We know that strawberries are red, or at least they should be, so that's what we see. Professor of Psychology Akiyoshi Kitaoka (previously at Neatorama) created this image of strawberries that contains no red pixels at all. This is an example of color correction in our brains. We essentially filter out colors that make no sense to us in order to see things as they should be. Carson Mell isolated the colors found in the strawberries, and none of them are red.

@social_brains I isolated a few of the colors that appear most "red" in the strawberries and put them on the white background to the right. pic.twitter.com/GJJ9PJqNxt

— Carson Mell (@carsonmell) February 28, 2017

It's easier to see the color of the berries in this image. Cover the strawberries with your hand to get a better look at the color bar at the bottom.

@carsonmell @social_brains I drew three rectangles on top to also show the effect. pic.twitter.com/PaSxflmGJv

— Tim Hutton (@_tim_hutton_) February 28, 2017

An article at Motherboard explains what's going on in your brain when you see a picture like this.

"If you imagine walking around outside under a blue sky, that blueness is, in some sense, color-contaminating everything you see," explained Bevil Conway, an expert on visual perception from the National Eye Institute. "If you take a red apple outside under a blue sky, there are more blue wavelengths entering your eye. If you take the apple inside under a fluorescent or incandescent light without that same bias, the pigments in the apple are exactly the same but because the spectral content of the light source is different, the spectrum entering your eye that's reflected off the object is different."

Since all this color contamination from light sources isn't really useful (it would be super confusing if a ripe banana looked yellow in the morning but green at midday, for example), our brains have evolved to color correct. It allows the colors we see to look the same no matter the lighting.  

 -via Digg

(Image credit: Akiyoshi Kitaoka‏)

Sigh. When you watch a movie, especially an animated fairy tale, you have to lock in your suspension of disbelief. You can't really expect every detail to make complete sense when a man turns into an animal, a clock is talking, and the local bully eats six dozen eggs. That's like an argument I read regarding The Walking Dead about Carl aging faster than Judith. That's a rather small bit of absurdity in a world where rotting corpses roam the earth looking for someone to eat. This is the latest comic from Megacynics. 

Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.

 It was September 8, 1964. The Beatles, the most popular act in all of show business, were in the midst of their 1964 summer tour, their first major tour since achieving international stardom. This to be the U.S.-Canada leg of the tour; the boys had just played September concerts in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit, before moving on to Canada and their concert in Toronto the previous day.

All was well on the tour so far, the Beatle routine was rolling smoothly along as usual- the fainting, the crying, the hysterical teenaged girls, the screaming fans, the 30-minute or so concert by the Fab Four, the mad exit of the latest city and on to the new stop for more of the same.

The Beatles' day started with the boys' morning arrival at Dorval Airport in Montreal. It was raining and 5,000 rain-drenched fans had waited patiently to catch a glimpse of their mop-topped idols. There were 117 Royal Canadian Mounted Police were on-site to control the crowd.

Unfortunately, the Beatles were quickly swept away in two minutes flat because of the bad weather, leaving the expectant fans disappointed. But this was small potatoes compared to what what coming next.

This pizza looks like it has a lot of toppings on it. What kind of pizza could it be? If you thought fish pizza was bad, take a look at this.

Peas and mayonnaise pizza?! Yes please pic.twitter.com/PQK1TyYrCH

— Air-ic (@FOX152) February 27, 2017

I have to wonder if Air-ic was trying to be funny, or if he really ordered this. And ate it. You do not want to go to Twitter and see the images posted in response to this Tweet. People wanted to make it clear that they felt sick at the thought of pizza with peas and mayonnaise. -Thanks, John Farrier!

