Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Illusion

Click on the picture to enlarge your illusion.
link

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Day and Night Seen at the SAME Time

From Sea Agels

The photograph was taken by the crew on board the space shuttle Columbiaspace shuttle colombia during its last mission in 2003, on a cloudless day. The picture is of Europe and Africa when the sun is setting. Half of the picture is in night. The bright dots you see are the cities' lights. The top part of Africa is the Sahara Desert. Note that the lights are already on in Holland, Paris, and Barcelona, and that's it's still daylight in Dublin, London, Lisbon, and Madrid.

The sun is still shining on the Strait of Gibraltar. The Mediterranean Sea is already in darkness. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean you can see the Azores Islands; below them to the right are the Madeira Islands; a bit below are the Canary Islands; and further South, close to the farthest western point of Africa, are the Cape Verde Islands. Note that the Sahara is huge and can be seen clearly both during day time and night time. To the left, on top, is Greenland, totally frozen.

Illuminated Niagara Falls at Night

Beautiful Niagara Falls at Night Beautiful Niagara Falls at Night Beautiful Niagara Falls at NightBeautiful Niagara Falls at Night Beautiful Niagara Falls at Night Beautiful Niagara Falls at Night

The most expensive ham in the world

spanish serraro hamThe 2006 Alba Quercus Reserve, produced by 44-year-old Spaniard Manuel Maldonado, costing about $2,100 per leg, or a cruel $160 per pound, is believed to be the most expensive ham in the world. The salt-cured ham won't be available until late 2008 and customers must buy the whole ham or nothing at all. Wanna know why these hams are so expensive, make sure to read the full AP report World's Costliest Ham Triggers Pork Envy

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Strapya Message Fan Proves That Your Personal Message Blows

Strapya Message Fan Proves That Your Personal Message BlowsIt's the dog days of summer, folks, so we're going to need to do whatever we can to stay cool. This Strapya Message Fan makes sure you can get blown whenever you want, and lets you express yourself, too. Enter your favorite message into the fan, and there it is, showing up like magic through the miracle of LEDs.

You can get this fan in blue or white, and it's cheap, too, just $8.79 if you can afford the shipping all the way from Japan. It doesn't indicate how you're going to get your message into this fan, but we're betting it's going to take considerable patience to enter text using those two three buttons. Probably involves a lot of counting.

[Strapya World]

Shrink - Get Wet With Me by Paul Sandip

Shrink - Get Wet With Me by Paul SandipInspired by nature bathroom slippers that allow water to flow below them… and so you don’t slip on wet tiles! Ridges both on top and bottom surface… for your feet and floor!

Designer: Paul Sandip

Yanko Design

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Oscar the Cat Predicts Patients' Deaths


Oscar, a hospice cat at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, R.I., walks past an activity room at the facility Monday, July 23, 2007. Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. (AP Photo/Stew Milne). Full story

Saturday, July 21, 2007

10.000 years old baby mammoth

10000 year-old siberia baby mammoth The perfectly mummified woolly mammoth, a female who died at the age of six months, was named "Lyuba" after the wife of reindeer breeder and hunter Yuri Khudi who found her in Russia's Arctic Yamalo-Nenetsk region.

Weighing 50 kg (110 lb), and measuring 85 centimeters high and 130 centimeters from trunk to tail, Lyuba who died at least 10,000 years ago during the last Ice Age, is roughly the same size as a large dog.

Lyuba will be shipped to School of Medicine, Jikei University in Japan to undergo three-dimensional computer mapping of her body. The mammoth will then return to St Petersburg for an autopsy before being put on display in Salekhard.

The discovery of the baby mammoth preserved in the Russian permafrost gives researchers their best chance yet to build a genetic map of a species extinct since the Ice Age.

10000 year-old siberia baby mammoth Sources: Dailymail & Reuters

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Overloaded?

Crazy Overloads Crazy Overloads Crazy Overloads Crazy OverloadsCrazy Overloads
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Sunday, July 15, 2007

1500$ Re Vive Peau Magnifique (Magnificent Skin)


Renew and restore your skin with this amazing new formula.

Immediate results
• Increased glow with a more robust appearance.
• Smooth and even skin tone.
• Reduced redness and inflammation.

