space research a touch of magic

Scientists Think Spacetime May Have Come From Magic

Seems about right.

• Scientists believe that spacetime may have emerged, in part, from a quantum property called “magic.”
• “Magic” describes how hard a quantum state is to simulate on a regular computer.
• According to a press release, the researchers’ work “provides the first direct link between the quantum property of magic and the chaotic nature of black holes.”

Digging deeper and deeper into ideas we see as the most fundamental and basic is one of the things that scientists do best—especially physicists. Poking around to see if anything makes up the basics has led to the discovery of everything from quarks to the Higgs Boson . Time and time again, whenever we think we’ve arrived at the foundation, there’s still another level down to go.

In order to try and uncover yet another one of those layers—this time regarding what underpins the universe—a group of scientists from RIKEN research institute in Japan has been digging into spacetime . You might hear people refer to “the fabric of spacetime,” and it’s the fundamental layer of many physical theories. It’s literally the ideas of space and time, but connected. It’s as basic as you can get.

But maybe not. According to the RIKEN team’s recent study, spacetime may partially be a product of a quantum property called “magic.” Yup. Spacetime might just come from magic.

Physicists have been looking into what might generate spacetime for some time, but it cam to prominence in the 90s, when theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena put forth a sort of math-based thought experiment. He imagined an infinite cylindrical region of space that contained black holes and spacetime, and had quantum particles moving about its surface. According to Maldacena’s math, the quantum theory used to describe the behavior of the particles on the surface of the region is equivalent to the gravitational theory used to describe the objects and spacetime inside the object.

Complex? Absolutely. But at a basic level, the idea was to prove that a quantum theory could entirely describe spacetime, which would mean that spacetime comes from some aspect (or aspects) of the quantum world. For a while, physicists toyed with the idea that the aspect in question was quantum entanglement —the strange property of quantum particles that allows them to be linked over long distances. But while entanglement describes the particles on that infinite cylinder, it doesn’t fully describe the black holes inside.

Specifically, it’s not chaotic enough. Black holes are chaotic in a very specific way that the RIKEN team wanted to make sure they were accounting for. “When you throw something into a black hole, information about it gets scrambled and cannot be recovered,” Kanato Goto, one of the researchers on this team, said in a press release. “This scrambling is a manifestation of chaos.”

So, instead of entanglement, the team turned to magic. In the quantum world, magic is a measure that describes how hard it is for a regular, every day, non- quantum computer to fully simulate a quantum state. Specifically, they showed mathematically that a chaotic system—like a black hole—will tend toward its most magical (hard to simulate) state. “This finding suggests that magic is strongly involved in the emergence of spacetime,” Goto said in a news release.

Right now, the work is purely mathematical. And there are proposals out there that argue about whether black holes are actually as chaotic as we tend to think. But if there’s a place for “magic” in the universe, the intersection of the mind-bending quantum world, mysterious black holes, and fundamental spacetime feels like the right place for it.

Jackie is a writer and editor from Pennsylvania. She's especially fond of writing about space and physics, and loves sharing the weird wonders of the universe with anyone who wants to listen. She is supervised in her home office by her two cats.

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Quantum 'magic' could help explain the origin of spacetime

A quantum property dubbed "magic" could be the key to explaining how space and time emerged, a new mathematical analysis by three RIKEN physicists suggests. The research is published in the journal Physical Review D .

It's hard to conceive of anything more basic than the fabric of spacetime that underpins the universe, but theoretical physicists have been questioning this assumption. "Physicists have long been fascinated about the possibility that space and time are not fundamental, but rather are derived from something deeper," says Kanato Goto of the RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS).

This notion received a boost in the 1990s, when theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena related the gravitational theory that governs spacetime to a theory involving quantum particles . In particular, he imagined a hypothetical space—which can be pictured as being enclosed in something like an infinite soup can, or "bulk"—holding objects like black holes that are acted on by gravity. Maldacena also imagined particles moving on the surface of the can, controlled by quantum mechanics . He realized that mathematically a quantum theory used to describe the particles on the boundary is equivalent to a gravitational theory describing the black holes and spacetime inside the bulk.

"This relationship indicates that spacetime itself does not exist fundamentally, but emerges from some quantum nature," says Goto. "Physicists are trying to understand the quantum property that is key."

