K was similar to ESP in that both were independent of space and time. ESP was a necessary part of the PK process, and that one signifies the other. In order to exert an influence over matter, such as tossed dice, ESP has to come into play at a critical point in space, and at the right moment in time. Both PK and ESP were influenced by drugs, hypnosis, and the subject's stae of mind. Also, it was Rhine's belief that faith healing and folk magic healing were PK phenomena, in which a psychogenic effect, sometimes at a distance, was exerted on the body.Rhine's research marked the beginning of a new era in PK experimentation. Before 1940 most observations in PK occurred through physical mediumship which was generally performed in dark settings of seances. It was practical impossible to establish any scientific control within such settings and there were many accusations of fraud. Following Rhine's work the experimentation of PK was divided into two categories: macro-PK, or observable events; and, micro-PK, weak or slight effects not observable to the naked eye and requiring statistical evaluation. More emphasis was placed on micro-PK.During the late 1960s a new method of testing micro-PK was developed by the American physicist Helmut Schmidt. His apparatus known as the "electronic coin flipper" operated on the random decay of radioactive particles. As the decay occurs the particles or rays are emitted at rates which are unaffected by temperature, pressure, electricity, magnetism, or chemical change. Such a rate of emission is completely unpredictable and cannot be manipulated by fraud. In experiments subjects were asked to exert their mental energy to influence on the flipping of the coins, so to attempt to make them come up heads or tails so the bulbs on the apparatus would light up in one direction or the other. Some subjects did successfully influence the coin toss. The electronic coin flipper was the prototype of random event generators,...