Long-Term Results
• Stimulated generation of new skin cells.
• Firmer skin with a 45% reduction in wrinkles.
• Increased long-term skin clarity.

Important Ingredients
• Telomerase: Activates and differentiates dormant adult stem cells; the only product that recruits adult stem cells into brand new stem cells without surgical intervention; repairs DNA fragmentation.
• EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor): Stimulates cell turnover.
• FGF (Fibroblast Growth Factor): Stimulates collagen synthesis.
• Hyaluronic Acid: Natural moisture binder, retains 93% of your own facial moisture.

How to Use
• Suitable for all skin types.
• One vial a week for four weeks.
• Cleanse and tone before application.
• Use one pre-measured pump every evening.
• Apply to entire face except the upper eyelid.
• Use no other products in the evening, as the Telomerase Molecule is susceptible to damage.
• Follow the RéVive regimen in the morning.
• To maintain results after four weeks, use the Inténsite Volumizing Serum.

Peau Magnifique
price: 1500$

Neiman Marcus Re Vive skin products

Saturday, July 14, 2007

The most expensive coffee (Kopi Luwak)


Indonesia kopi luwak is a rare kind of coffee that apparently goes for $30/cup in some fancy Hong Kong hotels. The secret to its reportedly fine flavor is that the beans are collected, swallowed, and crapped back out by wild civets, small, arboreal mammals that are currently endangered.

“Kopi” the Indonesian word for coffee along with “luwak” is local name of this animal which eats the raw red coffee beans. The civet digests the soft outer part of the coffee cherry, but does not digest the inner beans and excretes them.

Apparently the internal digestion ends up adds a unique flavor to the beans, removing the bitter flavor, and then beans are then picked up by locals and sold. The most expensive coffee beans can cost up to $600 a pound, and up to $50 per cup, if you can get over the fact that you are drinking such a strange brew.


Los Angeles Times tells the story of the $600/pound coffee. The article quotes Canadian food scientist Massimo Marcone, author of a new book that sounds fascinating: In Bad Taste?: The Science and Adventures Behind Food Delicacies. From the Los Angeles Times:
In the animals' stomachs, enzymes in the gastric juices massage the beans, smoothing off the harsh edges that make coffee bitter and produce caffeine jitters. Humans then separate the greenish-brown beans from the rest of the dung, and once a thin outer layer is removed, they are ready for roasting....

Days before the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck, Marcone was in Indonesia's Sumatran rain forest, where he collected about 10 pounds of civet droppings laced with coffee beans. He now uses it as "the gold standard" to rate other kopi luwaks in his lab at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Like a forensic scientist reading a bullet's markings, Marcone stares at kopi luwak under an electron microscope, searching for striations that tell him that a civet excreted it. His studies found that kopi luwak drinkers need to be careful to avoid being duped.

"About 42% of all the kopi luwaks that are presently on sale are either adulterated or complete fakes, unfortunately," he said.

Real kopi luwak has a top note of rich, dark chocolate, with secondary notes that are musty and earthy, the scientist said. An Indonesian coffee lover described the scent as the smell of moist earth after a rainfall, with hints of vanilla, that teases the palate for hours after the cup is empty.

Giant Squid Washed Up in Australian Beach

Rare giant squid washed up in Australia A giant two-meter squid recently washed up on the shores of Tasmania's Ocean Beach. The picture shows the curator from Tasmanian Museum was then holding the squid carcass. Link

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

In college at 11, Mikaela Irene Fudolig is UP summa cum laude at 16


Mikaela Irene D. Fudolig, BS Physics with a GWA of 1.099, led the top honors. She also delivered the valedictory address on behalf of the graduating class.

Only 16 years old, Fudolig is the youngest student to be graduated by the University in the recent years and one of only two admitted to UPD without a high school diploma and without taking the UP College Admission Test.

She was only 11 years old and a sophomore at the Quezon City Science High School when she was granted permission to enroll at UPD as a non-degree student, having volunteered for a prototype Early College Placement Program the UPD College of Education was spearheading. After earning remarkable grades for an academic year, the Department of Education (DepEd) endorsed her admission to UPD, which was approved by the UP Board of Regents on May 30, 2003.