The original thought was that quantum entanglement —which links particles no matter how far they are separated—was the most important factor: the more entangled particles on the boundary are, the smoother the spacetime within the bulk.

"But just considering the degree of entanglement on the boundary cannot explain all the properties of black holes, for instance, how their interiors can grow," says Goto.

So Goto and iTHEMS colleagues Tomoki Nosaka and Masahiro Nozaki searched for another quantum quantity that could apply to the boundary system and could also be mapped to the bulk to describe black holes more fully. In particular, they noted that black holes have a chaotic characteristic that needs to be described.

"When you throw something into a black hole, information about it gets scrambled and cannot be recovered," says Goto. "This scrambling is a manifestation of chaos."

The team came across "magic," which is a mathematical measure of how difficult a quantum state is to simulate using an ordinary classical (non-quantum) computer. Their calculations showed that in a chaotic system almost any state will evolve into one that is "maximally magical"—the most difficult to simulate.

This provides the first direct link between the quantum property of magic and the chaotic nature of black holes. "This finding suggests that magic is strongly involved in the emergence of spacetime," says Goto.

Journal information: Physical Review D

Provided by RIKEN

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Tags: Albina , Animal Astronauts , Bolshevik Revolution , Dog , Laika , Mushka , soviet union , space , space exploration , United States

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Annual Review of Psychology

Volume 75, 2024, review article, open access, beyond the tricks: the science and comparative cognition of magic.

• Elias Garcia-Pelegrin 1 , Alexandra K. Schnell 2 , Clive Wilkins 2 , and Nicola S. Clayton 2
• View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: 1 Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore; email: [email protected] 2 Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
• Vol. 75:269-293 (Volume publication date January 2024) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-012723-100945
• Copyright © 2024 by the author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See credit lines of images or other third-party material in this article for license information

Magic is an art form that has fascinated humans for centuries. Recently, the techniques used by magicians to make their audience experience the impossible have attracted the attention of psychologists, who, in just a couple of decades, have produced a large amount of research regarding how these effects operate, focusing on the blind spots in perception and roadblocks in cognition that magic techniques exploit. Most recently, this investigation has given a pathway to a new line of research that uses magic effects to explore the cognitive abilities of nonhuman animals. This new branch of the scientific study of magic has already yielded new evidence illustrating the power of magic effects as a psychological tool for nonhuman animals. This review aims to give a thorough overview of the research on both the human and nonhuman perception of magic effects by critically illustrating the most prominent works of both fields of inquiry.

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A touch of tech magic

Imagine the harry potter world with a dash of modern technology..

Published - September 03, 2024 11:05 am IST

The Hogwarts crest | Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The professors from the Harry Potter series were formidable, whether it was strict Snape, severe McGonagall, the seemingly amiable Lupin, or Mad-Eye Moody. As teachers, they had a way of imparting knowledge and handling a class of students that they had to turn into matchless wizards and witches. Now, imagine them teaching in today’s day and age...

Mineerva McGonagall | Photo Credit: Mail Pic

Minerva McGonagall

Sick of turning into a cat to fascinate a class that chooses to ‘behave like a babbling bumbling band of baboons’, McGonagall teaches ART or Augmented Reality Transfiguration. Here, students don AR glasses to visualise and practice challenging transfigurations. Through holographic projections, they learn transfiguration without the risk of damaging the projected objects while also having several chances to practise turning the object into an animal to perfection and back to its original state. She adds an element of gamification where she integrates elements of game design and gaming challenges while teaching more complex spells so that students are encouraged to perfect their skills.

Severus Snape | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives

Severus Snape

“Turn to page 394….” No matter how menacing he might sound, Snape creates interactive AI-powered potion recipes on iPads for students, with élan, and also conducts experiments in potion brewing in smart cauldrons that have automatic stirring mechanisms to practise difficult brewing techniques via VR headsets. What’s more, he also uses an AI software that analyses potions and their properties, and gives suggestions on how best to brew certain potions.

Professor Filius Flitwick | Photo Credit: Flickr

Professor Flitwick

One of the more affable teachers, he employs virtual wand selection where students use an online tool to analyse the extent of their wands’ magical abilities. Remember Seamus’ proclivity for pyrotechnics? The pint-sized prof also creates 3D simulations where students can practice charms in a safe space, without the risk of explosions. Coding is as important in the magical world as in the muggle world. So, he teaches easy programming languages where young witches and wizards learn to code charms and organises virtual field trips from time-to-time. He integrates the time-turner too at times, so that students can explore historical charm-making and go back in time to visit ancient charm makers.

