Last Word Archive New Scientist. November 2. 01. 7. Walking in Halswell Quarry Park in Christchurch, New Zealand, we found these geometric objects by the path (pictured). They look human- made, but are apparently natural. Can anyone identify them? November 2. 01. 7. People have been measuring the speed of light for a few hundred years, but the universe is nearly 1.

1. Two Equifax executives—Chief Information Officer David Webb and Chief Security Officer Susan Mauldin—are “retiring” in the wake of a security breach that.
2. A goat that was extremely bored, ornery, or both decided to smash in the front door of polyurethane manufacturer Argonics Inc.’s Colorado office this weekend, and.

People seem to come in all shapes and sizes. Do any other animals display the same amount of variation in size as humans among healthy adults? One of my favorite psychological tricks comes from a novella by comedian Steve Martin, Shopgirl. It’s a guide to telling lies. There are three essential qualities.

If the speed of light changes very slowly – say a small percentage every 1. November 2. 01. 7. Is there a physical limit to the wind speed of a hurricane?

If so, what is it? November 2. 01. 7. All astronomical bodies, from moons and planets up to galaxies, spin and have orbits. Spin is also a key characteristic of subatomic particles. Yet in our human world, we are relatively static. Why is spin unimportant for us, but at other levels it is all- pervasive?

How do the laws of physics make our biosphere so special? October 2. 01. 7.

People seem to come in all shapes and sizes. Do any other animals display the same amount of variation in size as humans among healthy adults? Why is there this variety, and what are its consequences for the future? October 2. 01. 7.

It seems ubiquitous at beaches for children to build sandcastles. Is this behaviour global? Is it innate or learned?

Did the children of nomadic, hunter- gatherer groups also build mounds in the sand? October 2. 01. 7. On the radio I heard complex birdsong that had been recorded at midnight in summer in Finland. The Last Word has discussed what life is like for humans in polar regions, but how does wildlife cope with 2. October 2. 01. 7. Given that athletics races can be won or lost by a margin as small as a hundredth of a second, do athletes risk a gold medal by wearing gold chains?

October 2. 01. 7. During the recent total solar eclipse in the US, I overlapped my hands, using the gaps between my fingers to form "pinholes". Just before the start of totality, someone noticed that the shadows formed through this "pinhole camera" onto a white board were so sharp that the individual hairs on my arms were visible. How thin must the solar crescent be for the shadows to be this sharp, and how soon before totality would this occur? October 2. 01. 7. Recently, my wife's silver car became covered by a swarm of flying ants.

This was odd because none of the other cars parked nearby had any on at all. A friend mentioned it had happened to his silver car too and after searching online it seems it's a known phenomenon. Why is it that the swarm seems to be attracted to something silver?

How Your Brain Tricks You Into Thinking Magic Is Real. Magic tricks, or illusions, make us go “ooh,” “ahhh,” and “how the flippin’ crap did they do that?!” They’re part sleight of hand, part planning, and a lot of brain confusion. Your brain is a liar.

No matter what anyone says about performing magic tricks, everyone’s jaws drop when they see an…Read more Read. In the video above from the Wired You. Tube channel, magician David Kwong, and author of the book Spellbound, reveals the “7 Principles of Illusion.” These principles are what turns a simple sleight of hand gesture into a mind melting magic trick: Mind the gap: Your brain takes shortcuts and makes assumptions to help process the incomplete visual data it’s receiving, or what’s known as amodal completion. Write the script: Magicians want you to believe what you’re seeing, so they give you specific verbal information, or a script, to fill in those gaps.

It’s mental manipulation at its finest. Load up: The trick you’re seeing is the result of a ton of prep work done by the magician. It’s like sitting down to a fancy meal at a restaurant and forgetting how much time and effort went into making it. Design free choice: Magicians will often make it feel like you’re making some sort of choice, when really you’re being shown the only possible choice. If you feel like you are in control, you’ll buy into the illusion even more. Employ the familiar: Magicians play into your brain’s need to spot patterns. If a magician shows you only a few cards from a trick deck, your brain will fill in the blanks and you’ll assume the deck is normal.

Conjure an out: Magicians always have a backup plan—or three or four of them. They’re ready for someone to make an uncommon choice, and they’ve planned for secondary illusions to make up for it. You’ll never fool a magician. If you think you can, you’ve already fallen for principle number four, hard.

Control the frame: Like a film director or photographer, magicians know how to draw your attention to where they want it. Watch The Devil`S Chair Dailymotion here. You’ll always look where they want you to look because your brain can’t help it. So there you have it. Illusions may not be real magic, but they fool your brain so well they may as well be.