More about Mikaela on INQUIRER.net

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Berry benefits ( Goji Berry)

goji berry

Naturally sweet and intoxicatingly delicious, berries also pack a punch with a myriad of health benefits. The enticing red, purple, and blue skins of berries contain bioflavonoids such as anthocyanins.

These compounds are beneficial because they are antioxidants, which reduce free radical damage. The antioxidant content of berries is more potent than vitamins C and E. The anthocyanin in berries also helps to reduce inflammation - more effectively even than aspirin!

The blueberry wins extra points for being the berry with one of the highest level of antioxidants. Blueberries have neuroprotective properties that shield brain cells from damage caused by trauma, chemicals, and plaque; in other words, blueberries help slow down the age-related onset of memory loss, Alzheimer's, and senility.

In fact, research has found that rats bred to develop Alzheimer's do not develop the symptoms of the disease if blueberries are incorporated into their diet.

Cherries also contain these beneficial anthocyanin compounds, which stimulate your pancreas to produce insulin; for hundreds of years Chinese researchers have observed that cherries help keep diabetics healthy.

These compounds also protect you against cancer, arthritis, and heart disease because they lower cholesterol. So I recommend that you eat lots of cherries and other dark-colored fruits to maintain balanced blood sugar and enjoy a healthy long life!

Go for Goji Berries, "the Superfruit"
While we are on the subject of berries, let's talk about a well-known member of the traditional Chinese herbalist's arsenal of herbs for thousands of years: goji berries. Also known as lycium berry and wolfberry, this fruit native to China has long been known for its tonic effects, especially on vision, hormonal system and the brain.

Goji berry contains polysaccharides, which stimulate the immune system and signal the pituitary to secrete human growth hormone. Goji also has the highest concentration of carotenoids, especially beta-carotene, of any plant in the world, making it a powerful antioxidant.

The berry is traditionally used together with other Chinese tonic herbs to increase sexual potency and fertility. Rich in linoleic acid (precursor to GLA), riboflavin, selenium, calcium, vitamins B and C, zinc, and other trace minerals, these berries are safe to use and have been used for thousands of years in Asia.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Ape altruism


A new study supports the theory that chipms can be altruistic just like people. Children as young as 18 months-old also seem to help adults, even strangers, without any immediate benefit to themselves. According to psychologist Felix Warneken of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, altruism goes back as far as 6 million years ago when to the common ancestor we share with chimps. IN a paper published in the journal Public Library of Science Biology, the Warneken and his colleagues posit that humans and chimps are predisposed to be Good Samaritans. From Science News:

His team conducted three experiments with adult chimps living on an island sanctuary in Uganda and two experiments with 18-month-old German children. In the chimp version of the first experiment, 36 animals watched one at a time from a barred enclosure as an experimenter in an adjacent room—who had had virtually no prior contacts with the animals—reached through the bars for a stick on the other side. The stick was within reach of only the observing chimp.

Most chimps snatched the stick and gave it to the experimenter, whether or not the experimenter offered a piece of banana as a reward. No assistance came if the experimenter didn't first reach in vain for the stick.

A similar trial with 36 youngsters yielded comparable altruistic behavior, regardless of whether the experimenter offered toys as a reward.

Link to Science News, Link to PLoS Biology

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Almas Caviar


Caviars are no doubt costly, but ALMAS, the Russian for diamond, costs $23,308.

This caviar is extracted from the Beluga fish. The reason for the caviar being costly is the rarity of Beluga. This fish, which is also the largest sturgeon and the only predator in the family, is highly prized because granules or coarse texture and its tender skin. The beluga caviars are costly because of large, compact grains, fine color, and flavor.

It takes many efforts to make the ALMAS caviar. The caviar is extracted from a manual processing. The fish is placed on a coarse mesh place across wooden tub. The roe bags or sacs containing beluga’s eggs are removed. The roes are passed thought the mesh, to grade the eggs and to separate the eggs from the binding tissue. Care is taken while rubbing the roes across the mesh as there are chances of the fish to die during the process leading to a bitter and low-grade caviar.he there are chances of the fish to die hand for optimum control. The process also separates the eggs from binding tissue

If you believe on the saying “old is gold”, then this 100 years old fish is going to fetch 24k gold tin, in which it is packed. Hey, you can get back half the price you paid for the caviar by selling the gold tin. Anyways, this white caviar with an exotic flavor and a buttery texture is captured from Caspian Sea.