Rubeus Hagrid | Photo Credit: Flickr

Rubeus Hagrid

Want to learn how to care for a hippogriff without the fear of a talon ripping you off? Hagrid now uses VR headsets for students to interact with and familiarise themselves with mock magical creatures, and learn how to handle and care for them. He also has a COMC analyser that uses Machine Learning algorithms to help students analyse the behaviours of magical creatures and predict how they might react to a certain situation. He holds classes in which students can use 3D printed models of thestrals, hippogriffs, nifflers, bowtruckles, and so on, to learn about their characteristics, anatomy, and more.

Pomona Sprout | Photo Credit: Flickr

Pomona Sprout

Who can forget the tongue-in-cheek, no-nonsense Herbology professor, whose favourite was the otherwise clumsy Neville Longbottom? Professor Sprout insists on VR Greenhouse sessions where students can explore and interact with magical plants. Nonetheless, she warns students to have their earmuffs firmly on while re-potting simulated baby Mandrakes, as their cries can still knock them out for a few hours. She has also implemented automated greenhouse management systems for students to learn more effectively. She likes it when students work in teams and use data analysis tools to conduct research on specific plants.

Alastor ‘Mad Eye’ Moody | Photo Credit: Flickr

Alastor ‘Mad Eye’ Moody

Moody has set up several databases which are a repository of curses, hexes, and more, to help students gather information on various forms of Dark magic. As Moody likes to blend theory and practical classes, he often hosts defensive magic workshops where students learn to create and cast real-time protective spells. He also brings experienced aurors (industry experts) to share their expertise with students and shed light on practical ways to combat dark magic. To encourage a spirit of competition, he introduces AR duelling tournaments, allowing them to practice defensive spells, and also his favourite unforgivable curses, in a competitive, yet safe environment. He also has the occasional online quiz to assess students’ understanding of important concepts.

Professor Binns

Professor Binns continues to have a soporific effect on his students. Only, his classes are less cumbersome as he too has woken up to the magic of technology. He uses video conferencing to deliver lectures in his usual dry manner, but students can now attend them remotely. A slight improvement from an offline boring lecture. Though he requires some handholding, Binns creates interactive timelines where his students can elaborately explore historical events, and uses AI to generate succinct summaries of important events from various eras. He has set up a digital museum where he curates interactive exhibits and artefacts of historical significance.

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The possibility of a science of magic

Ronald a. rensink.

1 Departments of Psychology and Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Gustav Kuhn

2 Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, London, UK

The past few years have seen a resurgence of interest in the scientific study of magic. Despite being only a few years old, this “new wave” has already resulted in a host of interesting studies, often using methods that are both powerful and original. These developments have largely borne out our earlier hopes (Kuhn et al., 2008 ) that new opportunities were available for scientific studies based on the use of magic. And it would seem that much more can still be done along these lines.

But in addition to this, we also suggested that it might be time to consider developing an outright science of magic —a distinct area of study concerned with the experience of wonder that results from encountering an apparently impossible event 1 . To this end, we proposed a framework as to how this might be achieved (Rensink and Kuhn, 2015 ). A science can be viewed as a systematic method of investigation involving three sets of issues: (i) the entities considered relevant, (ii) the kinds of questions that can be asked about them, and (iii) the kinds of answers that are legitimate (Kuhn, 1970 ). In the case of magic, we suggested that this could be done at three different levels, each focusing on a distinct set of issues concerned with the nature of magic itself: (i) the nature of magical experience, (ii) how individual magic tricks create this experience, and (iii) organizing knowledge of the set of known tricks in a more comprehensive way (Rensink and Kuhn, 2015 ). Our framework also included a base level focused on how the methods of magic could be used as tools to investigate issues in existing fields of study.

Lamont ( 2010 ) and Lamont et al. ( 2010 ) raised a number of concerns about the possibility of such a science, which we have addressed (Rensink and Kuhn, 2015 ). More recently, Lamont ( 2015 ) raised a new objection, arguing that although base-level work (i.e., applications of magic methods) might be useful, there is too little structure in magic tricks for them to be studied in a systematic way at the other levels, ruling out a science of magic. We argue here, however, that although this concern raises some interesting challenges for this science, it does not negate the possibility that it could exist, and could contribute to the study of the mind.

