Scientific American is doing a whole issue on optical illusions and they've got a sampling up on their website as a slideshow. It's interesting to see how some illusions are created by physical tricks of the eyes, while others are, apparently, psychological in nature. This illusion, for instance, is supposed to be influenced by the way sexual maturity changes your frame of mind—kids see dolphins and grown-ups see, well, sex.
Can stickers—as in adhesive- or magnetic-backed paper—block phone radiation? Not these ones, says the University of Surrey in England. The stickers are sold by a U.K. company, Energydots, to exploit the country's pitch into 5G conspiracy theories and mystic paranoia. The stickers are about $35 each, shipped; Energydots has also falsely claimed to be in… READ THE REST
Others have done this demo, but this is a great recent example in a large tank full of sulfur hexafluoride. Their demonstration of its voice-lowering properties was not as good as some, though. Image: YouTube / Da Vinci TV READ THE REST
Is the human gaze a physical force? It sure feels like it sometimes. Princeton University researchers scanned subjects' brains to gain insight into why we subconsciously interpret "other people's visual attention as an invisible, force-carrying beam projecting from the eyes." This isn't about the paranormal investigations into whether you can "feel" when someone is staring… READ THE REST
Back in March, most parents thought stay-at-home orders and the advent of distance-learning would mean a few weeks of discomfort before getting kids right back into the classroom. Unfortunately for millions, that's not how education has played out. Instead, despite the best efforts of most teachers and education professionals, learning has become fraught with delays,… READ THE REST
A good parent doesn't raise their child on a constant diet of fast-food hamburgers and other junk. Yet, many pet owners may be feeding their dogs even worse culinary horrors without even realizing it. While there are strict guidelines about the types of by-products and chemicals that can find their way into food consumed by… READ THE REST
Thanks to Netflix's wildly popular series, The Queen's Gambit, chess, a game invented about 1,500 years ago, is surging back into public consciousness. But while the Game of Kings may be riding a wave of increased awareness right now, it is, by no means, the only game that has survived the test of time into… READ THE REST