A grayscale ballerina who appears to be moving. A human who can fit in a doll box. A black-and-white prism that appears to change shape when... Optical illusions are a brain feature, not a bug. Here's ...

Your brain is lying to you right now. Not maliciously, and not because something’s wrong with it. It’s doing exactly what evolution designed it to do, making split-second decisions about the world ...

Optical illusions have long fascinated scientists, artists, and everyday viewers. These visual puzzles can make stationary objects appear to move, straight lines look bent, or colours seem to change ...

It's time now for our science news roundup from Short Wave, NPR's science podcast. I am joined by the show's host, Regina Barber, and producer Rachel Carlson. Good to have you both here. RACHEL ...

Allen Institute researcher Jerome Lecoq points to one of the diagrams that was used in a study focusing on how the brain interprets optical illusions. (Allen Institute Photo / Erik Dinnel) Our brains ...

In 1906, biologists Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that illuminated the physical structures of the human brain. Working ...

SEATTLE, WASH.—September 15, 2025—An illusion is when we see and perceive an object that doesn’t match the sensory input that reaches our eyes. In the case of the image below, the sensory input is ...

As you scroll through this article, your brain is hard at work creating the mental world you live in. You probably have a seamless sense that you’re embedded in a world full of other people, objects, ...

A new analysis of the “Boltzmann brain” paradox suggests our memories and sense of reality could, in theory, be random ...