→ Click here and count the black dots

→ Click here to try the impossible triangle.


→ Scientists working on the new IceCube experiment lower a phototube into the ice at the South Pole Station.

COLLEGE PARK, MD-The University of Maryland's Union Gallery presents Perception and Illusion: The Physics of Light and Optics, an exhibition of hands-on learning demonstrations and illusions showcasing the human visual system and physical principles of light.

Perception and Illusion runs from December 8, 2004 through February 4, 2005 with an opening reception and short Physics is Phun demonstration on December 8 at 1:30 p.m. in the Union Gallery. Both the reception and demonstration are free to the public.

Click here for the triangle's secret. Drawing from a collection of over 1,500 demonstrations housed in the university's physics department, Perception and Illusion aims to educate visitors about the ways people see the world around them. "The hope is that people will be jostled a bit about how their visual systems work--how their eyes and brain perceive--and how that might apply to things that they experience on a daily basis," said exhibition curator Richard Berg, physics professor and director of the longstanding educational program, Physics is Phun.

Among the items displayed are illusions like the "impossible triangle," [pictured above] which demonstrates the visual system's ability to trick the brain into accepting a patently false observation. Also exhibited are examples of cutting edge research and technologies in light such as a phototube used to detect neutrinos (sub-atomic particles) at the South Pole.

The Union Gallery is located on the first floor of the Stamp Student Union on the campus of the University of Maryland. Hours are 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday.