Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Martin Doherty / ...

When I was in high school, my friend switched sodas on me one day. I thought I was taking a swig of Coca Cola, but he had replaced it with cream soda. I immediately spit it out, thinking it tasted ...

The Best Illusion of the Year contest offers researchers, and participants, an opportunity to explore the gaps and limits of human perception. By Katrina Miller Take a look at this video of a waiting ...

Witness an incredible optical illusion designed to blur the very perception of reality. This mind-bending trick will challenge what your eyes see and what your brain believes. A fascinating ...

A head-scratching optical illusion challenges the perception of color and how the brain plays tricks on us. In an image created by the UK contact lens vendor Lenstore, a series of lilac letters ...

Perception researchers have discovered many illusions where context affects perceived size and distance. A great example of this is the Ponzo illusion (reviewed in an earlier blog post). The Ponzo ...

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email. Optical illusions often go viral on social media, but they've been around long before Twitter. From ...

Have you ever looked at two circles of exactly the same size and sworn one was larger? If so, your eyes have been tricked by the Ebbinghaus illusion, a classic example of how context can shape what we ...

Chances are you’ve encountered some version of the “Ebbinghaus illusion,” in which a central circle appears to be smaller when encircled by larger circles and seems larger when surrounded by smaller ...

An illusion is an inaccurate perception of a real external object, indicating a sensory distortion. The most common illusions are visual, auditory, or tactile in nature, although smell and taste ...

The famous Ebbinghaus illusion, named for its discoverer, the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909). Despite appearances, the two orange circles are the same size. Have you ever looked at ...