1. Instant Gratification

This one works immediately – stare at the dot in the center of the image and move your head back and forth – the rings will rotate.

2. Leaning Tower Illusion

The two images above are identical, yet the tower on the right appears to be leaning more steeply. The reason for this is because the visual system treats the two images as if part of a single scene. Normally, if two adjacent towers rise at the same angle, their image outlines converge as they recede from view due to perspective, and this is taken into account by the visual system.

3. Straight Lines

The image above is composed entirely of straight lines. If you don’t believe, try using a ruler to test it.

4. Inverse Image

Stare at the center of the image above for about 30 seconds then immediately look at a blank white wall or a piece of white paper. Stare at the blank paper and an image will emerge. The more you stare, the clearer the image becomes.

5. Sacred Heart Illusion

Click the image above to open it as its full size then slowly move your head away from the image.

6. Color Illusion

This one is amazing – the blue and green lines in the picture above are the same color.

7. Impossible Cube Illusion

The impossible cube or irrational cube is an impossible object that draws upon the ambiguity present in a Necker cube illustration. An impossible cube is usually rendered as a Necker cube in which the edges are apparently solid beams. This apparent solidity gives the impossible cube greater visual ambiguity than the Necker cube, which is less likely to be perceived as an impossible object. The illusion plays on the human eye’s interpretation of two-dimensional pictures as three-dimensional objects.

8. Ebbinghaus Illusion:

The Ebbinghaus illusion is an optical illusion of relative size perception. In the best-known version of the illusion, two circles of identical size are placed near to each other and one is surrounded by large circles while the other is surrounded by small circles; the first central circle then appears smaller than the second central circle.

9. White Illusion

White’s illusion is an optical illusion illustrating the fact that the same target luminance can elicit different perceptions of brightness in different contexts. Note, that although the gray rectangles are all of equal luminance, the ones seen in the context with the dark stripes appear brighter than the ones seen in the context with the bright stripes.

10. Color Perception

Believe it or not – the pink spots in the image above are the same – if you don’t believe it, open the image in photoshop and compare them.

1. Zöllner Illusion

In this figure the black lines seem to be unparallel, but in reality they are parallel. The shorter lines are on an angle to the longer lines. This angle helps to create the impression that one end of the longer lines is nearer to us than the other end. This is very similar to the way the Wundt illusion appears. It may be that the Zöllner illusion is caused by this impression of depth.

2. Blivet

A blivet, also known as a poiuyt, is an undecipherable figure, an optical illusion and an impossible object. It appears to have three cylindrical prongs at one end which then mysteriously transform into two rectangular prongs at the other end.

3. Hermann Grid Illusion

The Hermann grid illusion is an optical illusion reported by Ludimar Hermann in 1870 while, incidentally, reading John Tyndall’s Sound. The illusion is characterised by “ghostlike” grey blobs perceived at the intersections of a white (or light-colored) grid on a black background. The grey blobs disappear when looking directly at an intersection.

4. Hering Illusion

The Hering illusion is an optical illusion discovered by the German physiologist Ewald Hering in 1861. The two vertical lines are both straight, but they look as if they were bowed outwards. The distortion is produced by the lined pattern on the background, that simulates a perspective design, and creates a false impression of depth.

5. Jastrow Illusion

The Jastrow illusion is an optical illusion discovered by the American psychologist Joseph Jastrow in 1889. In this illustration, the two figures are identical, although the lower one appears to be larger.

6. Bezold Effect

The Bezold Effect is an optical illusion, named after a German professor of meteorology, Wilhelm von Bezold (1837-1907), who discovered that a color may appear different depending on its relation to adjacent colors. In the above example, the red seems lighter combined with the white, and darker combined with the black.

7. Fraser Spiral Illusion

The illusion is also known as the false spiral, or by its original name, the twisted cord illusion. The overlapping black arc segments appear to form a spiral; however, the arcs are a series of concentric circles.

