In connection with the MO question Occurrences of (co)homology in other disciplines and/or nature I recalled Roger Penrose's “On the cohomology of impossible figures": http://upcommons.upc.edu/revistes/bitstream/2099/1062/1/st17-05-a2-ocr.pdf (see also http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.ndjfl/1039540768 - "Peeking at the Impossible" by Chris Mortensen). I'm curious whether this interesting idea was further developed. Are there any more recent papers on this subject?