Category: optical illusion

Friday: Hili dialogue

October 13, 2017 • 6:30 am

OMG: it’s Friday the 13th (October, 2017), supposedly an unlucky day. But the odds are there will be at least one such day per year given that there are 12 thirteenths per year and only seven days of the week. And yesterday, at least, was lucky for the Chicago Cubs, who won the Central Division of the National League with a squeaker 9-8 victory over the Washington Nationals—in a game lasting over 4.5 hours. Our Cubbies now face the National League champions series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and if they win that one they’re on to the World Series again. It looks as if baseball might extend into November this year, an outcome I predicted long ago, when I said that one day the American baseball, football, and basketball seasons would all overlap. On the down side, Trump started dismantling Obamacare by executive order and is about to use Congress to scrap the nuclear deal with Iran. 

It’s National M&M’s Day, and how many of you haven’t eaten one? Here are some fun facts about the ubiquitous candy introduced in 1940 (the first five are from Foodimentary):

  1. From 1976 to 1985, there were no red M&Ms (see below)
  2. Blue M&Ms were introduced in 1995.
  3. M&Ms were taken along on the first space shuttle voyage in 1982.
  4. There are 340 million M&M’s produced daily. [JAC: Wikipedia now says 400 million]
  5. The “M&M” was modeled after a candy Forrest Mars, Sr. encountered while in Spain during the 1930s. During the Spanish civil war there, he observed soldiers eating chocolate pellets with a hard shell of tempered chocolate. This prevented the candies from melting, which was essential when included in soldiers rations as they were.
  6. (From Wikipedia) “The following is a summary of the changes to the colors of the flagship (milk chocolate) flavor of M&M’s, the only filling manufactured continuously since the beginning of the brand. From 1941 until 1969, each package contained M&M’s in five different colors; when red M&M’s were reintroduced in 1987, they were added as a sixth color instead of replacing any of the existing colors.”

Bring back the violet ones!! We’ll have an M&M based quiz in an hour or so.

It’s also the International Day for Disaster Reduction, which means to me a day on which we should impeach Trump. On this day in 1792, the cornerstone of the White House (the “Executive Mansion”) was laid. And, October 13, 1881, Hebrew revivalist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda had the first conversation in modern Hebrew with his friends. I had no idea that Hebrew was a dead language for a long time, which shows you what a bad (secular) Jew I am. On this day in 1884, the zero meridian for longitude was decreed by the International Meridian Conference to pass through the Greenwich Observatory. On this day in 1903, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the first “modern” World Series.  The Sox won again in 1918, but then had a long drought, not winning again until 2004. The only longer “Series Drought” was by our Cubbies, who won last year after not winning since 1908. On this day in 1917, the so-called “Miracle of the Sun” occurred in Fátima Portugal, where some solar anomaly was witnessed by 70,000 people. It was most likely either mass hallucination or an atmospheric anomaly; see here for other explanations). Here’s a Portuguese newspaper reporting the event, officially recognized by the Vatican as a “miracle.”

Finally, on October 12, 1983, the first cellular network began; it was set up in Chicago by Ameritech (now AT&T). And so we will always be connected. I know almost nobody who doesn’t have a cellphone.

Notables born on this day include Rudolf Virchow (1821), Wilfred Pickles (1904; I like the name), the cartoonist Herblock (1909), Lenny Bruce and Margaret Thatcher (both 1925), Paul Simon (1941), Marie Osmond (1959), and Sacha Baron Cohen (1971). Those who died on this day include Milton S. Hershey (1945; chocolate magnate) Ed Sullivan (1974) and Lê Đức Thọ (1990).  Here’s a 1978 clip of Barbara Walters interviewing Donnie and Marie Osmond, asking them why blacks can’t be priests in their Mormon faith. (Church officials had a “revelation” in 1978 in which God said it was okay after all.) Watch Donnie equivocate!

