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Entanglement is a good cognitive chunk because it challenges our cognitive intuitions. Our minds seem built to prefer relatively mechanic cause-and-effect stories as explanations of natural phenomena. And when we can't come up with one of those stories, then we tend to resort to irrational thinking, the kind of magic we feel when we think about entanglement. Entangled particles teach us that our beliefs of how the world works can seriously interfere with our understanding of it. But they also teach us that if we stick with the principles of good scientific practice, of observing, measuring, and then reproducing phenomena that we can frame in a theory (or that are predicted by a scientific theory), we can make sense of things. Even very weird things like entanglement.

... concepts like dark matter, supersymmetry or hidden valley... can no longer be framed in the imagination, let alone verified in reality. Such issues pose new challenges not only to particle physics but also to art. How can such abstract ideas be linked to the material world in real terms? Should we imagine a Higgs particle as having a colour and a shape?

After two weeks at CERN, von Bismarck is already seeing everyday objects as conglomerations of atoms.

Unter bestimmten Bedingungen können Menschen ein rötliches Grün oder ein gelbliches Blau sehen – Farben, die es laut klassischer Theorien der Farbwahrnehmung gar nicht gibt. Solche und andere Halluzinationen verschaffen Zugang zum Verständnis.

Es ist schwierig, über Dinge nachzudenken, wenn sie sich nicht in eine etablierte Weltsicht einfügen lassen.

Savant capabilities seem extraordinary, but what if they aren't? What if we all have amazing talents embedded in our brains? In this episode, Marshall discusses different techniques that have revealed savant-like qualities in ordinary people.

There is one I have in the book—the Herring illusion—where you have a straight line superimposed on a lot of radiating lines, and you can’t help but see that straight line as curved. To convince yourself that it’s not curved you have to sort of get out a ruler and show that it’s straight. And what I find fascinating there is however much knowledge you have that this is a straight line, you can’t see it as one. So, there are some times when some kinds of knowledge we have are not sufficient to change our perception, but other kinds of knowledge are sufficient to change our perception.

There’s a description from an old book which collected such experiences, of someone who was ridinghis bicycle in the dark. And there was a storm going on. And his friend was in front. And he heard a loud crash, and he saw his friend falling off his bicycle and hitting himself. This was actually a hallucination. His friend was actually fine. But he was so worried and his expectation was so great, and it was so dark and thundery that he actually saw this happening. That would be an example where your prior expectations override the sensations that are coming in

In the puzzle game Quantum Conundrum, you play the 12-year-old nephew of Professor Fitz Quadwrangle, a scientist who had invented a way to shift between these universes before becoming trapped in one after an experiment went awry.

Imagine trying to navigate a world where the laws of physics are always changing: where strange spaces and non-Euclidian geometry challenge your instincts, and retracing your steps doesn’t lead you back to where you started.

Part of Antichamber’s remit is to make complex ideas accessible, says Bruce. “Things that are completely incomprehensible by looking at mathematical formulas on paper, like quantum mechanics or non-Euclidean space, could be presented in a way that allows the player to interact with them more directly and understand their ramifications.”

Every morning we wake up and regain consciousness -- that is a marvelous fact -- but what exactly is it that we regain? Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio uses this simple question to give us a glimpse into how our brains create our sense of self.

The Verge's Ben Popper explores the world of biohacking, where DIY cyborgs are pushing the bleeding edge of human enhancement. From basement labs to piercing shops, we investigate the "grinder" culture that hopes to merge man and machine.

It’s all really there. That’s what really gets you. But you gotta stop and think about it to really get the pleasure about the complexity, the inconceivable nature of nature.”

Nobody knows whether humans can access exotic images based on quantum entanglement. Now one physicist has designed an experiment to find out. 

Barbosa points out that new forms of imaging are not unknown in the animal world. Various animals and insects see in the infrared and ultraviolet, giving them an entirely different perspective on the world.

There is also some evidence that birds can 'see' the earth's magnetic field thanks to the quantum interaction between the field and light sensitive molecules in their retinas.

So the possibility that new ways of seeing the world can emerge is not unprecedented. 

The key quote here is from Brian Greene:

This is one of the great conundrums, it seems to me, that what you learn in science is so different than what you feel in your regular life! How do you live between those two worlds when what you know and what you feel are so different?

We are more likely today to use our brains for abstract thinking that is we’re much more likely to reason about hypothetical things.

Neuroplasticity enables to go from 2D vision to 3D vision. Now, let's go further.

Excerpt from the documentary "My brilliant brain". Accidental Genius - Is there a hidden genius potential in each of us? Can it be unlock? Allan Snyder, an Australia scientist, has devised a controversial experiment in which he applies magnetic stimulation to the brain to trigger savant-like powers of perception in normal healthy people.

For a long time people thought that the self was unified and eternal. It’s easy to see why. We feel like we have an essence; we grow old, gain and lose friends, and change preferences but we are ...