Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory

The Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory was a research unit founded in 1930 by J. B. Rhine, a botanist who sought to bring scientific rigor to the study of psychic phenomena. Rhine, frustrated by the theatrical displays of séance mediums, aimed to banish "mediumistic monkeying-about" and instead focused on controlled experiments, such as card-guessing and dice-throwing, to generate statistical evidence for psi.¹

Rhine's work at Duke helped transform psychical research into "parapsychology," emphasizing dry statistics and experimental rigor. While his methods were blessed by statisticians and gained some public interest, the laboratory's work ultimately failed to firmly establish psi within mainstream science. Critics argued that parapsychologists never seemed to have anything to show for their work beyond marginal statistical evidence, leading to the ghettoization of the field.¹

The laboratory also conducted classified research for the U.S. government. In the early 1950s, the Army initiated a secret program with the Duke lab to test whether dogs could locate buried landmines underwater. The lab also conducted experiments on the homing abilities of pigeons for the Army Signal Corps, and on telepathic communication with cats.²