Category: Curiosity

How well can your brain focus and what happens when it does that? Watch these two awareness tests and you may get surprised by the results.

Parable of the Polygons is an interesting analysis of diversity in society, beautifully presented through a series of puzzles, simulations, and many, many colorful squares and triangles. This project, created by Vi Hart and Nicky Case, is short, but very insightful and entertaining. Make sure to check it out by clicking the image below.

The chances are you have already seen the hundreds of optical illusions we have collected for you on Puzzle Prime, but have you ever encountered any audio illusions? The YouTube channel AsapSCIENCE has created a short video in which they present and explain some of the most famous audio illusions, such as the McGurk effect and the Tritone paradox. Watch their video below and see if you can trust your ears.

In 1996, just a day before the election of the 40th President of US, the New York Times published a curious crossword. In the 8th row, the solver should discover a phrase – the “lead story of tomorrow’s newspaper”. More precisely – the name of the future President of the country appears there. But how could New York Times know whether it was going to be Clinton or Bob Dole?

The answer is simple, yet very impressive. The crossword’s author, the mathematics professor Jeremiah Farrell, created the puzzle so that it could be solved in two different ways, revealing either “Clinton Elected” or “Bob Dole Elected” in the middle row. Many of the newspaper’s readers didn’t realize the prank and assumed New York Times was displaying a bias towards one of the candidates. They started sending lots of angry letters and calling the editor, complaining about arguably the coolest crossword of all time.

Which was your favorite part of the Mathematics you learned back in high-school? Not sure about you, but we definitely loved the construction problems, where we had to draw some shape, using just a straightedge and a compass. Even though we haven’t solved such problems for many years, we got very excited to discover the amazing game Euclidea, designed by the guys from HORIS International Ltd. If the description below seems intriguing to you, make sure to visit the game’s website and test your skills by clicking the banner below.

How much effort and innovation can a band put into producing their music videos? When it comes to the American rock-band OK GO, the answer is A LOT. Becoming a notable YouTube presence around 2010 with their famous “Treadmill Dance”, OK GO keep pushing the boundaries of creativity in each consecutive video they make. Check out this amazing optical illusion video by these so talented guys, and if you enjoy it, make sure to see their other projects as well. Truly brilliant!