Is Entanglement Between Humans Possible? | Unveiled - video Dailymotion

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00:00 Quantum entanglement is an incredibly unique and bizarre phenomenon where two particles can be linked with one another,

00:06 no matter how far the distance between them.

00:09 This concept is exclusive to quantum mechanics and has no equivalent in Newtonian physics.

00:15 But can the effects of this incredible reality be felt by people as well?

00:19 This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question;

00:24 Is quantum entanglement possible between human beings?

00:28 Do you need the big questions answered?

00:30 Are you constantly curious?

00:31 Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?

00:34 And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!

00:38 Throughout life, everyone will find themselves making meaningful bonds with those they encounter

00:43 and the friends they connect to.

00:45 Sometimes these links can feel so strong that individuals feel attached to one another

00:50 in a way that's beyond regular physicality.

00:53 But could an argument be made that the feelings of this sort - love, friendship, trust, etc. -

00:59 are partly or wholly influenced by quantum entanglement?

01:03 First, we need to take a step back and explain the concept more fully.

01:07 The idea originated in 1935 with none other than Albert Einstein,

01:11 alongside research associates Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen.

01:16 Their paper imagined two particles that interacted with each other

01:19 in a way that linked their spatial coordinates and momentum.

01:22 It was found that by determining either the position or momentum of one system,

01:27 one could infer the position or momentum of the other.

01:29 This would then imply that the second particle must have had a definite position and momentum

01:34 before the measurement had been made.

01:36 But that would violate one of the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics,

01:40 the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle,

01:42 which states that it's impossible to know both a particle's exact position and momentum.

01:46 It's heady science, but Einstein called it the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen, or EPR, Paradox.

01:53 Following the release of this paper, the renowned physicist Erwin Schrödinger wrote a letter to Einstein,

01:58 referring to the concept as "verschränkung", which translates into English to mean "entanglement".

02:04 Schrödinger subsequently published two papers on the concept, stating that it was, quote,

02:09 "the characteristic trait of quantum mechanics,

02:11 the one that enforces its entire departure from classical lines of thought", end quote.

02:16 Regardless of being responsible for conceiving the idea,

02:19 both Einstein and Schrödinger were unhappy with the concept,

02:22 primarily because it implied that information could be transferred between particles

02:27 faster than the speed of light.

02:29 This went directly against Einstein's own theory of general relativity,

02:32 which postulates that nothing can move faster than light does.

02:36 It was famously dubbed "spooky action at a distance" by Einstein,

02:40 who saw in this early form of entanglement

02:42 evidence that quantum theory did not provide a complete description of reality.

02:47 The papers on the EPR Paradox generated a lot of attention in the scientific community,

02:52 but unfortunately, at the time, no methods existed to put the hypothesis to the test.

02:57 Following on from it, though, in 1964, another physicist, John Stuart Bell,

03:02 showed that one of EPR's key assumptions, the principle of locality,

03:07 didn't agree mathematically with quantum theory.

03:10 To simplify the principle of locality, it basically states that for one object to influence another,

03:15 it needs to touch that other object.

03:17 It also means that for an object to travel from one point to another,

03:21 there has to be a direct connection between the two locations in space.

03:25 So, you can't just teleport from one place to another.

03:28 And if a theory follows this rule, we call it a "local theory".

03:32 Bell then formulated something called the "Bell Inequality",

03:35 and stated that if quantum mechanics violated this inequality experimentally,

03:39 it could not be thought of as a local theory.

03:42 Not long after this, in 1972, John Clauser and Stuart Friedman

03:47 pitched an experiment to finally put quantum entanglement to the test.

03:51 And in doing so, they found clear evidence that two entangled particles

03:55 are able to transfer information between each other faster than the speed of light.

03:59 Thus showing experimentally that quantum physics doesn't preserve locality,

04:03 alongside proving quantum entanglement for the first time ever.

04:07 In turn, this showed that the EPR paradox wasn't really a paradox at all.

04:12 In fact, entanglement works wonderfully well with the framework of quantum mechanics.

04:17 While Einstein believed quantum mechanics to be incomplete,

04:20 and that there were hidden variables responsible for transmitting information beyond the speed of light,

04:25 in actuality, nothing is being transmitted.

