Your brain is lying to you right now. Not maliciously, and not because something’s wrong with it. It’s doing exactly what evolution designed it to do, making split-second decisions about the world ...

A grayscale ballerina who appears to be moving. A human who can fit in a doll box. A black-and-white prism that appears to change shape when... Optical illusions are a brain feature, not a bug. Here's ...

It's time now for our science news roundup from Short Wave, NPR's science podcast. I am joined by the show's host, Regina Barber, and producer Rachel Carlson. Good to have you both here. RACHEL ...

Allen Institute researcher Jerome Lecoq points to one of the diagrams that was used in a study focusing on how the brain interprets optical illusions. (Allen Institute Photo / Erik Dinnel) Our brains ...

Recent studies are uncovering how optical illusions exploit the brain’s predictive coding system, revealing the interplay ...

A new analysis of the “Boltzmann brain” paradox suggests our memories and sense of reality could, in theory, be random ...

SEATTLE, WASH.—September 15, 2025—An illusion is when we see and perceive an object that doesn’t match the sensory input that reaches our eyes. In the case of the image below, the sensory input is ...

As you scroll through this article, your brain is hard at work creating the mental world you live in. You probably have a seamless sense that you’re embedded in a world full of other people, objects, ...

Your eyes are about to lie to you. Most people think they see every detail in front of them, but your brain often takes shortcuts to save energy. Today, we are testing your ability to break through ...