The 1.5-acre Pheasant Island is in the middle of the Bidasoa River, which is the border between France and Spain. It's the place where the the 1635-1659 war between France and Spain was officially ended with the Treaty of the Pyrenees. The nationality of the island itself is the result of a compromise, but not a case of joint ownership. From February to August, Spain has control of Pheasant Island. From August to February, it is part of France. For over 350 years, custody has been ceremonially handed over twice a year. Read more about this peculiar arrangement at Conde Nast Traveler.  -va Digg

Robot Cat is a lethal humanoid mecha controlled by an adorable but ferocious kitten. Robot Cat rescues animals and seeks revenge on animal abusers! However, the robot doesn't always function at peak efficiency in this video by Sylwester Wardęga (previously at Neatorama). 

(YouTube link)

English captions are available, but not really necessary. You'll need to turn them on if you watch the making-of video, which is in Polish. It's quite funny, and you get to see more of the kitten. -via Metafilter

Those deer head trophies on your buddy's wall will look wimpy compared to a trophy head of a genuine Jurassic Park T-rex! Sure, it will cost you $650 when they become available later this year, but it will be worth it to take the wind out of your buddy's sails, considering he probably bought his deer head, too.  

The 1/5 scale bust was created using an original casting of a female T-Rex from Stan Winston Studios, which built all of the animatronic characters for the blockbuster film. It is also finished with a custom paint job by artist Steve Riojas, who was responsible for matching the animatronic’s skin textures and colors. The bust measures 19-inches long, and is currently available for pre-order for a whopping $650 with an expected release during the 4th quarter of 2017.

Then again, it is a movie tie-in. They should pay the customer for the advertising. -via TVOM

Kamala Khan is a Pakistani-American teenager struggling with the pressures of growing up in an immigrant family, but in her spare time, she's Ms. Marvel, the crime-fighting superhero!

(YouTube link)

Come for the story, stay for the over-the-top special effects in this fan film by Anita Kalathara and Landis Aponte. -via Rizal Farok
 

Vigilante groups have been part of the American landscape since the nation was first settled. When crime is rife, and government is ineffectual, corrupt, or nonexistent, citizens will take over to enforce their idea of justice. But when vigilant groups become powerful, they can end up as corrupt as any government. Such was the fate of the Bald Knobbers. See, the population of the new state of Missouri was divided along political lines during and after the Civil War, and the locals in power did not tend to uphold the law for their political opponents or against their allies. However, the Bald Knobbers' tactics (and name) were appropriated by other groups with other goals. Dr. Matthew J. Hernando, author of Faces Like Devils: The Bald Knobber Vigilantes in the Ozarks, tells the story of the Baldknobbers.   

“All U.S. vigilante groups are in some way a representation of the American value of self-government,” Hernando said. “We are a society that was founded, at least in part, on the firm belief that the people have the right to create their own institutions of government, what is referred to as the ‘right of revolution,’ expressed right there in the Declaration of Independence. If the government is not doing what it’s supposed to, if it’s not protecting the people’s liberties, if it’s not serving the people’s interest, we have the right to rise up and replace that government. The problem is, you cannot do that on a continuous basis and have a stable society.”

Some scholars have traditionally defined vigilantes as groups of middle- and upper-class men who want to reinforce “law and order.” However, Hernando points out that several vigilante groups were founded by members of poor, disenfranchised classes hoping to gain the economic or political power they didn’t have or to restore traditional morals. Inevitably, most groups fighting lawlessness by going outside the law become the corrupt criminal element they were trying to tamp down in the first place.

In addition to the Bald Knobbers, Hernando tells us about the North and South Carolina Regulators, the White Caps, Las Gorras Blancas, the Deacons for Defense, the Ku Klux Klan, and other vigilant groups of varying notoriety, in an article at Collectors Weekly.

The coldest place in the world has pretty decent accommodations. Kate Miller gives us a tour of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

(YouTube link)

The latest version of the station is surprisingly big. Considering that shifts are six month long, and the sun only rises once and sets once a year, the staff can use all the amenities they can get. If you don't have the time to watch the whole video, the living quarters are in the first half, and the work spaces are in the second half.  -via reddit

Why are these women smiling?

A city councillor in the town of Overtornea, Sweden, has proposed a regulation that would give workers an hour-long break during the day in order to have sex. Per-Erik Muskos made the motion Monday, and says that the exercise is good for the workers, sex is good for the relationship, and the break would benefit peoples' overall well-being.