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, the Editor in Chief is issuing orders:

Hili: Efficient management requires delegation.
A: So what am I supposed to do?
Hili: Think for yourself and start thinking from the kitchen.
In Polish:
Hili: Sprawne zarządzanie wymaga delegowania.
Ja: Czyli co mam zrobić?
Hili: Sam pomyśl, zacznij myślenie od kuchni.

And from Winnipeg we have a photo of Gus that his staff calls “a nice picture”. Indeed. Look at that adorable face, stuffy ears (the result of frostbite) and snow white fur!

Finally, a tw**t from Matthew, who loves optical illusions:

Saturday: Hili dialogue

September 16, 2017 • 6:30 am

It’s Caturday, September 16, 2017, and in a few hours I’ll haul my weary carcass to the Chopin Airport in Warsaw for the nine-hour flight back to Chicago. That means, of course, that posting will be light today. If my plane crashes, it’s been a good run. If it doesn’t, let’s hope the airplane movies are decent (and no, “Interstellar” didn’t suck because the screen was small; it sucked because the plot was dumb and the acting and script lame). In the news, I’m grateful that nobody was killed in London bombing, though 29 people were injured and ISIS has claimed responsibility. I note as well that Trump embarrassed himself, and angered the Brits, by unleashing a series of dumb tw**ts. I shudder to think that this parody of a leader might be reelected in a bit more than three years.

It’s National Peach Pie Day, and I’ll court sympathy by saying that my Days of Pie have ended. But Wikipedia adds that it’s also two other food days: National Guacamole Day and National Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Day. September 16 is also Cry of Dolores, celebrating the beginning of Mexico’s war of independence from Spain.

On this day in 1620, the Pilgrims left England for America on the Mayflower—or so says Wikipedia in its “September 16” entry. But the Mayflower entry says “the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth on September 6, 1620. . .”, so this is likely an error (if you’re an editor, correct it, please). The first winter in America killed off just over half of the hundred-odd Pilgrims. On September 16, 1814, Francis Scott Key finished his poem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”; its lyrics would become, in 1931, the words to America’s National Anthem—one of the worst of all such anthems. On this day in 1959, The first Xerox 914, the world’s first successful photocopier, was demonstrated on television in the U.S. Are you old enough to remember its predecessor: the mimeograph machine with its fragrant purple ink.

On this day in 1975, Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia. And exactly one year later, the championship swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saved 20 people from drowning after a trolleybus went into the water in Yerevan, Armenia. Breaking the glass with his legs, he repeatedly dove down into the cold, silty water—30 times—(the bus was 10 m deep) to rescue people, after which he was in a coma for 46 days and got a bad infection, which ended his career as a swimmer. What a hero that man was! Did you even know that tale? (I didn’t.) And he later saved several people from death by running into a burning building.

Karapetyan’s photo is below. You can read about his heroism here, and here’s a quote from that link:

Bystanders who watched Shavarsh bring people up to the surface said that his feet and back were full of glass shards. When later asked, what was the most horrifying part of this, Shavarsh replied by saying:

“I knew that I could only save so many lives, I was afraid to make a mistake. It was so dark down there that I could barely see anything. One of my dives, I accidentally grabbed a seat instead of a passenger… I could have saved a life instead. That seat still haunts me in my nightmares.”

After his 30th dive, Shavarsh lost consciousness. This courageous act has cost him dearly; he incurred heavy 2-sided pneumonia and blood contamination from the polluted water. Doctors were unsure if Shavarsh would ever recover. His life was hanging on by a thread while he stayed unconscious for 46 days. He finally recovered, but was never able to compete again. Today’s experts agree that no one but Shavarsh could have done what he has done.

Karapetyan now lives quietly, running a shoe shop in Moscow.

Finally, on this day in 1992, Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering. Extradited to Panama in 2011, Noriega died in May of this year after brain surgery.