The language of caviar

Japanese Square shaped watermelon

japanese square-shaped watermelon

An employee of an agricultural cooperative prepares square-shaped watermelons for shipment in Zentsuji, western Japan June 25, 2007. The cooperative will ship about 800 of the watermelons through mid-July with each priced from 17,000 yen ($137) to 25,000 yen ($202), local media reported.

In contrast, the square-shaped watermelons from Brazil sold in UK, is quite cheap with a price tag of only £5.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Olympics Mascots Emblazoned Watermelons

The cube-shaped watermelon, with the five 2008 Beijing Olympics mascots Fuwa emblazoned on its five sides is sold at a supermarket in Xuchang, central China's Henan province. The eye-catching watermelons have been produced using steel molds. The price tag of 398 yuan (US$52) each is definitely too expensive to most Chinese citizens. Source: Tjdailyfuwa watermelonTwo more pictures from Gznet. cube fuwa watermelon cube fuwa watermelon

World's First $1 Million Ice Cream Cone Made of Gold and Diamonds

Bruster's Gold and Diamonds $1 Million ConeAmerica's premium ice cream retailer Bruster's sold this world's most expensive ice cream for the charity.

Bruster's waffle cone masterpiece was created by renowned diamond manufacturer, Lazare Kaplan International Inc., and consists of nearly 20 troy ounces of 18k white and yellow gold, 548 round Lazare Diamonds, 87 Lazare square emerald cut diamonds, and one breathtaking 5.63 carat Fancy Intense Yellow radiant cut diamond. The 152.16 carat total weight one-of-a-kind piece has a retail value of $1 million and is for sale!

Link via SN

Gourd-shaped Tortoise

Gourd-shaped tortoise in ChinaThis gourd-shaped tortoise appears at Qugou Township Ornamental Fish Market in Huaibei, east China's Anhui Province, June 24, 2007. Although businessmen there contributed a gene mutation to the aberrance, I rather think it as an abused animal by being banded an iron wire or something alike during its growout. Link to Anhuinews

Monday, June 25, 2007

Colored Potatoes

Those weird potatoes were grown at 3,950-meter-above-sea-level Andes by farmers in Huancavelica, southern Peru. They also have weird names like "best black woman," "best red woman," "makes the daughter-in-law cry," "like a deer's white tongue," "red shadow" and "like an old bone". Ou, I didn't anticipate that the potato can have so many varieties. Link


Georgia Brown, a genious toddler



Georgia Brown, a 2-year-old toddler from Aldershot, Hampshire in UK, scored 152 points on the IQ test, which put her in the same intellectual league, proportionate to her age, as physicist Stephen Hawking (in the top 0.2 per cent of the population).

She has been invited to join Mensa, the High IQ society whose members have IQs in the top 2 per cent of the population. Georgia now is one of only 30 Mensa members under the age of ten.

Check out the full fabulous story about this gifted girl on Dailymail. (via SN)

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Ashera, 22 000$ cat


The pricey pet is said to have been produced by cross-breeding an African Serval and an Asian Leopard Cat with a domestic feline. While Lifestyle Pets admits this type hybrid breeding has been done before, "the Ashera is unique in that genetic monitoring is used to standardize breeding and ensure that the defining features and size of the [animal] remain exceptionally consistent." And like most other super-luxury items, the company says it will sell only 100 Asheras per year worldwide, with only 50 being sold to U.S. customers
And after dropping 22 large, potential buyers should also be prepared to budget for a big supply of Fancy Feast, as the company says the Ashera can grow up to weigh 30 pounds.

It's no great shock that cat lovers can get little excessive when it comes to their feline friends. But one company, banking on the fact there are more than a few prospective pet owners willing to part with some serious money for a kitten, is selling a designer breed of cat that costs $22,000.

