Astral Projection? No, Natural Projection.

Rob from What Is It? provided me a follow up to the Magnifying Glass Optical Illusion post. Rob included the below picture and this explanation.

If you put a magnifying glass a few inches from a wall that is opposite a window, you will see the outside view projected upside down on the wall. But if you put a lens on the window and cover the rest of the window with opaque material, the lens will project the outside view over the entire opposite wall, of course you must have the proper size lens for the room.

This is a picture that Rob took after conducting his lens experiment. You can see the view outside his room is projected on the wall. If you would like to do this for yourself follow the instructions on this site.

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Magnifying Glass Optical Illusion

Aaron from the photoblog Knurdle.com took this photo and presented it on his blog. He says the following about this picture and effect:

Neat trick you can do with a magnifying glass.
I was amazed when I was shown this and had to get a picture of it.

Seems to me that this must be similar to a film projector focusing an image on a screen. Everything imaged on the table seem to have their own light source. This effect can lead one to believe at first glance that there are two light sources in different locations, or a light box built into the table. It could take a few seconds for your brain to sort things out and give you an accurate interpretation of what your seeing.

Thanks again to Aaron of Knurdle.com for allowing me the use of this image.

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When Math and Art Merge

The following are creations by Rinus Roelofs. His study of math merged with art has created some fascinating sculptures and images. Check out his site for an amazing array of each.

From his site: "Rinus Roelofs was born in 1954. After studying Applied mathematics at the Technical University of Enschede, he took a degree from the Enschede Art Academy with a specialization in sculpture. His commissions come largely from municipalities, institutions and companies in the Netherlands, but his work has been exhibited further a field, including in Rome as part of the Escher Centennial celebrations in 1998."

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Bumps or Holes? Astronomy Analysts Confused

The below two images are quite interesting. The image on the left gives us the impression of having 5 holes and 1 bump. The image on the right looks like it has 5 bumps and 1 hole. What makes this a fascinating optical illusion is the fact that these are the exact same image.


That's right these two images are identical, one is turned upside down. The simple act of turning this image upside down completely changed our assessment of the image.

The reason for this is that the brain assumes that light comes from above. For centuries the best light source was the sun (came from above). Now we have various sources of light but one thing most of them have in common is that designers typically put all major light sources above us. This is a very strong predisposition on our part. Thus we view shadows and light with the assumption that the light is coming from above.

Another example can be seen below. The top image seems to be a large dome, could this be a lava dome preparing to erupt?

No of course not. This is not a lava dome, below we flip it back to where we started. Most of you will recognize this landmark.

Barringer Crater on Earth
Credit: D. Roddy (LPI)

In this image it is clearly the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona. The only thing done to this image was the top picture was turned upside down. I got this image from the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Here we think of this as an interesting effect and no more than that. But analysts viewing pictures from other planets often analyze the image from the wrong perspective. Many times these pictures end up in science magazines and journals (one example here) completely upside down and misrepresented. Go to this page to read more about the problems that some analysts have in getting past this optical illusion. Scan down the page and you'll see many examples of errors in astronomy reporting and analysis.

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Optical Illusion No Longer

It wasn't too long ago that this picture would have been an optical illusion. This type of space walk (untethered) was unheard of when President Reagan was elected in 1980.

This photo is the "Astronomy Picture of the Day" for March 22, 2005.

To Fly Free in Space
Credit: STS-41B, NASA

Explanation: At about 100 meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger, Bruce McCandless II was further out than anyone had ever been before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), astronaut McCandless, pictured above, was floating free in space. McCandless and fellow NASA astronaut Robert Stewart were the first to experience such an "untethered space walk" during Space Shuttle mission 41-B in 1984. The MMU works by shooting jets of nitrogen and has since been used to help deploy and retrieve satellites. With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU is heavy on Earth, but, like everything, is weightless when drifting in orbit. The MMU was replaced with the SAFER backpack propulsion unit.

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Optical Camouflage, Science is at it Again

A group from Japan has developed a form of optical camouflage. Optical camouflage is a kind of active camouflage. It allows the viewer to see what is behind the object or person being camouflaged. Click on either picture below to see a video of this technology in action.

Once you check out the way this technology works (at this site) you'll realize the applications are limited. Their paper gives one example of allowing a pilot to see the runway through the floor of the plane allowing for a more intuitive landing.

You'll see below some people think that having a computer desktop that is transparent is also something that might be of interest to the consumers out there. Of course there are better ways to create a transparent desktop than using the technology above. You can see the whole gallery of transparent desktops here.

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Illusions of Science? No, Images of the Very Real

Let's file these images under the category of things you don't see everyday. I borrowed these images from Eye of Science.

Resin cast of the urinary vessels of a kidney. The red structure shows the major and minor calyces which receive urine from different sections of the kidney; passing it first to the renal pelvisand then to the urethra.

Transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a cluster of Escherichia coli bacteria, known as E. coli. They normally inhabit the intestines of humans or animals and are usually harmless. Under certain conditions E. coli may increase and cause infection. Serotypes of E. coli are responsible for gastroenteritis in children. In adults it causes "Traveler’s diarrhea" and is responsible for 80% of urinary tract infections. It is also the most used bacteria for genetic studies.
Magnification: 25.000 X.

Colored Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM) of nylon hooks and loops in Velcro material. Used as a common fastener on clothes and shoes, Velcro is a nylon material formed into two different structures: one a nail- head-like surface, and the other a smooth surface made up of a series of loops. The loops are loosely woven strands among an otherwise tight weave. When the two surfaces are brought together they form astrong bond, but can still be pulled apart.
Magnification: 50 X.

Colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an itch mite on the surface of the skin. In humans, this parasite causes scabies, an ailment typified by severe itching (especially at night), red papules and often secondary infection. The female mite tunnels in the skin to lay her eggs and the newly-hatched mites are passed easily from person to person by physical contact. The itching is caused by an allergic reaction to the mite's saliva or feces. Commonly infected areas are the groin, penis, nipples and the skin between the fingers. The condition is treated with hexachloropheneor benzyl benzoate creams.
Magnification: 300 X.

Go to Eye of Science for many other images and click on their agency tab to purchase any of hundreds(thousands?) of images.

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A True Optical Illusion

The below is an amazing illusion that is made possible by a blending of art and science. This illusion comes to you from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The way they were able to give this young lady the illusion of having both eyes is incredible.

Life can change in the blink of an eye. It did for Lorie Navejar. But thanks to science, no one can tell. Navejar and her family planned what was supposed to be a fun outing last April. They spent the day in Sadler, Texas and ended up taking a ride on an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). But the off-road adventure took a turn for the worse.

Navejar was riding on the back of an ATV when the vehicle hit a muddy incline and flipped over, landing on top of Navejar and the driver. The handlebar went straight into Navejar's eye . "It went directly into my right eye and went back out," Navejar said. "I covered my eye and stood up praying, ‘God help me. God please help me.’ I have never experienced pain like that and I would never wish it on anyone."

Emergency teams airlifted Lorie to a Dallas hospital. There, doctors sutured the globe of her eye. "At the time, I didn’t think I was going to lose my vision. The pain was actually too bad to think about anything," Navejar said.

...."I felt disfigured, not myself. I didn’t feel presentable to people. I didn’t want to go to a lot of places, I just wanted to stay home," Navejar said, after injuring her eye. "Dr. Sponsel suggested I see Nancy. He said the prosthesis might help the way I felt about myself."

.....Creating Navejar’s prosthesis was a balance between fine art and modern science. Navejar posed as the artists’ model while Hansen and Guerra carefully studied her natural eye, noting the color of every fleck.

Read the entire article.

Absolutely Amazing!

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The Fountain of Mystery

I mention in my description of this blog "Blogging All Illusions: optical, magical, visual, science, jokes, funny pictures etc..." Here is an illusion made possible because of science. I thought gravity was a constant and that water couldn't flow uphill. I guess I was wrong.

A set of four glass ramps positioned in a square clearly show water traveling up each of them before it pours off the top, only to start again at the bottom of the next ramp.

It is a sight which defies logic, and has become probably the most memorable image of this year's show. (...)

It is a trick which has greatly intrigued the crowds at the Chelsea Flower Show, where Dyson's work is part of the Daily Telegraph's Silver Gilt award-winning garden. People have been queuing up 10-deep to see the fountain, says Mr Phillips, many of them discussing their various ideas as to how it works.

"I stand a discreet distance away and listen to some of their theories - there are some fantastic ideas there, some of them I actually wish I could make.

The Wrong Garden, Chelsea Flower Show, 2003
Check out this site for a flash presentation of the garden and fountain in action.

Is this a trick as the article says? No, this is not a trick, "trick" sounds like something you would find a magician doing at a 8 year olds birthday party. This mix of art and science is a very convincing illusion. People don't line up 10 deep for something that looks like a trick. The BBC article has an excellent explanation (with pictures) of how James Dyson (of Dyson Vacuum Fame) makes water go up hill. If you must have the mystery revealed click here, but be warned for each person who looks a little bit of the magic left in this world dies.

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Illusion of Danger

I have seen this image around the net for awhile now. I thought that I would post it here because everywhere I saw this image posted people assumed it was this big shark and they all wondered if this photo had been altered in any way. The truth is this picture is real and has not been doctored in any way. After all it comes from surfshooter.com a site that specializes in surf action pictures.

The illusion of danger comes from our minds. We see this and automatically think shark, but the reality is that this is a dolphin. Click on the picture to go to surfshooter.com. They have a second shot where the tail of the dolphin is easier to see and identify.

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Hidden in Plain Sight

This is the ultimate "Where's Waldo" type picture (2.5 Gigapixel Image). You can zoom in and count the bricks on some streets. What is the license plate of that car? How many people can you find? Can you find the large McDonalds sign mounted high on a pole for the travelers on the highway to see? Can anyone tell me what time it is? I saw a clock on a tower in the distance with the time clearly visible.

Click on image to go to full 2.5 gigapixel image viewer
Macromedia Flash required to view.

TNO has produced the largest digital panoramic photo in the world. So, what do we mean by large? After all, modern consumer cameras can easily take a picture with 5 million pixels. Well, we are talking about a photo of completely different dimensions. One with 2.5 billion pixels - that's 500 times more pixels. If this photo were printed, it would measure 6.67 m by 2.67 m (300 dpi). The photograph shows Delft and its surroundings in the autumn of 2004. It was taken from the top of the Electrical Engineering faculty of Delft University, at a height of about 100 m, by TNO.

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