Given how slowly our brains react to incoming visual information, it should actually be impossible for us to hit a blistering fastball. But we can. That's because, instead of showing us the world as it really is, our brains offer us a glimpse of the future.

If you think that the psychology of flashing electric neon signs that say, "Live Nude Girls! ——->" is purely prurient, you are wrong. These signs are designed to take advantage of the way your brain perceives movement, and they do it using Korte's Law.

They once were blind but now they see. Which begs the question — what exactly do people see when they gain sight for the first time? Often, it's terrifying.

Youtuber rasmusab has posted a video that's as adorable as it is thought provoking. In it, a small orange kitten with white feet appears transfixed by an 8.5 x 11 printout of the famous "rotating snakes" illusion (just one variation on the "peripheral drift illusion" — see an example for yourself below). The kitten paws …

The art installation seen here is named, menacingly but appropriately, Demon Hill #2. It is the work of LA-based artist Julian Hoeber, and to step inside it is to abandon sensations of balance, proprioception, and general physical stability — all thanks to some fiendish architectural trickery.

Rats, like humans, can deduce an impressive amount of information about their physical surroundings with their sense of touch. Humans do this most effectively with their hands and fingertips, while a rat experiences a significant portion of its tactile sensation via its whiskers. What's intriguing about this parallel…

You know what I'm talking about. There you are, clicking through your friend's Facebook album, when suddenly you happen upon a picture of yourself — or rather, a slightly less attractive version of yourself. The "real" you appears to have been abducted, replaced with some second-rate knock off. What gives? you ask…

This optical illusion is a fairly simple one, but it's still a very impressive effect. A triangle and some cunningly positioned diagonal lines are all that's needed for your brain to tilt a perfect level rectangle completely off-kilter.

A famous experiment was conducted in the late 1800s, in which a scientist wore glasses that showed him an upside down image of the world. After some time, he claimed he saw the world right side up. Scientists have been trying variations of this trick ever since.

In a battle of wits, humans and rats are way more evenly matched than you'd think. While we obviously have an advantage in overall intelligence, our ability to read situations and make decisions is actually no better than a rat's.