Muskos admitted there was no way to check whether workers would actually use the hour for its intended purpose.

"You can't guarantee that a worker doesn't go out for a walk instead," he said, adding that employers needed to trust their employees.

But Muskos said he saw no reason why the motion wouldn't pass. On top of the health benefits, he said the sex breaks would also solve the area's low birth rate.

"This means that childbirth should be encouraged," his motion states, as reported by Swedish newspaper Kuriren. "When sex is also an excellent form of exercise with documented positive effects on well-being, the municipality should kill two birds with one stone and encourage employees to use their fitness hour to go home and have sex with their partner."

While it's doubtful that such a break would make much difference in the birth rate, employees will probably love the idea. In other countries, people would be shocked that a government body is concerned with the well-being of workers. -Thanks, John Farrier!  

Canadian photographer David Burdeny spent an entire year trying to get permission to photograph the gorgeous Moscow subway, because he wanted to be there between midnight and 6AM, when the trains aren't running and the halls are empty. When it finally happened, he got some truly sublime images.  

Launched in 1935, also as a form of Communist propaganda — photos of Stalin were hung inside the stations, which were brightly lit environments that people looked up to, just as they metaphorically looked up to Stalin above ground — today some 9 million Russian people go through the Metro’s 200 stations each day. It’s already among the busiest systems in Europe, but it’s still expanding and aims to be the world’s largest by 2020. David is the only photographer to ever shoot it while it was empty.

Shown here is the Arbatskaya Metro Station. See all the images in Burdeny's gallery. -via Nag on the Lake

Cristi Smith-Jones helped her 5-year-old daughter Lola learn about black women of history during Black History Month by dressing her up to recreate their photographs. She posted one every day on her Twitter account. Lola even does their facial expressions perfectly.

Day 19. Black History Month photo project. #madamcjwalker #blackhistorymonth #blackgirlsrock #blackhistoryisamericanhistory #entrepreneur pic.twitter.com/E3LgxlMQn4

— Cristi Smith-Jones (@MsKittiFatale) February 19, 2017

Day 7. Black History Month photo project. #maejemison #blackhistorymonth #firstblackwomanastronaut pic.twitter.com/WRLiK1tuld

— Cristi Smith-Jones (@MsKittiFatale) February 7, 2017

Day 11. Black History Month photo project. #josephinebaker #theblackpearl #blackhistorymonth #blackgirlsrock #blackhistoryisamericanhistory pic.twitter.com/YTtJcoNinD

— Cristi Smith-Jones (@MsKittiFatale) February 12, 2017

pic.twitter.com/Rrp0BqW81D

— Cristi Smith-Jones (@MsKittiFatale) February 14, 2017

Now that the month is nearing its end, you can see dozens of these spot-on recreations at Twitter. -via TVOM

Lauri and Anni Vuohensilta, the couple behind Hydraulic Press Channel (previously at Neatorama), show us how to peel an apple in a ridiculously fast way, using an apple peeling device and a power drill. Do not try this at home. Bonus: interfering cat.

(YouTube link)

The whole video is entertaining, but if you can't wait for the fastest apple peel, it's at about five minutes in. There is a faster attempt, but the apple did not survive. I have an apple peeler and a rotary tool; I should try this next time I need a lot of apples peeled, although I would opt for gloves and safety goggles. You have to admit it's more fun than efficient, and then you think about how much fun Lauri and Anni must have in their everyday lives. -via Metafilter

Who's smarter, boys or girls? That's a difficult question, considering the cultural biases that have shaped the way we think of both sexes over thousands of years. But with modern science, we can study  tiny differences in the brain, which somehow just muddies the question even more.  AsapSCIENCE gives us an overview of the latest research.

(YouTube link)

One of the most memorable things I learned in school is that there are more difference among people within groups then between groups, and that goes especially for male and female humans. -via Geeks Are Sexy