit Interference Pattern: Exploratory Evidence of a Causal Influence — Radin, D.I (2021)
- Observer Influence on Quantum Interference: Testing the von Neumann-Wigner Consciousness-Collapse Theory — Radin, Dean (2025)
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📋 Cite this paper
Radin, Dean I, Anastasia, Joyce (2022). Psychophysical Interactions with Electrical Plasma: Three Exploratory Experiments. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.
@article{radin_2022_psychophysical,
title = {Psychophysical Interactions with Electrical Plasma: Three Exploratory Experiments},
author = {Radin, Dean I and Anastasia, Joyce},
year = {2022},
journal = {Journal of the Society for Psychical Research},
}