Let's Play Some Brain Tricks, Yeah!

 Checker Shadow Illusion

The area labeled A appears to be a darker colour than the area labeled B, but it is not: they are the same colour.

Your brain makes adjustments for light and shadow. Your eyes "know" that the squares are the same colour, but your brain makes adjustments and compensations and tells you that B is in the shadow. So, in order to explain how both squares could be sending the same amount of light to your eye, your brain decides that B must be white.

 

Afterimages

Concentrate 30 seconds on the white dot and close your eyes for 10 seconds.

Afterimages are optical illusions which occur when the image continues to appear briefly after the image is no longer there. There are two types of afterimages:
1. Positive afterimage -The image retains the colours of the original image.
2. Negative afterimage - The colours may reverse like a photo negative.

  

Dimitri Parant

Café Wall

The café wall illusion: the horizontal lines are parallel, despite appearing to be at different angles to each other.

 

Fraser Spiral Illusion

This image appears to be a spiral of rope with twisted strands of two different colours. However, it is actually made up of concentric circles of twisted cords.

 

Thaumatrope

A disk with a picture of flowers on one side and a vase on the other is twirled very quickly by strings on each side and the pictures combine.

Reversible figure

This picture of a women looking into a mirror, turns into a skull.

Autostereogram

An autostereogram is a type of 2D picture which when viewed in a certain manner appears 3D.

To look at an autostereogram, you must not focus on the picture, but kind of look through the picture as though you are looking from afar. Try not to blink or move your head too much. Then move back from the picture slowly. Repeat until a blurry 3D picture emerges.

 

Books To Read

Eye Benders: The Science of Seeing and Believing, by Clive Gifford.

Oh Wow! The Mummies of Krakow

Beneath the Church of St. Kazimierz the Prince, in southern Poland, are catacombs full of strikingly preserved mummies, formed as a result of naturally-occurring environmental conditions.

Since 1667, up until 1841, almost 1000 bodies have been placed in these crypts, where the unique microclimate has allowed many of the bodies to become naturally mummified.

Today it is only possible to view the mummies once a year on 2 November, All Souls' Day. On this day, you can see the mummy of a women in her wedding dress, who was poisoned by her family for going ahead with a marriage, of which they did not approve.

Monks however, were very simply laid on the sandy floor, wearing their habits and left to mummify.

In a glass coffin, lies the body of Father Sebastian Wolicki. It is also possible to view the body of Countess Domicella Skalska, who worked at the church as a housemaid for 20 years. Shortly before she died in 1864, the housemaid revealed that she was actually the Countess Domicella Skalska, from an aristocratic family.

Some photos Flickr bildungsr0man

Cleopatra's Marriage to her Brother and Undersea Palace

Cleopatra VII Philopator who was born about 69 BC, is generally known as Cleopatra. She was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, but she is most famous for her romantic relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Cleopatra was forced to marry her younger brother Ptolemy XIII when she was 11 years old. However, her husband/brother drowned during the Alexandrian War (47 B.C.). Then she was forced to marry another brother, Ptolemy XIV. This brother and his three counsellors then managed to have Cleopatra exiled from Egypt.

{1400 years ago, a terrible earthquake and a huge tsunami struck Egypt, near the coast of the great city of Alexandria and it sank the island of Antirhodos, where queen Cleopatra’s palace was located.}

Revenge. and Romance

Intent on revenge, Cleopatra gathered together an army. However, at this time the country was going through upheaval, as Pompeius,  the consul of Rome was murdered, and Julius Caesar became the Roman consul.

Wishing to gain entry to the palace and ally herself with Julius Caesar, Cleopatra had herself wrapped up inside a carpet and delivered to Julius Caesar himself, so she would avoid being killed by Ptolemy’s people.

The pair became lovers that very night, and in time, Cleopatra gave birth to Julius Caesar's son, Caesarion (little Caesar).

Cleopatra's husband and brother, Ptolemy XIV, died and Julius Caesar was assassinated on the 15 March 44 BC.

Summoned to Rome 

In 41 BC, Cleopatra was summoned to Rome to meet Mark Antony, who perhaps, wanted her support in an intended war against the Parthians. Cleopatra supposedly arrived in Rome, on a barge, dressed as Venus. Mark Antony and Cleopatra then began a romantic affair and Cleopatra later gave birth to Mark Antony's twins.

Mark Antony married Cleopatra, while he was still married to the sister of Octavian (another member of the Second Triumvirate), which led to Octavian declaring war on both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Mark Antony's armies, however, deserted him and joined with Octavian.

