Remarkable, no? This is a visual trick known as a ‘Troxler Effect’, because, as you’d imagine, it was invented by a dude named Troxler. It demonstrates how our brains cope with the thousands of sensations they are regularly exposed to. By focusing on what is seen as the more important information – in this case, the more vibrant dot in the center – our brain filters out the “unnecessary” information, thus making it seem as if the blue line is vanishing. Our brain does this all the time. Weird when it’s called into focus, isn’t it?
Fact Lab
Here’s another mind-blower: wasp stings are basic, while bee stings are acidic! Never would have occurred to us that these stings would be either/or!
You have about 70,000 thoughts a day. Can you remember them all? You’ll be surprised to know that half of our brains can be removed by surgery with no apparent effect on personality or memory. It makes you wonder what is really going on in that squishy organ, doesn’t it!
Many languages have grammatical gender. But did you know that the English language also used to have grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns and pronouns? It fell out of use during the Middle English period. One less thing to worry about if you're learning the language!
Fact Lab
Here’s another mind-blower: wasp stings are basic, while bee stings are acidic! Never would have occurred to us that these stings would be either/or!
You have about 70,000 thoughts a day. Can you remember them all? You’ll be surprised to know that half of our brains can be removed by surgery with no apparent effect on personality or memory. It makes you wonder what is really going on in that squishy organ, doesn’t it!
Many languages have grammatical gender. But did you know that the English language also used to have grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns and pronouns? It fell out of use during the Middle English period. One less thing to worry about if you're learning the language!
Interesting fact
Remarkable, no? This is a visual trick known as a ‘Troxler Effect’, because, as you’d imagine, it was invented by a dude named Troxler. It demonstrates how our brains cope with the thousands of sensations they are regularly exposed to. By focusing on what is seen as the more important information – in this case, the more vibrant dot in the center – our brain filters out the “unnecessary” information, thus making it seem as if the blue line is vanishing. Our brain does this all the time. Weird when it’s called into focus, isn’t it?