8. Adelson’s Checker Shadow Illusion

The image shows what appears to be a black and white checker-board with a green cylinder resting on it that casts a shadow diagonally across the middle of the board. The black and white squares are actually different shades of gray. The image has been constructed so that “white” squares in the shadow, one of which is labeled “B,” are actually the exact same gray value as “black” squares outside the shadow, one of which is labeled “A.” The two squares A and B appear very different as a result of the illusion.
9. Café Wall Illusion

The café wall illusion is an optical illusion, first described by Doctor Richard Gregory. He observed this curious effect in the tiles of the wall of a café at the bottom of St Michael’s Hill, Bristol. This optical illusion makes the parallel straight horizontal lines appear to be bent. To construct the illusion, alternating light and dark “bricks” are laid in staggered rows. It is essential for the illusion that each “brick” is surrounded by a layer of “mortar” (the grey in the image). This should ideally be of a color in between the dark and light color of the “bricks”.

10. Motion Illusion

One type of motion illusion is a type of optical illusion in which a static image appears to be moving due to the cognitive effects of interacting color contrasts and shape position. To properly view this effect, click the image above to see the full sized version.

Interesting, isn’t it?

Source: Wikipedia

Unlike Harry Potter’s one-of-a-kind invisibility cloak, the real deal will likely be cheap and easily reproducible.

Researchers have created an invisibility cloak of sorts, though it looks more like a yellow bathmat than Harry Potter’s famous cloth. The cloak is shown lying over a bump on a flat surface. Both the bump and surface are covered in a reflective coating. The cloak makes it appear that microwaves hitting the bump are actually reflecting off a flat surface.

An invisibility cloak for visible light could be made within six months, say scientists from Duke University, who, in a new paper published in Science, explain how to hide objects from a dramatically extended range of wave lengths.

A “metamaterial” is a material with unique properties that derive from its physical structure, not its chemical make up. To manipulate light the microscopic surface of a material must be much smaller than that of the wave length of light being used.

Smith’s (David Smith, a professor at Duke University and author of the Science paper) original 2006 invisibility cloak provided invisibility to longer microwaves, letting them flow around the object and regroup on the other side. As you move through microwaves and into the infrared (and soon, visible light) wavelengths become shorter, so the microscopic structure of the material has to get even smaller. Smith said, advances in nanotechnology are making it easier to create ever smaller structures that can manipulate ever smaller wavelengths.

To conduct the experiment, the scientists assembled a roughly 20- by 4-inch platform and covered it with the mirror-like metamaterial. Then they covered a roughly 1-square-inch rounded bump in the same metamaterial, placed it on the other surface, and shined infrared light on the set up. Any normal curved material would scatter the light at a variety of different angles. The metamaterial covered bump instead reflected light back towards the source like a flat surface would do, hiding the bump underneath.

The Duke cloak does have its limitations. It only works in two dimensions. Both the background and the hidden object must also both be wrapped in the metamaterial.

Hiding a small bump is great for science, and for hiding things in general, but invisibility technology has a much wider range of uses besides mere concealment. Just as one example of many, Smith says that cloaking technology could remove cell-phone interference in buildings, letting people have clear conversations even inside an elevator.

It took Smith and his colleagues about nine days to design and implement the experiment.

Source: Discovery Channel

Motorola’s said its new W233 Renew phone, unveiled in advance of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, is the world’s first carbon neutral phone.

Motorola unveiled a cell phone made of recycled water bottles hoping to cash in on the trend for environmentally friendly products.

The company, which dropped to No. 4 in the global handset market in the most recently reported quarter due to a weak product line-up, said the W233 Renew eco-friendly phone would be sold by Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA in the current quarter.

It did not disclose pricing for the phone. Motorola said it was the world’s first carbon neutral phone. As well as using recycled materials for the plastic casing, the company also pledged to offset the carbon dioxide used in manufacturing, distribution and operation of the phone through investments in renewable energy sources and reforestation.