Mark Antony in his anguish cried out that Cleopatra had betrayed him. Fearful of Mark Antony, Cleopatra sent a message to him stating that she was dead. Upon hearing this, Mark Antony commits suicide by stabbing himself in the stomach with his sword. In her grief, on hearing of her lover's death, it is said by many historians that, Cleopatra killed herself by having an Egyptian cobra (an asp) bite her on the breast.

Interestingly, Cleopatra had tested many poisons on slaves to see if an attractive death could be managed and snake poison seemed to be about the best way to die and to preserve her beauty. Just in case her tongue was hanging out, or worse, a slave was on hand to clean up Cleopatra after her death.

The Death of Cleopatra by Reginald Arthur (d. 1896)

Cleopatra's palace sunk into the waters off Alexandria due to earthquakes and tsunamis; lost until rediscovered by divers in the 1990s. The site is an archaeological treasure trove, brimming with riches and historical treasures.

Books To Read

Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff brings Cleopatra to life.

Why Homoeopathy Is Really Voodoo

The general idea of Homoeopathy is based on the principle that you can treat "like with like" ( similia similibus curentur). So a substance which causes a symptom is often used in a dilute form as a treatment. This means that coffee beans in a very dilute form may be used to treat insomnia.


Magical Beliefs

The ideas of homoeopathy are very similar to "correspondence" in ancient sympathetic magical beliefs. For example, a folk healer would prescribe walnuts for a brain disorder due to the fact that the walnut resembles the brain. Ferns, however, were believed to be useful in treating arthritis, simply based on the fact that fronds unfurled as they grew. The general idea was that there was some kind of causal link between the two objects. How this link worked, though, is never fully explained.

In the case of homoeopathic remedies, there is actually no real substance left, because it has been diluted to the point of being basically just water. But the wacky idea postulated is that "water has a memory". However, Research published in 2005 on hydrogen bond network dynamics in water, demonstrated that "liquid water loses the memory of persistent correlations in its structure" within fifty-millionths of a nanosecond.[7]

Similarly, the use of voodoo dolls is another form of imitative/sympathetic magic. The theory that "like produces like" is behind the idea that, whatever happens to the doll, will happen to the person. So, if you stick a pin in the doll, then there is supposed to be some kind of magical link between it and a particular person. How a material that is shaped to resemble a human shape could possess such power, is again, never fully explained.

Many people "believe" in the power of homoeopathy and voodoo dolls. However, homoeopathy has been found to be no more effective than a placebo, or a sugar pill. Behind both the effects of the placebo and the nocebo effect is belief .

The placebo effect is a medical treatment that is inert (inactive), such as a sugar pill, which causes a measurable or felt improvement. 

 
The nocebo effect is when a harmless substance creates harmful effects in a patient who takes it.


Books To Read

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time, by Michael Shermer.

The Crazy and Scary Deep Dark Web

So, you probably think that you are pretty familiar with the Internet. Well, the pages you surf through Google etc. are but a tiny part of the vast Internet universe. The Deep Web, it is estimated comprises about 96% of the Internet and the other 4% is those sites which are visible to the public.

The Deep Web, as it is often called, is not indexed by standard search engines; it is the Wild West of the Internet universe and you may not want to go there.

The Deep Web is the cyber world where paedophiles dwell. But then there are the arms dealers, drug pushers, illegal passports for sale, terrorists and hit-men for hire. Buyers use BitCoin, a digital currency when paying for their purchases, or services. There is hardly anything you cannot buy with BitCoins.

To access the Deep Web you need a special kind of software called Tor (originally short for The Onion Router) which enables users to communicate anonymously on the Internet by encrypting data through various layers like an onion.

This part of the web, also, has private password only sites, unlinked pages which cannot be web crawled, scripted pages, and file formats not handled by search engines. There is also, lots and lots of educational information.

The horrible nightmare inducing parts of the Dark Web, usually, need to be accessed by links that are found on message boards. But I wouldn't advise you to follow these trails, for the same reason that you wouldn't walk down a dark alleyway, in a rough part of town, in the deep of the night.

The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld

Nobody Really Has Blue Eyes

How many times have you heard people say that they have, or love, blue eyes? The problem is, that the perception of eyes being blue is an optical illusion.

Most babies when they are born will have what appear to be blue eyes. This is because babies have no eye pigment. However, if the child has inherited brown eyes from a parent, the iris of the eye will darken as the pigment (melanin) develops with age.

Melanin absorbs light. However, eyes that appear blue, have very little melanin in the turbid front layer and so, the light travels through the translucent iris and scatters. This is called Tyndall scattering. Blue wavelengths of the light spectrum are shorter than other wavelengths, so, they scatter more efficiently.