The Ashera, bred by Los Angeles-based Lifestyle Pets, "is a new ultra-exotic breed of domestic cat that already has wealthy animal devotees paying to get on the waiting list," the company press release claims.
The pricey pet is said to have been produced by cross-breeding an African Serval and an Asian Leopard Cat with a domestic feline. While Lifestyle Pets admits this type hybrid breeding has been done before, "the Ashera is unique in that genetic monitoring is used to standardize breeding and ensure that the defining features and size of the [animal] remain exceptionally consistent." And like most other super-luxury items, the company says it will sell only 100 Asheras per year worldwide, with only 50 being sold to U.S. customers

Ashera possess tiger stripes and leopard like spots. You can see the gallery of this Ashera cat on the Lifestyle Pets site

The photos alone make one wonder about the agility of the cat unlike other domesticated cats. According to Lifestyle pets, the Ashera grows up to 30 pounds. They claim it gets along with other pets and children and takes well to being walked on a leash.

The Ashera however will not be mass produced will be available in limited quantities, 100 per year. The Lifestyle Pets boasts it already has two clients, one, a family in Beverly Hills and another, a Russian client in Moscow.

Another California company, San Diego based, said last year that they created a hypoallergenic kitten for people who sneeze and wheeze in the presence of cats. The Allerca cat cost $3,950.

If you want one of the Asheras, you have to put a deposit of $6,000 to get premium placement and also hasten delivery within 4 to 6 months.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Bush's Watch Stolen?



Watch this video very carefully; it's President Bush working the crowds in Albania. At 0.50 minutes into the clip, Bush has a watch. At 1.04 minutes into the clip, he had a watch.

The U.S. is denying that his watch was stolen:

Photographs showed Bush, surrounded by five bodyguards, putting his hands behind his back so one of the bodyguards could remove his watch.

I simply don't see that in the video. Bush's arm is out in front of him during the entire nine seconds between those stills.

Another denial:

An Albanian bodyguard who accompanied Bush in the town told The Associated Press he had seen one of his U.S. colleagues close to Bush bend down and pick up the watch.

That's certainly possible; it may have fallen off.

But possibly the pickpocket of the century. (Although would anyone actually be stupid enough to try? There must be a zillion easier-to-steal watches in that crowd, many of them nicer than Bush's.)



SCHEINER ON SECURITY BLOG

Monday, June 11, 2007

Culinology and Molecular Gastronomy

With changes in how we cook and eat the fields of culinary arts and culinary science appear now to be merging into one. Many famous restaurant now have cooking and food laboratories on their premises, while universities and colleges around the country are beginning to offer degrees in culinology ( a degree program that blends food science and technology with culinary art).

Interest in food science has grown in recent years because of the increasing awareness of the vital role of food in the health, well-being, and economic status of individuals and nations and people's curiosity and desire to try new and innovative food dishes. Food science is the study of the chemical composition of food and food ingredients; their physical, biological and biochemical properties and and the interaction of food constituents with each other and their environment.

What is Molecular Gastronomy?

Molecular Gastronomy is the application of scientific principles to the understanding and improvement of small scale food preparation. The term was invented by the Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti in a 1969 presentation to the Royal Institution called "The Physicist in the kitchen", and popularized by his collaborator the French scientist Hervé This.

Heston Blumenthal, 38, is presently at the forefront of this radical style of cooking (molecular gastronomy). His triple Michelin starred restaurant The Fat Duck serves dishes like sardine-flavored sorbet, pasta made out of Jello, snail porridge, or a puree of mango and Douglas fir. At El Bulli, the restaurant of Ferran Adria in Spain another molecular gastronomist dishes consist of monkfish liver with tomato seeds and citrus or barnacles with tea foam, or a parmesan cheese ice cream. During the six months his restaurant is closed, Adrià works on new recipes in a laboratory near the Barcelona market.

At restaurant Arzak in San Sebastian, Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena experiment with their chefs on a daily basis. Upstairs from the restaurant you will find a small food laboratory with pH meters, sonicators and liquid nitrogen.

EGG AND TRUFFLE FLOWER IN GOOSE FAT WITH CHISTORRA (chorizo sausage) OF DATES

From restaurante Arzak

"Everyday we experiment and investigate with the flavours, textures and elaboration's processes."

