The Dress Controversial and Optical Illusion

  Many of you probably have heard about the debate over the color of a dress that has gone quite viral overnight. Buzzfeed, NewYorkTimes, Tumblr, and several other social media agents commented on this bizarre brain illusion. In fact, it has become such an internet sensation that my biology teacher was flooded with emails and messages demanding for an answer. Thus, he spent about a quarter of the class time talking about his point of view of the hue. Basically the dress is, in fact, blue and black. Duje Tadin from the University of Rochester proposed an interesting theory. He said that due to the variation in the number of blue cones in a specific individual's brain, he or she may interpret the color differently. The more blue cones you have, the more likely you are to see blue. The less blue cones you have, the more likely it is for you to perceive the color as white.

(The second picture is the actual picture that ignited the whole controversy. In the first and third picture, light was added and extracted, making the colors appear different.)

To me, it is simply one of the many optical illusions like the one below. Although square A appears darker than square B, the second picture proves that they are of the same color. Try putting your fingers on the two sides of the squares, covering the screen, as shown in the second picture, and you will notice that they are both gray. In fact, by covering up the green cylinder itself, one perceives the colors better without the shadow casting over one of the squares. The brain tries to fill in the information that is not there by itself. Thus, since the black and white squares are arranged in an alternating pattern, the brain automatically assume that square B is white. 

(http://www.brainfacts.org/sensing-thinking-behaving/awareness-and-attention/articles/2011/sensory-illusions/)

Similar to any other optical illusions, the heated debate over the true color of the dress ranges on despite the confirmation by a British retailer that the dress is black and blue. “Most people will see the blue on the white background as blue,” Bevil Conway, a neuroscientist, says. “But on the black background some might see it as white.” Additionally, the picture is badly taken, altering the lighting of the dress by contrasting it with a lighter background. The positioning of the computer screen in which one views the picture through also plays a role in why we perceive colors differently. Essentially, the computer screen reflects light that bounces off and then enters the retinal. Try tilting the computer screen while looking at the dress and you will notice a difference in the color.

Citations:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/business/a-simple-question-about-a-dress-and-the-world-weighs-in.html

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/

 

Nurturing Unconventional Interests and Dealing With Competitions

   Being passionate about something that is often not a popular and "normal" topic can be hard at times. All those cheesy Youtube videos about motivation and success tend not to work so well in the face of reality. So how do you stay motivated? Well, I might not give the best at giving out advises, but I believe that one should take pride in knowing what they want and slowly work towards that goal. Only a handful of teens know what they want to become and what career path they want to choose or even what they truly like to do. That decision or momentary thought will most likely change overtime and that is okay because time will tell you if that is the correct path. Toning down the intensity, being interested in a topic makes me want to become an expert at it. Thus, I get a bit depressed when others show their intelligence in astronomy (Ahem~a bit jealous of the Scioly team). To me, being interested in a topic doesn't mean that you have to excel at it. I, myself, am still constantly reminding myself that it doesn't matter if someone is better at doing something. View and appreciate your interest simply as a hobby and you will see improvements along the way. The solution to dealing with competitions is, in fact, not to think of the whole ordeal as a competition. This paragraph is more of a way to advise myself more than anyone else, but I hope you have found your source of enlightenment of the day.

   Recently, an one-way trip to Mars has been set up for 2024. The non-profit organization, Mars One, chose 100 people out of the 200,000 applicants. The age of the applicants ranged from as young as 18 to 71. Although the odds are against the participants, all of them are willing to settle on Mars for the rest of their lives. There is no guarantee that the participants will even set their feet on the planet, nor is there any chance of them coming back. However, the candidates are chosen based on their ability to handle the psychological stress of living in a foreign planet with a few other people and their survival skills. Most of the applicants are lovers of the outer-space, they are people who take risks for their interest and inner curiosity. My question for you is to what extent are you willing to take risks for the sake of your interests?

http://www.gmv.com/blog_gmv/mars-one/

Free from stress

   The past few weeks have been hectic and stressful due to the bombardment of finals, presentations, essays, and quizzes. In spite of that, I have some good news for you. The presentation on astronomy for my Writing Process class is finished. The finished presentation can be found at the link https://prezi.com/xbve3kbyhpny/why-astronomy/.  Presenting in front of  a room full of students was nerve-wracking. It actually went better than I thought, mostly because I was too distracted by previous presentations to feel nervous. Hopefully, I got my point across to the audience. Looking back to how desperate I was during the finals week, I feel totally refreshed and ready for the incoming tests. To be honest, I listened to Beta Waves on Youtube while studying, in order to enhance my memory. (Click on the link for Beta Brain Waves). I strongly recommend listening to music, or in this case "brain waves," to help you concentrate.  Anyhow, I successfully conquered the hardest weeks of the semester (maybe not the gym test with Mr. Hanson), and now it's time for some fun.

Recently, I've been watching Youtube videos such as Man vs. Pin and they are pretty "entertaining" to watch. (Source: youtube.com)

A "leggy" galaxy hidden behind our Milky Way
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100408150201.htm