Battle of the clever stuff

The data from yesterday’s posts was interesting. The theory was that more women than men would see the picture as a fish rather than a face. And that proved to be the case. Although the vast majority of both sexes reported seeing a face, only 4% of men vs 12% of women saw the fish first – a statistically significant result given the 2000 people or so voting. How odd. I wonder why….

Last week I staged another battle of the clever stuff, and put the clever montage against the weird purple moving thing. The purple thing won by a whisker, so it stays on. This week it is up against a wonderful habituation illusion. Have a look at them both….

….here is the weird purple thing….

And to experience the new contender click here (thanks @_clarrison)….

Vote now and feel free to explain your decision.

Lies and truths

Last week I asked men and women to describe their last big lie. Interestingly, women submitted loads more lies than men (124 vs 93 last time I looked), which is odd, because the other sex-split polls I have run show that far more men than women come to the blog. Perhaps women lie more. Or are more honest when it comes to talking about lying.

I was mainly interested in the target of the lies, with my hypothesis being that men lie to their partners more than women. This was kinda suggested by the results, although it was far from clear-cut. About 6% of the female lies involved telling porky pies to their partners, compared to about 15% of men’s lies.

Do you think there is anything to it? It might stem from evolutionary theory, wherein females tend to invest a great deal in a single partners whereas males tend to put it around a bit.

What do you see when you look at this?

I am emceeing TamLondon at the weekend, and there are still a few tickets available.  Tis a great line-up of speakers, so do come along if you can make it.  Tickets here.

The word on the street is that men and women see a certain picture in different ways.  But is that really the case?  Time for a test.

I have put the picture after the break, so go take a look and tell me what you saw when you first looked at it…..

It’s the Friday puzzle!

OK, I really will get around to looking at the lies over the weekend. Keep them coming. So, to the puzzle….

Can you take the clock face below, and cut it into four pieces such that the numerals on each part add up to the same number?

So, for example, this solution would not work because the numbers on the four pieces add up to different amounts….

The answer to this puzzle, and 100 others,  can be found in a new kindle ebook called PUZZLED, and is available in the UK here and USA here.

Can you solve this new ghost photo?

Keep the lies coming and I will have a look at them tomorrow. Meantime, this week I received another interesting ghost photo….

“This is a photo of myself, my mother, and my newborn daughter taken January 11, 1987. The face beside the lady holding the baby is no one we know. We have several pictures from this day and this is the only one with the face. Can you tell me what it could be? A ghost? I get the feeling that it is not a benevolent, whatever it is.”

The person says that she has the print of the picture and perhaps the negative. Anyway, here it is….

What do you think? Any ideas? And if you are into alleged ghost photos, remember that there are loads of pics at my other site, www.scienceofghosts.com.

UPDATE: Cindi has sent in a high res version of the pic here (1Mb)

UPDATE: As requested, the person who sent in the photo has scanned in another of the people who were there that day and a close-up of herself. Here they are…

Obviously, feel free to comment, but do keep everything polite!

Battle of the clever stuff!

Yesterday’s posts about lying proved very popular – please keep them coming and I will have a look at them all tomorrow.

Last week I staged another battle of the clever stuff, and put the emerging circles illusion against the weird purple moving thing. The purple thing won easily, so it stays on. This week it is up against a wonderful piece of face art.  Have a look at them both….

….here is the weird purple thing….

And here is the new contender….

Vote now and feel free to explain your decision.

If you are female, read this…..

Psychologists have looked at many aspects of lying, but only a small amount of the work has studied whether men and women tell different types of lies.

To help set the record straight, it is time for a fun project.  If you are female, briefly describe the last big lie you told below.  As with the confession posts last week, do remember to make sure that your post is anonymous!

I will then compare the lies reported by men and women and see what we get.

Ok, so what was your last big lie?

If you are male, read this….

Psychologists have looked at many aspects of lying, but only a small amount of the work has studied whether men and women tell different types of lies.

To help set the record straight, it is time for a fun project.  If you are male, briefly describe the last big lie you told below.  As with the confession posts last week, do remember to make sure that your post is anonymous!

I will then compare the lies reported by men and women and see what we get.

Ok, so what was your last big lie?

Quick update

Just back from the US and thought it would be good to say a few words about the trip.

First, I had a great time at the New York City Skeptics Conference, and a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who came to say hello.  I was a guest contributer on the Skeptics Guide to the Universe panel, and you can hear the resulting podcast here.

It was also good to spend some time with magician Jamy Ian Swiss whilst at the conference.  Jamy is a great sleight of hand artist, was the subject of this wonderful article in the New Yorker Magazine.  So, if you want to see some wonderful magic – book Jamy!

Whilst in NYC I also saw Steve Cohen’s chamber magic show.  It takes place in a beautiful suite in the Waldorf-Astoria, and was really really impressive.  If you find yourself in NYC, and enjoy strong magic in an intimate setting, Steve’s show is simply a must.

It’s the Friday puzzle!

Time for another classic….

Three men go to a restaurant for dinner and spent £25. Each man gives the waiter £10. The waiter keeps £2 as a tip and gives £1 back to each man. Thus each man pays £9, and so the group pay £9 x 3 = £27. The waiter keeps £2, making a total of £29. So, where did the missing £ go?

The answer to this puzzle, and 100 others,  can be found in a new kindle ebook called PUZZLED, and is available in the UK here and USA here.

Can you explain the magic broom?

Here is a short news report about a magic broom that appears to stand-up in an inexplicable way…..

Is it physics? A magic trick? Pixies? A hoax? God? Ten points for the best explanation….

Battle of the clever stuff!

Last week I staged another battle of the clever stuff, and put the floating square illusion against the emerging circles illusion. The emerging circles won easily, so it stays on. This week it is up against a wonderful movement illusion by Walter Anthony.  Have a look at them both….

….here is the emerging circles illusion (Most people initially see just rectangles that look like door panels but then 16 circles emerge) again….

and here is the new contender….

Vote now and feel free to explain your decision.

Amazing footage

I came across this great archive footage of a couple testing bullet proof glass…I suspect that modern-day health and safety laws might make it a tad tricky…

So, here is my question.  Assuming that your partner is a good shot, would you stand behind the glass like the woman in the video?

It’s the Friday puzzle!

Well, what a week.  I am in NYC now for a few meetings and a skeptics conference.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the confession post.  It received an amazing response, and feel free to continue posting your confessions and helping others.

So, to the Friday puzzle….

A Petri dish contains a colony of bacteria. Every minute every bacterium divides into two. The colony was started by just one cell at noon. 47 minutes later the Petri dish was half full. At what time will the dish be full of bacteria?

The answer to this puzzle, and 100 others,  can be found in a new kindle ebook called PUZZLED, and is available in the UK here and USA here.

Battle of the clever stuff

Last week I staged another battle of the clever stuff, and put the floating square illusion against the squares/circle optical illusion. The squares illusion won by a narrow margin so it stays on. This week it is up against a wonderful illusion by Anthony Norcia. Have a look at them both….here is the floating square illusion again….
and here is the new contender….

Most people initially see just rectangles that look like door panels, and after a bit do the 16 circles emerge.

Vote now and feel free to explain your decision.