Besides the investigation's kitchen there is a "Flavour Bank", that contains more than 1000 products and ingredients we use to their investigations and for the new creations -- -- Juan Mari Arzak

Pino Maffeo of Boston's Restaurant L uses liquid nitrogen, emulsifiers and an arsenal of equipment typically found in scientific laboratories, Maffeo creates what he calls "one-bite wonders." "If science can make my cuisine better, then I'll use it," he said, while putting ravioli made from mango and dry cured ham on skewers alongside aloe vera and muscato grape juice gelatin cubes.

To create unusual and original recipes -- such as pairing fried calamari with watermelon and cantaloupe -- Maffeo analyzes the molecular make-up of the ingredients with an infrared spectrometer nuclear magnetic resonance machine, equipment usually used by synthetic chemists and physicists. He believes foods with similar composition pair well together. He meets weekly to discuss projects with Angela Buffone, a visiting professor of organic chemistry at Suffolk University and partner in Maffeo's culinary experiments. For his signature dish, seared foie gras with a 24 carat golden egg, MDDWO uses liquid nitrogen to flash freeze an airy meringue that has been dipped in lightly whipped cream to create a texture resembling an egg shell. Then using a syringe he injects mango sauce into shell. See full text article by Mark Wilson

Experimental Chefs and restaurants

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Daniel Tammet - Brain Man (Savant)

Part 1

Part2

Part3

Part4

Part5

A genius explains

Daniel Tammet is an autistic savant. He can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. But unlike other savants, who can perform similar feats, Tammet can describe how he does it. He speaks seven languages and is even devising his own language. Now scientists are asking whether his exceptional abilities are the key to unlock the secrets of autism.

Interview by Richard Johnson

Optimnem Blog: The Blog of Daniel Tammet

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Amazingly simple home remedies


1. When choking on an ice cube, simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove itself.

2 Avoid cutting yourself slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold while you chop.

3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.

4. To treat high blood pressure: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.

5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you will be afraid to cough.

7. You only need two tools in life: WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.

8. When confused, remember- everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

Quotes (Can't live with them, can't live without them)

'I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry.That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste.'David Bissonette


'After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together.'Hemant Joshi


'By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.'Socrates


'Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.'Dumas


'I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.'Anonymous


'Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.'Henny Youngman


'I don't worry about terrorism. I was married for two years.'Sam Kinison


'There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage.'James Holt McGavran


'I've had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me, and the second one didn't.'Patrick Murray

'Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming:1. Whenever you're wrong, admit it, 2. Whenever you're right, shut up.'Nash


'A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong.'Milton Berle

Our Eyes

Seeing things (vision) is one of the most amazing things you can do. You may well think that you see with your eyes, and that’s true - you do. But that’s not the whole story, because you also see with your brain. Without your brain, you wouldn’t be able to see at all.

To see, you also need light. Light is reflected off objects and enters your eyes. The eyes then focus the light (a bit like a magnifying glass does) and turn it into a message that they send to the brain. So it is inside the brain that we actually see things.

The way we see things depends on where the reflected light is coming from. If it’s coming from exactly where you’re looking, you see things sharply and in detail; this is called our "central vision". If it’s coming from somewhere off-centre, it falls within our side vision, or "peripheral vision".

Both central vision and side vision are important. Without central vision, we couldn’t read, recognise faces or look at things directly. Without side vision, it would be very difficult to move around without bumping into things!

If you only have one eye, it can be hard to judge distances, or depth. With two eyes, what you see appears in three dimensions (3D) and you can tell roughly how far away things are. To test this, try catching a ball with one eye closed. You can probably still do it, but it’s quite a bit trickier!

The Eye

The eye is one of the most incredible parts of your body. When your eyes are working well, they can see the hairs on a spider’s legs or galaxies that are billions of miles away.

The eye is about the size of a squash ball, but with a bulge at the front. Look at a friend’s eyes - the bit you can see is where the bulge is. You’ll also see a black spot in the middle, called the pupil. This is where light gets inside the eye. Around the pupil is a coloured ring, called the iris. This might be brown or green or blue, or even a funny browny-greeny-grey! Everyone’s iris is different, which means that no-one has eyes just like yours - you’re unique! The iris is actually lots of tiny muscles. As these muscles contract or relax - become tighter or looser - your pupil gets bigger or smaller, to let in more or less light.

