The University of Virginia school of medicine’s Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) searches for scientific evidence of reincarnation or other life after death. They do a lot of interviews of small children who seem to have memories of past lives.

Former DOPS founder Dr. Ian Stevenson devised a simple test: He closed a padlock and put it in a box in the researchers' office. Only he knew the combination. He died in 2007.

Do You Believe in Life After Death? These Scientists Study It. By Saskia Solomon at the New York Times.

I’m a skeptic, but I love that groups like DOPS exist, studying low-probability but revolutionary phenomena like life after death, reincarnation, magic, time travel, UFOs, etc.

This article reminds me of one of my favorite novels: “Summerland,” by Hannu Rajamieni. The premise is that scientists discovered definitive proof of life after death in the late 19th Century and invented a device to communicate with the dead. The novel’s action takes place in the 1930s, among British spies fighting the Cold War against the Soviet Union in both this life and the next.