Across the world, there are naturally occurring optical illusions that captivate spectators. Cloud formations can sometimes make it seem like there's an ocean or a UFO in the sky. Whether it is salt ...

Earth's passage through the plane of Saturn's rings, occurring roughly every 15 years, causes the rings to appear nearly edge-on. The next such event in March 2025 will be poorly observable due to ...

Ever since they were discovered in 2018, fast blue optical transients (FBOTs) have utterly surprised and completely confounded both observational and theoretical astrophysicists. So hot that they glow ...

Nature is brimming with color in almost every season. While the majority of colors are matte, some are shiny. Evolutionary biologist Casper van der Kooi wondered why shiny colors are so rare. He ...

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is a microscopy technique widely used to investigate cells and tissues. Even though first biomedical applications based on QPI have been developed, both acquisition ...

In June 2023, something extraordinary happened over the Alabama River—an optical phenomenon turned it into a shimmering golden dragon, visible only from space. Captured by an astronaut aboard the ...

Optical illusions occur naturally in different habitats and conditions across the world. Cloud formations can sometimes make it seem like there's an ocean or a UFO in the sky. Whether it is salt flats ...

Everyone loves an optical illusion — even if they leave us completely stumped — and they're all around us in the natural world. From an underwater waterfall in the Indian Ocean to a surrealist scene ...