World Science Festival: Get Your Education On

Great science minds from around the world are converging on New York City this week for the five-day World Science Festival.

What can you see with your eyes closed? As it turns out a lot more than you might think, as the writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks discovered in 2005 when he developed cancer in his right eye. Speaking at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Friday night to a standing room only crowd, Sacks detailed in words and drawings from his journals (think preschool art) what it is looks like when your eyes deceive you. His talk was part of the World Science Festival, which John Tierney, who is also reporting on the festival on TierneyLab, writes was founded by a husband-and-wife team, Columbia physicist Brian Greene and television producer Tracy Day, determined to engage the public in science.

Looking at a large rectangular sheet of yellow paper, Sacks described how initially he saw what looked like a big inkblot in the page – the result of his impaired vision. But then within a couple of seconds, the blank spot would fill in. If he were looking at a simple pattern–like a checkerboard–his mind would also fill in the blank, though it would take 20 to 30 seconds instead of just a couple.