Happy Days: A Little Experiment

Want to be happier?  A few years ago I researched the psychology of happiness, and found that one of the best ways of putting a smile on your face was to remember a happy memory.

So, think back over the past 24 hours and then briefly describe your happiest memory in the comments box.

When I did this on Twitter I had a wonderful variety of memories, and lots of people felt happier just reading about the happy memories of others!

Don’t delay.  Post your happy memory from the last 24 hours and look at what other people have written!

 

 

Does the earth move for you?

Two nice movement illusions today.  Everyone and their dog sent me the following….

and Maximilien S sent me this…

Did they work for you?  Which one is best?

Surprise!

@jbrownridge kindly sent me this and I think it is lovely….

Did you see the twist coming?

Answer to the Friday Puzzle!

On Friday I posted this puzzle…..

Imagine arranging 6 glasses in a row and filling three of them with water like this….

Every time you pick up a glass it counts as a move.  What is the smallest number of moves that needs to be made in order to leave the glasses alternating full and empty?

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now.  For everyone else the answer is after the break.

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

Hope you have had a good week.  Imagine arranging 6 glasses in a row and filling three of them with water like this….

Every time you pick up a glass it counts as a move.  What is the smallest number of moves that needs to be made in order to leave the glasses alternating full and empty?

As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but feel free to say if you think you have solved it and how long it took.  Solution on Monday.

Impossible objects….

The wonderfully talented Jamie D. Grant kindly sent me one of his great “Anything Is Possible” bottle (it’s like a ship in a bottle, but with a sealed deck of cards), and it now has pride of place in my office.  Each one hand made by Jamie and sold for $100 (details here).   As part of a campaign to add more wonder to the world, Jamie leaves his “Anything Is Possible” bottles out on the street for random people to find!

This made me think about other impossible objects.  One of my favourites is this great mirror cube….

and there is this great impossible triangle….

But there is another way of creating an impossible triangle…..can you figure it out…..answer after the break…..

Can you explain this ‘ghost’ photograph?

A few days ago, Claire A emailed me saying “I am a street photographer based in Manchester, England. I took this in a cemetery using my film camera about 2 weeks ago. I made 2 images of the same scene and scanned the negatives. The photo I have attached is the 2nd exposure. I have ruled out any kind of processing error. The texture of the trail is fibre-like. Any ideas?”

You can download a larger version of the image here.

Any ideas?

 

Stepping feet illusion

This is amazing.  The blue and the yellow bars are ALWAYS going around at the same pace.  However, when the disk is placed behind them, they appear out of step.

The explanation is far from simple and can be found here.

Do you like it?

 

Answer to the Friday Puzzle…..

At 10 a.m. today the tickets for the next event being run by the Edinburgh Secret Society (‘An evening of wonder’) will go on sale.  Details here.

On Friday I posted this puzzle…

John lives in a house that has the reverse numbering to Jane’s house (so, for example, if John lived at number 56, Jane would be at 65).  The difference between their house numbers ends in 2.  What are their house numbers?

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now.  For everyone else, the answer is after the break.

It’s the Friday Puzzle

First, here is a clip of my good self on BBC Breakfast speaking about Paranormality….

OK, enough of me.  Here is the Friday puzzle….

John lives in a house that has the reverse numbering to Jane’s house (so, for example, if John lived at number 56, Jane would be at 65).  The difference between their house numbers ends in 2.  What are their house numbers?

UPDATE: Neither John or Jane live in a house numbered between 1 and 10, nor in a house numbered over 99!

As ever, please do not post your answers, but feel free to say if you have solved it and how long it took.  Solution on Monday.

Face off

Quite a few people were kind enough to send me this lovely optical illusion logo…..

It is a take on the classic vase/profile illusion…..

And if you make a slightly different 3D version, and spin it, you get an amazing effect….

Which impresses you more?

 

Was he right or wrong?

The other day I was on the train to the Newcastle Science Festival.  I was in the Quiet Coach (a coach which is supposed to be for those wanting to travel without being disturbed by annoying mobile phones, etc.), and a woman with a baby came in and sat down.  The baby started crying and a man in the coach asked her to leave.  Was he right or wrong?

I put this on Twitter and it evoked quite a reaction, with lots of people suggesting that men and women had quite different opinions.  But is that really the case?  Vote now and justify your opinion!

Do not adjust your sets…..

….great illusory movement illusions from @nedatutu…..

Does it work for you?  If not, try clicking on it and opening it up full size.

Answer to the Friday Puzzle….

On Friday I set this puzzle….

What five letter chemical element is represented by this list…

SILICON
HELIUM
NEON
HYDOGEN
LEAD
OXYGEN

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now.  For everyone else, the answer is after the break….

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

UPDATE: I have just found out that this puzzle was created by the wonderful Lloyd King – see more about his work here.

What five letter chemical element is represented by this list…

SILICON
HELIUM
NEON
HYDOGEN
LEAD
OXYGEN

As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but feel free to say if you solved it and how long it took.  Answer on Monday.