Many different kinds of magic tricks clearly exist, and Lamont ( 2015 ) provides some nice examples of these. But a science of magic centers primarily around experiential effects, not tricks (Rensink and Kuhn, 2015 ). The first level of our framework above the base, for instance, focuses on aspects of experience that are largely unique to magic. One such set of issues concerns the possibility of different types—and levels—of wonder; an example is the work of Griffiths ( 2015 ) on the degree of interest evoked by various magical transformations. Issues also arise around people's impression of a magical “stuff” which acts as a causal agent, and the extent to which our perceptions and beliefs can deviate from objective reality. In all of this, the details of how the experiences are evoked are irrelevant. Said another way: at this level, the scientific study of magic is not concerned with the nature of magic tricks themselves, but with the magical aspects of experience created by these tricks . And these aspects appear quite amenable to study.

Magic tricks are of course important, and are the focus of the next level. Here, the emphasis is on how the effects evoked in each trick (including the sense of wonder) are created. A complete trick is a complex entity, with a method that typically has multiple components. For example, a magician may use patter to set up high-level expectations, and then misdirect perception to ensure that the observer does not notice the “main” manipulations. Explorations have already begun of several such components—e.g., the manipulations underlying the French Drop (Phillips et al., 2015 ), the timing used in simple coin vanishes (Beth and Ekroll, 2014 ), the social cues in the Vanishing Ball Illusion (Kuhn and Land, 2006 ), and the timing needed for a Riffle Force (Olson et al., 2015 ). Ideally, such studies will become more powerful, knitting together our knowledge of individual components, and allowing us to understand each magic trick in its entirety.

Lamont ( 2015 ) considers magic tricks as lacking sufficient structure for this to happen. There appear to be two reasons for this concern. The first is sheer variety —the fact that the number of items under consideration appears “endless.” However, such variety does not of itself prevent a scientific approach to a topic. In the case of language, for instance, the number of possible sentences has exactly this “endless” character. But they can still be analyzed using approaches such as phrase-structure grammar 2 (Chomsky, 1957 ) and psycho-linguistic experimentation (see O'Brien et al., 2015 ). In such approaches, appropriate selection of more basic elements (and their rules of combination) can let us understand aspects of a potentially infinite set of items. Methods in magic appear amenable to this, being composed of distinct components. Lamont ( 2015 ) provides a nice discussion of what some of these might be. Note that there is no problem if a component is used for different purposes in different tricks—if its analysis is based on functional considerations (as we have suggested), there will be no ambiguity in its role.

Another source of variety mentioned is a lack of clear boundaries. In this view, a trick carried out in a slightly different way is a different entity; given the nearly infinite number of small differences possible in methods (e.g., exact timing) and effects (e.g., exactly where a card appears), this results in a potentially infinite number of tricks. But this challenge has been faced—and met—in many other sciences. For example, each individual animal is different (and even changes over time). But this does not impede biology—this matter can be handled by the careful use of abstraction, with animals collected into groups of largely similar character. This approach could be readily applied to magic tricks, considering as equivalent those with little or no differences in how they are experienced—e.g., tricks in which the forcing techniques have slightly different timings, but which are equally effective.

A more interesting factor—one obliquely referred to in Lamont ( 2015 )—is what might be called contingency : different methods can often achieve the same effect, and no reasons may exist as to why one method should be chosen over another. However, this might be handled by grouping together those tricks with similar effects, and focusing on the aspects common to the group. Another approach would be to define a particular trick as using a particular method; the issue would then reduce to one of explaining its use in a given performance. The choice made could depend on a large number of factors, such as the tricks used in the rest of the performance, or how the magician is feeling at that moment. Such contingency reflects the artistic nature of a magic performance, but does not rule out the possibility of scientific study. Given that humans respond in roughly similar ways to a given stimulus, there are stable regularities in what results once a particular method and context have been selected . (If this did not occur, magic could never have become a popular form of entertainment.) And such regularities can be studied in a systematic way 3 .

