Frivolity Break: Celebrities Turn Ugly

For best effect, hit the maximize button. This is pretty dang freaky!

Science is Cool: Get Ready to Get Mooned!

I still can't wrap my brain entirely around the whole moon illusion. I know that it's true, but I still don't really get it. When the moon is at the horizon, you know how sometimes it looks enormous? And then after it rises to its zenith, it looks teeny-tiny? In reality it is more or less the same size in both places, and we're just seeing an illusion. Why this illusion remains true if you block other items in your field of vision with your hands, framing the moon with your fingers is what I don't get. Anyway, there are some variations in the moon's size, and today is the day it is at its biggest in 20 years. So remember to look to the east tonight, and blow your mind!

Image from source, Raw Story

[Excerpt]

“Super moon” to brighten the skies on Saturday

When the full moon rises on Saturday night, it will be bigger and brighter than at any time for almost 20 years -- and that is setting off alarm bells for those who make it their business to warn of impending doom. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Friday WTF? Moment: Forced Perspective & Giant Midget

Giant midget? Big little person? Freaks my sh*t out? Yeah, that will do!

Source (the fabulous): Picture is Unrelated

How'd They Do It? America's Got Talent Sawed In Half

Usually, when you have a friend or acquaintance who sends you several emails per week, they are littered with urban legends, dire "virus warnings," painful attempts at conservative "humor," and oh-so-concerned warnings about how evil President Obama is. But every once in a while, you find a gem.

This one comes from America's Got Talent, a second-tier reality show that I have rarely watched. But damned if I wasn't impressed by this magician, who saws a guy in half and puts him back together very convincingly. Enjoy.

Featured Site: Akiyoshi's Illusion Pages

Frivolity break! Really, the site has gotten more than top-heavy with politics. Clear your head, and focus your eyes on this baby!




See lots more at: Akiyoshi's illusion pages

Science is Cool: Optical Illusions Explained

Image from source, Live Science

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link to this fascinating story. Now, if we could only see a little longer into the future, we really might have something. . .

[Excerpt]

Key to All Optical Illusions Discovered

Humans can see into the future, says a cognitive scientist. It's nothing like the alleged predictive powers of Nostradamus, but we do get a glimpse of events one-tenth of a second before they occur.

And the mechanism behind that can also explain why we are tricked by optical illusions. . .

Read more at: Live Science

Your Lyin' Eyes: The Full Moon Illusion

Image froms source, Science.NASA.org

I'm a real fan of science, and also of logic. But the "full moon illusion" still eludes me. I just can't wrap my brain around it. This evening, we watched the moon rise over the Las Vegas Valley, and as it often seems when the moon is full, it looked huge. Not E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial huge, just ordinary, non-theatrical magic huge.

I've read about this optical illusion before. They tell you that the moon is always pretty much the same size, no matter where we see it in the sky. They'll tell you it's just your eyes (and your brain) playing tricks on you, and that it's just a perspective thing. You can even try a trick: extend your arm, and you can blot the moon out with your finger tip, no matter where it is in the sky. I've done the trick, and it is true.

But I've also tried to un-trick my brain, and remove the perspective issue by blotting out the landscape with my hands. And the moon still looks huge to me. When the moon is high in the sky--and looks smaller--I've tried to line it up with our roof top, or with trees or lamp posts--and it still looks smaller. I'll defer to the science, but I still don't get it. . .

[Excerpt]

Summer Moon Illusion [Editor's note: It ain't just a summer illusion!]

Sometimes you can't believe your eyes. This week is one of those times.
Step outside any evening at sunset and look around. You'll see a giant moon rising in the east. It looks like Earth's moon, round and cratered; the Man in the Moon is in his usual place. But something's wrong. This full moon is strangely inflated. It's huge!

You've just experienced the Moon Illusion.

Sky watchers have known this for thousands of years: moons hanging low in the sky look unnaturally big. Cameras don't see it, but our eyes do. It's a real illusion. . .

Read on at: Science.NASA.org

Right Brain vs. Left Brain

This is a fascinating optical illusion, and it's been popping up all over the web. I have been unable to ascertain the original source, but I found it first at VoenixRising.wordpress.com. My first try yielded only a counter-clockwise spinning girl. After I figured the trick out, I can spin her either way, but now I see her most often going clockwise. Of course in psychological tests I've taken in the past, I'm a pretty even left-brain/right-brain split. See what you are! Enjoy.


[Post from VoenixRising]

Which way is she spinning?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain. If counter-clockwise, more of your left.

Most people see the dancer turning counter-clockwise, although it is possible to change the spin at will. (There’s a trick to it, but I’ll leave it to you to figure how to do it.)

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
“big picture” oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

WARNING: If you feel like browsing other features at VoenixRising, be warned that some images may not be safe for work (NSFW).

NOTICE: If this work should need to be properly attributed, and you know or are the original source, please contact the editor at: editor@greenleegazette.com.