04:28 The particles are both linked to one another via entanglement,

04:31 but they are still unable to send signals or objects between each other.

04:35 To explain this in more simple terms, imagine splitting up a pair of identical socks,

04:40 putting them in separate packages, and posting them to opposite sides of the Earth.

04:44 From opening the package and looking at the sock they're in,

04:47 the colour, size, and shape of the other sock can be inferred.

04:51 Yet nothing has been transferred between the two socks during this process.

04:55 Since then, more experience have successfully shown evidence of entanglement.

04:59 By this point, there's almost no doubt in the scientific community that the effect is real.

05:03 Two particles can be entangled no matter how far apart they are,

05:07 and making measurements of one particle's physical properties conveys information about the other.

05:12 For example, you can measure their position, spin, and momentum, among other things,

05:17 and there will be appropriate correlations.

05:19 There are various mechanisms that can be responsible for creating entangled particle pairs,

05:24 but generally all particles that interact physically can become entangled with one another.

05:28 An example of this is a light source emitting two photons simultaneously.

05:33 The orientation of their oscillations will be completely random when measured,

05:37 but an entangled pair will always have matching orientations.

05:41 So, if one photon is measured to be oscillating vertically,

05:44 its partner particle will also be oscillating vertically when measured.

05:48 And so, to get back to our title question, perhaps surprisingly,

05:51 one place where scientists predict entanglement to be common is within our very own brains.

05:56 Some make the argument that the immense power of our brains arises from quantum processes,

06:01 including entanglement.

06:03 In 2022, researchers from the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience

06:07 claimed to have successfully observed entanglement within the brain,

06:11 mediated by consciousness-related functions.

06:14 This experiment was done using an MRI machine,

06:17 powerful enough to measure the spins of protons from water in the brain.

06:21 The research implies that the way our brains function could not be wholly described by classical physics,

06:26 and that they could instead be powerful quantum systems.

06:30 While these results are an excellent starting point,

06:32 as of writing they've not been confirmed by other researchers,

06:36 there's a possibility that the observed effects were caused by a separate process.

06:40 Currently, how our brain works is one of the biggest mysteries known to humanity.

06:44 Furthering our understanding of the human mind would have numerous applications, though.

06:48 For example, it could help advance our understanding of quantum computing,

06:52 and it will definitely aid us in knowing how to maintain and heal our minds.

06:57 So, there's evidence to suggest entanglement is happening within our own brains.

07:01 But what about between two separate brains?

07:03 Currently, there's no active research on the topic,

07:06 and it's likely to stay that way until we figure out how entanglement plays a part in individual people.

07:11 Regardless, plenty of speculation has been made as to whether the effect has a role in human connections,

07:17 especially love.

07:18 The two concepts are broadly unrelated, but harbour a number of parallels.

07:23 When we have a strong connection to our partner, it can feel like our minds are entangled,

07:27 as if they're separate elements of the same state of consciousness.

07:31 Currently, as things stand, the quantum entanglement of microscopic particles

07:35 is incredibly unlikely to produce a macroscopic effect that can alter human emotions.

07:40 Certainly, it is possible for atoms in two separate brains to become entangled,

07:44 but the chances of this happening between you and the love of your life

07:47 are as high as the chances of elements in your brain being entangled with a distant asteroid.

07:52 And even if the minds of a couple were entangled,

07:55 it would not allow for information transfer or the strengthening of romantic bonds.

08:00 It would simply mean that if scientists could take measurements of one person's subatomic particles,

08:04 they could infer properties about the other person's as a result.

08:08 In conclusion, realistically, entanglement produces effects that are observed exclusively with subatomic particles.

08:15 It is therefore theoretically conceivable that systems on our scale can become completely entangled with one another.

08:21 But to get there would require a great deal of isolation and control.

08:25 The concept of entanglement remains one of the most interesting and exciting fields in modern-day physics,

08:30 and a substantial amount of poetic parallels can be drawn between the connection of two particles

08:35 and the bonding of two people.

08:37 Unfortunately, the current state of technology isn't capable of verifying a link between humans and the quantum world.

08:44 But irrespective of this, it's still worthwhile to appreciate the beauty of the similarities between the two.

08:50 What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments.

08:54 Check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.

Is Entanglement Between Humans Possible? | Unveiled

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