Why people perceive motion in some static images has mystified not only those who view these optical illusions but neuroscientists who have tried to explain the phenomenon. Now Yale neuroscientists have found some answers in the eyes of flies, they reported in Aug. 24, 2020 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It turns out that flies are fooled by optical illusions as easily as humans. Based on experimental data, the researchers theorized that optical illusions result from small imbalances in how the different types of motion detectors contribute to how flies respond, or don't respond, to illusions. Human visual systems are more complicated than flies', but the results suggested a similar mechanism underlies this illusion of motion in humans. (1)

Look closely.

What you see…

Is not what you see.

But a product of things interacting with other things.

In a cosmos void of anything.

But darkness.

Don’t you see?

Close your eyes.

And the cosmos will disappear.

Remember…

Does that scare you?

Because if it did.

It also scared you the first time…