********************************************************************
>If you can read this message, but the rest of the email contains strange characters,
>your email program is not HTML capable. You can switch to the plain TEXT version
>of this newsletter at https://www.surfnetkids.com/emailedition.htm
>******************************************************************* –>
Instructions on changing your email address or canceling this newsletter can be found
at the bottom of this message.
 |  |
 |
 |
Today’s newsletter is made possible by:
https://www.surfnetkids.com/illusion.htm “Seeing is believing.” “A picture is worth a thousand words.” But sometimes our eyes deceive us, and what we see is only what our brain expects to see. Optical illusions are amusing, but they also teach us a lot about how our brain works in conjunction with our eyes to create vision. Are you ready for some fun science? Encyclozine: Optical Illusionshttp://encyclozine.com/Illusion/
“The brain takes cues from images received from the eyes to help it interpret what is being seen. Usually this is important for things like depth perception, but occasionally it leads us astray. The cues deceive us into thinking we see something that isn’t true, or isn’t even there. Seeing isn’t always believing – as these optical illusions demonstrate!” Great explanations and a wonderful links section add depth to this site, whose creators describe as a cross between an online encyclopedia and a portal. Exploratorium Online Exhibitshttp://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/lsxhibit.html
The fabulous hands-on science museum from San Francisco presents a gallery of thirteen illusions (many powered by Shockwave and QuickTime) to play with and learn from. You’ll find the Café Wall Illusion on other sites as well, but here you get to interact with it and watch the distortion come and go. “The Café Wall Illusion was first described by Dr. Richard Gregory. Dr. Gregory is a good friend of the Exploratorium and director of The Exploratory Hands On Science Museum in Bristol, England. Dr. Gregory observed this curious effect in a pattern of tiles on a café wall in Bristol and has kindly granted us permission to display his picture of this café.” Illusion Workshttp://www.illusionworks.com/
“This award-winning collection consists of innumerable interactive demonstrations, up-to-date and reliable scientific explanations, school projects, illusion artwork, interactive puzzles, 3D graphics, suggested reading lists, bibliographies, perception links, and much more. There is literally hours and hours of fun and cool material here!” Although the site promises explanations at both an introductory and advanced level, only the advanced section was available during my visit. My favorite clicks were the numerous interactive illusions. Magic Eye Image of the Weekhttp://www.magiceye.com/3dfun/stwkdisp.shtml
Have you ever seen a Magic Eye picture? Nine years ago they ignited a craze and sold more than twenty-five million books between 1992 and 1995. Although the buzz has died down, the Magic Eye company is still around. Once you learn how to focus your eyes, a three-dimensional object will appear floating above the original image. Can’t see it? Help is only a click away – look for the link titled “Need help viewing 3d?” Another fun difference between a printed Magic Eye picture and this online archive, is that clicking on the picture itself reveals the hidden answer. Sand Lot Sciencehttp://www.sandlotscience.com/
My very first reaction was “Wow!” and then it got better and better. Sand Lot Science is my pick of the day with over one hundred online exhibits. In addition to dozens of interactive illusions, unique clicks include Do-It-Yourself Projects (“Six easy-to-do optical illusion projects in Adobe PDF format to tempt the curious.”) and a Typography Section. “Here is a familiar word with the top half missing. Can you read the word anyway? Place your mouse over the top half of the word. Now the bottom half goes away. Try to read the word both ways! Which is easier?”
|
