‘Magic is an art, as capable of beauty as music, painting or poetry. But the core of every trick is a cold, cognitive experiment in perception.’ Those are the words of Penn Jillette’s normally silent partner, Teller, explaining the psychology and preparation behind the magician’s veil.
Despite having a background in science, I am remarkably susceptible to magic tricks: there’s something about them that draws me in. But there’s more to it than me being stupid, as this video about the neuroscience of magic explains.
You know that amazing Halloween costume you’ve been crafting for the past month? I’m sorry you wasted all that time because this Pure Smoke illusion — that magically conjures up puffs of vapour from your bare hands — has easily got you beat.
Magician Marco Tempest uses a trio of iPod touches to discuss the uses, necessity, and even beauty of lying in everyday life. A feel-good message for designers and politicians alike.
Chinese magician Fu Yandong is under fire from animal rights types for a trick in which he “controls” six goldfish, waving his hands over their enclosure and coaxing them to swim in various formations. The activists suggest that Fu likely fed the fish magnets – which, watching them chug about awkwardly, seems plausible – though he says his fish are “living happily”.
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BrussPup, YouTube illusion sensation, has returned with his latest wizardry: a series of panoramas that are only visible when viewed both at a certain RPM (thanks, turntable) and at a certain shutter speed (thanks, video camera). Obviously!
On the right: the spot on the globe most isolated from land, separated by over a thousand miles from the nearest landmass in every direction. On the left: an iPhone 4 FaceTime call from that exact location. Whoa.
Is there nothing the iPad can’t do? Err… don’t answer that. YouTube user ‘Salary Magician’ is the younger, more talented, Japanese version of David Blaine and made me gasp at my screen in surprise many times during his short video.
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Our friends at Fastmac sent us this video of Woz waiting in line for an iPad, explaining why he wears a ring around his neck. It’s not for subsequently throwing into a volcano, but it’s plenty entertaining nonetheless.