To understand how this works, imagine a group of friends arranged in a circle, all pulling (gently!) with one finger on a rubber band. As they all pull, the hole in the middle of the rubber band gets bigger. In the eye, the hole in the rubber band is the pupil and your friends’ fingers are the tiny muscles in the iris.

This is a diagram of the eye that is shown in cross section (so you are seeing the eye from front to back) with the eye looking to the left. It has the pupil (a small black circle in the centre of the eye that is an that lets light in, the iris (the coloured part of your eye that forms a ring around the pupil) and the retina (this is a layer at the back of the eye that can change the lighjt into a message for the brain to tell it what is there).

The pupil gets bigger when it needs to let more light into the eye, for example when it’s dark. It gets smaller when your eye needs less light, for example in bright sunshine. To see this work, get a friend to cover their eyes for 30 seconds, then open them and look directly at you. When they do, you’ll see their pupils get smaller as they adjust to let in less light. It doesn’t take long though, so you’ll have to be quick!

Once light has gone through the pupil, it is focused to give a sharper picture, first by the cornea, then more precisely by the lens. It then reaches the part of the eye at the back called the retina. The retina then changes this light into a message that it sends down the optic nerve to the brain.

Color

Have you ever wondered how we see in colour? Most of you take colour for granted, but none of the Pups, a lot of other animals and even some humans, can't see in colour the way most of you can.

Our ability to see colours depends on the retina - the part at the back of the eye which is a bit like a curved cinema screen. Images that are focused by the cornea and lens land on the retina. The retina has lots of cells in it that are sensitive to light. Some of these are called rods and the others are called cones.

The rods are arranged around the edge of the retina and are sensitive to dim light. Next time you’re outside at night (and it’s not cloudy!), notice how some stars seem to disappear when you look directly at them, but reappear when you look slightly to one side. This is because their dim light can only be picked up by the rods in your eye, which aren’t right in the centre of your retina.

The cones are sensitive to bright light and, importantly, colour, and are positioned right in the centre of your retina. That’s why when you want to see what colour something is, you look directly at it. It’s much more difficult to tell what colour something is if you can only just see it out of the corner of your eye.

You have a lot more rods in your eye than cones. There are about 120 million rods and 6-7 million cones (so you can imagine how tiny they all are!). So you don’t get them mixed up, remember, c is for cones and colour!

This is an image of the rods and cones of the eye. They come of the retina (the layer at the back of the eye) They are shaped as their names would suggest; rods are long cylinders and cones become pointed towards the end - just like an ice cream cone.

Some people’s cones don’t work properly, and some of these people are totally colour-blind, which means they can’t see colour at all. Fortunately, that’s quite rare, but much more common is a form of colour-blindness where greens and reds get mixed up. About seven men in every hundred and four women in every 10,000 have this kind of colour-blindness, but it doesn’t usually cause them any major problems.

Imagine the world with no colour. Traffic lights might be confusing and rainbows wouldn’t be nearly so impressive! This test show how colour-blindness can effect your vision. Individuals with normal colour vision will see a 5 revealed in the dot pattern. An individual with Red/Green (the most common) colour-blindness will see a 2 revealed in the dots.

Optical Illusion

What we see doesn’t just depend on our eyes. It also depends on how our brains interpret the images our eyes pick up. What we see is actually our brain’s translation of what it thinks is most likely to be there. This is why we sometimes think we’re seeing one thing when the reality can be quite different - our brains have been tricked.

Optical illusions are one way of tricking the brain, and they show - often in quite startling ways - how what we think we see may not actually be the same as what’s really there at all!

You'll never believe your eyes!

Try bending your brain by ogling one of these optical illusions

Herman grid



Impossible trident



Fraser spiral



Does size matter?




An apparition



Colour contrast



Stroop effect



Necker cube




Optical illusions and explanations kindly supplied by atBristol. To find out more, visit http://www.youramazingbrain.org.uk.

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