The small yellow ball disappears from the magician's left hand, reappearing moments later, plucked out of thin air, by his right. Hardly a mind-boggling move at a magic show, but this is an academic ...

Pulling a rabbit from a top hat. Teleporting from one cage to another. Finding a coin behind a five-year-old’s ear. Magic has long inspired a sense of awe and wonder, but one portion of the population ...