Notables born on this day include Clive Bell (1881), Nadia Boulanger (1887), Lauren Bacall (1924), B. B. King (1925) and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (1950), Those who died on September 16 include Edward Whymper (1911), Maria Callas (1977), Mary Travers (2009), and Edward Albee (2016). And I’ve just noticed that Harry Dean Stanton died today. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is suffering existential despair:

Hili: Not a single hope from anywhere.
A: What for?
Hili: That’s what I don’t know.
In Polish:
Hili: Znikąd nadziei.
Ja: Na co?
Hili: Właśnie nie wiem.

Matthew wants us all to see this illusion. Can you figure out how it was done? I think I can.

The proper hierarchy of beasts:

And a cartoon from readers jsp:

The Coffer illusion

August 11, 2017 • 3:52 pm

Okay, look at the photo of the door below. Time yourself from the start to see how long it takes you to find the circles.

How many circles do you see? Do you see any?

There are sixteen circles. Do you see them? If you don’t, and for an explanation, go to the next page by clicking “read more”

Continue reading “The Coffer illusion” →

Wednesday: Hili dialogue

May 17, 2017 • 6:30 am

Good morning on Wednesday, May 17, 2017: exactly one week till I engage Le Dawkins in conversation in Washington, D.C. Be there or be square! Also, today the Certified Hand Therapist will inspect my finger to see if the tendon has healed enough that I can discard the damn plastic cast I’ve been wearing for six week. It’s been a real pain, and typing while splinted has produced many errors on this site.

And it’s National Cherry Cobbler Day, a dessert not to be sniffed at. It’s also International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia.

On this day in 1536, Henry VIII has his marriage with Anne Boleyn’s annulled. She was beheaded two days later. On May 17, 1875, the horse Aristides won the first Kentucky Derby. In 1954, a landmark case was decided on this day: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that it was unconstitutional to have separate schools for black and white children. On this day in 1973, the U.S. Senate began its televised hearings of the Watergate affair; if you watched you’ll remember them well. Finally, on May 17, 2004, the first legal same-sex marriages were performed in the U.S.—in Massachusetts.

Notables born on this day include Edward Jenner (1749), Erik Satie (1866), Dennis Hopper (1936), and Andrea Corr (1974). Here are the Corrs performing their best-known song, “Breathless”:

Those who died on this day include John Jay (1829), Lawrence Welk (1992), baseball great Harmon Killebrew (I have his autograph on a copy of the journal Genetics, surely a unique item), Donna Summer (2012), and Gerald Edelman (2014). Here is my Killebrew-autographed copy of Genetics; this post describes how I got it:

I met both Killebrew and Edelman when they were in their prime; they are both gone now and I realize that I am soon to follow. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is not quite ready for her closeup:

Hili: I suspect that you will have to take this picture again.
A: Now?
Hili: No, when wisteria is in bloom.
In Polish:
Hili: Podejrzewam, że to zdjęcie będziesz musiał powtórzyć.
Ja: Teraz?
Hili: Nie, jak zakwitnie wisteria
Here is Ali, the beautiful cat belonging to a friend of reader Anne-Marie in Montreal:
Lagniappe: A tw**t featuring illusions, spotted and sent to me by Matthew Cobb:

And one found by Grania:

https://twitter.com/EmrgencyKittens/status/864703279204364288

A traveling-bar illusion

September 23, 2016 • 2:30 pm

Matthew, who loves illusions, sent me this tw**t:

Now an explanation for this is published here (it’s based, as you might expect, on differences in contrast), but I can’t be arsed to read it. Those who have more patience than I are welcome to explain it below.

 

Monday: Hili dialogue

September 12, 2016 • 6:30 am

It’s September 12, 2016, and National Chocolate Milkshake Day.  Do they have real milkshakes (with ice cream) in the UK—except at American nostalgia joints? And while I’m on the subject, I always thought that someone could make a pile of money in Great Britain if they opened a shop selling real hoagie sandwiches (not the Subway brand) instead of what passes for a sandwich (a “butty”) in Old Blighty:  1 mm of meat and cheese, barely discernible to the taste, on two pieces of dry bread, often dressed with some enigmatic substance called “sweetcorn.” Here’s what I mean by a sandwich:

hoagie-italian
To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee: “Now THIS is a sandwich!”