Regarding possibilities at the highest level of our framework (systematization), Lamont ( 2015 ) claims that the lack of structure in tricks also prevents their classification in a principled way. Note, however, that systematic analysis is just one level of our framework: even if this were somehow entirely impossible, the other levels would remain. And contrary to Lamont's assertion, we have never claimed that a science of magic requires a complete inventory or classification. Although, a complete inventory or classification is a laudable goal, it is not a necessary one: such systems can often be valuable even when incomplete—e.g., predicting new entities and new relationships.

But even assuming that magic tricks have little structure, would this necessarily prevent their systematic classification? Various taxonomies for magic tricks clearly exist (see e.g., Lamont and Wiseman, 1999 ); as such, the issue is not whether a taxonomy is possible, but how principled its organization can be. Many such systems rely on “natural kinds”—well-defined categorical entities such as chemical elements or groups of related animals (e.g., species and genera). But although natural kinds can facilitate classification, they are not necessary for this. It is entirely possible, for example, to relate in a systematic way designs described by continuous parameters, even when these parameters interact with each other in complex ways (see Woodbury, 2010 ).

As to how a principled classification might be created for magic tricks: this is a complex issue, involving a great amount of empirical detail. This paper (and our two earlier ones) are in some ways preliminary exercises in the philosophy of magic 4 , concerned with issues of a more general nature. But as an example of how such a venture might proceed, we have elsewhere proposed a way to classify methods of misdirection (Kuhn et al., 2014 ). This is based on two principles: (i) rely on psychological mechanisms as much as possible, and (ii) have the highest levels of the taxonomy center around the mechanisms affected, and not the mechanisms that control these. (For details, see Kuhn et al., 2014 .) These principles greatly reduce the number of arbitrary decisions that typically enter into a classification of magic tricks (see Lamont, 2015 ); as such, we believe the result to be a fairly natural one. Other classifications are of course possible. For instance, some classifications may be better than ours for particular purposes, such as the teaching of prospective magicians. And even in established sciences such as biology, proposed taxonomies can vary—e.g., have more distinctions in taxonomic categories to capture more variability, or fewer distinctions to create a simpler organization (see e.g., Corliss, 1976 ). Finding the “sweet spot” in all of this will take time. But if history is any guide, it can be done. Our proposal—or one like it—therefore appears to have some potential to help researchers use magic to better understand perception, memory, and reasoning. And it could equally well enable knowledge of perception, memory, and reasoning to help better understand magic.

Are there factors we have not considered, factors that might influence the development of a science of magic? Undoubtedly. Will any of these ultimately prevent its development? Only time will tell. But there are grounds for optimism. For example, important advances have recently been made toward a science of film and a science of music, involving new issues that touch upon much more than just basic aspects of perception and cognition (e.g., Levitin, 2007 ; Ball, 2010 ; Shimamura, 2013 ; Smith, 2014 ). Given the nature of their subject matter, these areas are vulnerable to many of the same concerns as have been raised about a science of magic; nevertheless, the scientific development of these areas is proceeding. And if there are worries that no such attempts have ever succeeded, consider the case of steam engines. During the first century of their existence, an enormous number of these were created, with a great deal of variety and contingency in their design. And eventually, work began on a scientific framework to investigate the principles involved (see McClellan and Dorn, 2006 ). The resulting science—thermodynamics—has become one of the mainstays of modern physics, not only providing considerable insight into what such engines can and cannot do, but also helping us understand other processes of nature, from the metabolism of cells to the energy production of stars. Even if there is only a small chance that such a development could be possible for magic, it would appear to be a chance well worth taking.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the three reviewers for their feedback on a previous version of this paper. This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, via a grant to RR.

2 As discussed in Rensink and Kuhn ( 2015 ), such an area could be implemented in a variety of ways, and have various possible labels—e.g., a “science of wonder” or a “psychology of magic.” Since those issues are irrelevant to the discussion here, we will simply use “science of magic” as a general term for all of these.

3 There is disagreement about the extent that phrase-structure grammars actually describe various languages (e.g., Postal, 1964 ). But this is primarily based on empirical considerations, not a priori ones about variety.

4 This situation is far from unique. For example, the meaning of a word depends on its context. But this has not prevented the scientific study of language.