‘StarCraft II,’ ‘Final Fantasy XIII’ top the list of can’t-wait-to-play titles. Here are some most anticipated video games of 2009.

Resident Evil 5

Given the pedigree of the series, not to mention the innovative enhancements of the last game, the sequel to ‘Resident Evil 4′ was a shoo-in on the list this year. Early previews suggests ’5′ is more of the same, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Final Fantasy XIII

Widely regarded as the most influential role-playing franchise on consoles, the latest ‘Final Fantasy’ is scheduled to arrive on PS3 this year and later on Xbox 360. But don’t let the ridiculously high sequel number dash your hopes for originality, though. Developer Square Enix has a history of perfecting and evolving the art of the RPG, as they’ll likely do with this one.

StarCraft II

This 10-year-old game is still being played – a lot – so you’ve gotta figure that die-hard fans are beyond excited for this one. Like a real-time version of ‘Risk’ set in space and running at 80 miles per hour, it’s no wonder ‘StarCraft’ is one of the best-selling PC games of all time. And South Korea where ‘Starcraft’ tournaments are televised live is sure to implode once the game drops. (Also consider Diablo 2)

Wheelman

Made by the same studio that produced 2004′s critically-acclaimed ‘Chronicles of Riddick,’ the quick-hit missions, variety of tasks and just plain driving around never fail to entertain. The vehicular combat is so fun it will make you rethink the role of automobiles in open world games.

Punch-Out!!

Nintendo fans flipped in October when the company announced the first proper update to ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!’ since 1994. And rightfully so: The requisite timing and pattern recognition to play the game, in addition to its humor, always arouses a smile. It won’t be easy revitalizing the 8-bit classic, but since the game is being handled by the developers of ‘Mario Strikers Charged’. (Also consider Wii Sports Resort).

A research indicates that drinking coffee lowers the risk of developing cancer of the oral cavity or throat, at least in the general population of Japan.

The consumption of coffee in Japan is relatively high, as is the rate of cancer of the esophagus in men. To look into any protective effect of coffee drinking, Dr. Toru Naganuma of Tohoku University, Sendai, and colleagues, analysed data from the population-based Miyagi Cohort Study in Japan.

The study included information about diet, including coffee consumption. Among more than 38,000 study participants aged 40 to 64 years with no prior history of cancer, 157 cases of cancer of the mouth, pharynx and esophagus occurred during 13 years of follow up. Compared with people who did not drink coffee, those who drank one or more cups per day had half the risk of developing these cancers, Naganuma’s group reports in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

They note that the reduction in risk included people who are at high risk for these cancers, namely, those who were current drinkers and/or smokers at the start of the study.

The researchers conclude in their article, “Although cessation of alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking is currently the best known way to help reduce the risk of developing these cancers, coffee could be a preventive factor in both low-risk and high-risk populations.”

Source: American Journal of Epidemiology

A Bangladeshi gaming portal named 2funmail.com has just been launched for all the online gamers. That’s great news, isn’t it?

There are lots of games you can play on this site. The games have been classified into six different categories — action, arcade, sports, racing, strategy and puzzle. Within these six categories there are 120 highest-rated games you can play with your counter-part over the internet.

The site is not only a gaming portal, but also you can get all the latest and hottest news of the gaming world. You can get all the game-related updates and features in this site.

Some Quick links are also available where you can get all the news and reviews of the recent popular games. The information about the latest and upcoming games is also available in the “Hot Games” section. While playing you can also enjoy all the latest music of Bangladesh and the rest of the world through “2fun Pod” anytime you log on to this site.

Moreover, the site has opened a window of opportunity for the game-creators” as you can upload your own games on this website.
There is also a forum for the users where you can share your views with other gamers around the globe. At the same time, you can also rate the games you played.

But remember, whatever you do you have got to register and become a member, before you can make the most of this experience. So, enjoy….