To be fair, I’ll list the foods I miss in the UK: real ale at proper temperature (like a well-kept pint of Landlord), aged farmhouse cheddar cheese, Melton Mowbray pork pies, real fish and chips with mushy peas, trifles, and all kinds of biscuits (esp. cow biscuits, Boasters, squashed fly biscuits, and McVitie’s dark chocolate digestives).

On this day in 1846, Elizabeth Barrett eloped with Robert Browning. Wikipedia says this about an event on September 12, 1933: “Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.” In 1940, the Lascaux cave paintings were discovered on this day, and, in 1953, John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier (♥) in Rhode Island.

Notables born on this day include Jesse Owens (1913), Barry White (1944; who likes his music?), and Nan Goldin (1953, subject of a recent and fascinating New Yorker article).  Those who died on this day include Steve Biko (1977, succumbed while in custody of the South African police after torture and beatings; the perpetrators were never tried) and Johnny Cash. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is petulant and had an urge to bat a rock:

Hili: Homeopaths say that water remembers. Do stones remember as well?
A: Why are you asking?
Hili: I would like to whack it.
p1040834
In Polish:
Hili: Homeopaci mówią, że woda pamięta. Czy kamienie też pamiętają?
Ja: Dlaczego pytasz?
Hili: Bo mam mu ochotę przyłożyć.
We have no photos of Gus or Leon today, but here’s a swell eye-fooler pointed out by Matthew Cobb. The caption is right about the twelve dots, but I don’t understand why we can’t see them.

Ten prize-winning illusions

August 10, 2016 • 1:15 pm

For some reason those of us here at WEIT—well, at least Matthew and I—are fascinated by optical illusions, crypsis, and other things that fool the eye. Well, we now have the Motherlode of Illusions: the ten 2016 finalists for Best Illusion of the Year Contest from the Neural Correlate Society.  You can see them all at the site, and should, but I’ll put my favorite three here along with the notes from the site:

Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion

– Kokichi Sugihara: “Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion”. Meiji University, Japan

The direct views of the objects and their mirror images generate quite different interpretations of the 3D shapes. They look like vertical cylinders, but their sections appear to be different; in one view they appear to be rectangles, while in the other view they appear to be circles. We cannot correct our interpretations although we logically know that they come from the same objects. Even if the object is rotated in front of a viewer, it is difficult to understand the true shape of the object, and thus the illusion does not disappear.

Didn’t help me much: I still don’t know what shape those damn things are!

A New Illusion at Your Elbow 

– Peter Brugger and Rebekka Meier:  “A New Illusion At Your Elbow”.  University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland

Move your finger slowly along a person’s forearm from the wrist towards the elbow crook – eyes closed, the person will anticipate touch in the elbow crook. This illusory anticipation may rest on our experience of tactile velocities that are usually much faster and make us believe we feel touch at a body location not yet reached. Neural characteristics of skin receptors specialized for slow motion may also contribute to the anticipation error. Like previously described illusions, the elbow crook illusion is larger on the non-dominant arm. Women showed a smaller illusion than men, confirming their reportedly superior cutaneous sensitivity.

You’ll surely want to try this yourself, but you can’t do it on yourself. Find a willing helper and report below. Malgorzata and I tried this on each other, and we both said “stop” 2-3 inches below the crook of the arm,

Remote controls:

– Arthur G. Shapiro : “Remote Controls ”. American University, USA

Two physically identical rectangular bars become light and dark at the same time, but in some conditions they look as if they wink in alternation.  The appearance of winking (alternating) or blinking (bars in sync) can be controlled by rectangles placed in the vicinity of the modulating bars: the bars blink when the rectangles are far away or adjacent to the bars but wink when there is a gap between the bars and the rectangles. The effect is remarkable because of the sudden change from wink to blink or vice versa, and because the change can occur across large distances.

h/t: David S.