5 Or more precisely, the philosophy of science as applied to the study of magic.

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• Published: 30 July 2008

Attention and awareness in stage magic: turning tricks into research

• Stephen L. Macknik 1 ,
• James Randi 2 ,
• Apollo Robbins ,
• John Thompson &
• Susana Martinez-Conde 1  

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume  9 ,  pages 871–879 ( 2008 ) Cite this article

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Just as vision scientists study visual art and illusions to elucidate the workings of the visual system, so too can cognitive scientists study cognitive illusions to elucidate the underpinnings of cognition. Magic shows are a manifestation of accomplished magic performers' deep intuition for and understanding of human attention and awareness. By studying magicians and their techniques, neuroscientists can learn powerful methods to manipulate attention and awareness in the laboratory. Such methods could be exploited to directly study the behavioural and neural basis of consciousness itself, for instance through the use of brain imaging and other neural recording techniques.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Mind Science Foundation (MSF) and its Executive Director, J. Dial, for sponsoring the filming of the Magic of Consciousness symposium and for kindly producing the supplementary movies for this paper. We thank M. Stewart for technical assistance and J. Otero-Millan for programming assistance. We are grateful to the Barrow Neurological Foundation for funding this study (S.L.M. and S.M.C.), in addition to grants from the Science Foundation Arizona to S.L.M. (CAA 0091-07), the National Science Foundation to S.L.M. (0726113) and S.M.C. (0643306), the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission to S.L.M. (06-083) and S.M.C. (07-102), and the Dana Foundation to S.M.C.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Stephen L. Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde are at the Barrow Neurological Institute, 350 West Thomas Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85013, USA.,

Stephen L. Macknik & Susana Martinez-Conde

James Randi is at the James Randi Educational Foundation, 201 South East 12th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316, USA.,

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Correspondence to Susana Martinez-Conde .

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information s1 (movie).

Johnny Thompson (aka The Great Tomsoni). “Closing all the doors.” The Magic of Consciousness Symposium. Courtesy of the Mind Science Foundation and the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. (MOV 9847 kb)

Supplementary information S2 (movie)

James Randi (aka The Amaz!ng Randi). “Accepting assumptions not assertions.” The Magic of Consciousness Symposium. Courtesy of the Mind Science Foundation and the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. (MOV 14787 kb)

Supplementary information S3 (movie)

Apollo Robbins. “Misdirection is the story that you make them remember.” The Magic of Consciousness Symposium. Courtesy of the Mind Science Foundation and the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. (MOV 12145 kb)

Supplementary information S4 (movie)

Teller. “Disguising an action as another.” The Magic of Consciousness Symposium. Courtesy of the Mind Science Foundation and the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. (MOV 10442 kb)

Supplementary information S5 (movie)

Mac King. “It's a bad idea to do the same trick twice.” The Magic of Consciousness Symposium. Courtesy of the Mind Science Foundation and the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. (MOV 10278 kb)

Supplementary information S6 (movie)

James Randi (aka The Amaz!ng Randi). “The Amaz!ing Randi pulls a “fast one” on philosopher Dan Dennett.” The Magic of Consciousness Symposium. Courtesy of the Mind Science Foundation and the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. (MOV 8404 kb)

Related links

Further information.

Susana Martinez-Conde's homepage

Stephen Macknik's homepage

Mack King's homepage

James Randi's homepage

Apollo Robbins' hompage

Teller's homepage

John Thompson's homepage

Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness

Mind Science Foundation

Colour-Changing Card Trick

A sensory neuron's response to the turning off of a stimulus.

A neurological condition in which a patient with damage in the primary visual cortex is unaware of visual events that occur in the corresponding portion of the visual field, despite exhibiting good performance on visual tasks conducted in that region.

The failure to notice changes in an object or scene over a period of time.

The failure to notice a salient object or visible feature in a scene owing to misdirected attention or attention that is not engaged at a level sufficient to achieve awareness of the object.

The technique used by magicians to hide items in the palms of their hands (which are turned away from the observer), so as to make it look like the hands are empty.

Small, involuntary saccades that are produced when subjects attempt to fixate their gaze on a visual target.

A fast, jerky eye movement that transports the fovea from one visual target to another in a straight-line trajectory.

A type of eye movement in which the retinal fovea smoothly tracks the position of a moving object.

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Macknik, S., King, M., Randi, J. et al. Attention and awareness in stage magic: turning tricks into research. Nat Rev Neurosci 9 , 871–879 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2473

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Published : 30 July 2008

Issue Date : November 2008

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2473

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