Blue eyes are the result of a genetic mutation. Research by the University of Copenhagen shows that a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene took place in a single individual 6000-10, 000 years ago and this turned off the melanin pigment production. Professor Eibergfrom from the university said that all eye colours can be accounted for by the amount of melanin in the iris.

The inheritance pattern of blue eyes is in general, considered a polygenic trait, meaning that it is controlled by the interactions of several genes, not just one.

DNA studies conducted on ancient human remains have confirmed that light skin, hair and eyes were evident at least tens of thousands of years ago on Neanderthals, who lived in Eurasia.


Books To Read


Europe: A Natural History, by Tim Flannery, Europe  - modern humans arrived in Europe 40000 years ago.

Everyone I Know Believes It, So It Must be True

"Everyone I Know Believes It, So It Must be True"

During the Middle Ages, many people believed that the Earth was flat. The majority of ordinary, everyday people believed this. But did the belief of so many, that the world was flat, make the flatness of the earth true? No.

Back in Ancient Greece, the majority of Greeks believed that Zeus existed. Did this belief in Zeus, make Zeus real and true?

The above style of argument is commonly called the Argumentum ad populum. Many people use this style of crooked reasoning in the belief that: "If so many believe it, it must be so."

This argument can take many forms and advertisers and politicians are often masters of such techniques. For example:

"Bliss toothpaste is the best, because Bliss toothpaste is used by most Americans".

"This book all about magical thinking can bring you great riches. The book is number one on the best seller-list and everyone is reading it. So, therefore, magical thinking must be true."

"Gay marriage is immoral. 75% of Australians believe this".

The fact that these things may be believed by many people, does not make them true.

Another common error in reasoning, which is often used, is the Ad hominem fallacy. Ad hominem means "against the person". So, instead of providing a rational critique of an argument, there will be an attack the person who made the argument. For example:

"Her views about gun control are not worth considering because she didn't go to university and she is also ugly".

"I don't care what those café latte, bleeding heart Liberals, have to say about health care".

This argument style concentrates on personal attacks and name calling, instead of examining the argument.



Books To Read


Logically Fallacious, The Ultimate Collection of Over 300 Logical Fallacies, by Bo Bennett, PhD.

Alexander the Great Fathered by A Snake?

Olympias who was the mother of Alexander the Great, was also a Greek princess of Epirus, formerly a region in southeastern Europe. She was also a devout member of the orgiastic snake-worshipping cult of Dionysus.

Zeus seduces Olympias

This snake cult featured "unrestrained" masked dances by firelight and ophiolatreia, which was worship of the serpent. Serpent worship was very closely related to phallic worship; the symbolism is obvious. Olympias, the mother of Alexander, as Plutarch outlined, would take part in orgies, where frantic rites were performed with snakes. Snakes also crowned her hair.

One night, the husband of Olympias, King Philip of Macedonia, found his wife embracing a snake in her bed. A snake, which she believed was Zeus in snake form. After this, Phillip no longer desired his wife and took other wives. He did have a son, though, with Olympias, a son who would later become Alexander the Great.

Zeus is The Father

According to the historian, Justin, Olympias confessed to her husband, King Phillip, that the child, Alexander, was not his son. His father, she claimed, was a snake. A snake who was really Zeus.

Later, when Philip was murdered by his bodyguard, Olympias was suspected of being behind the murderous plot, as she was known to have arranged the murder of a woman, Eurydice and her child, to ensure that Alexander would become king of Macedonia.

Alexander probably believed that he was the son of the god Zeus. After all, that was not an uncommon belief in that day and age, when people also routinely believed absolutely, in all kinds of superstitions and omens, as well.

Strange Portents

The death of Alexander at the age of 32 was also very mysterious according to Plutarch. There were reports of ravens fighting with each other over the city walls, with some dropping dead; a man with a deformed liver being sacrificed for the king and Alexander's best lion was kicked to death by an ass.

As is usual in these cases, Alexander's followers claimed that his body after death did not decompose, in order to make him appear more godlike. The disease Alexander actually died from is not certain, although, some suspect typhoid.

Record of the death of Alexander (c. 323–322 BC)

Alexander's embalmed corpse was hijacked on the way to Macedonia and taken to Alexandria, where it was displayed in a glass sarcophagus for 550 years. Nobody knows where his body is now, but some stories claim that he lays in a crypt beneath a Christian church. Not bad for the son of Zeus.



Books To Read

The Triumph Of Christianity, by religion scholar Bart Ehrman.