Skip to main content
Scientific American
  • Sign In
  • |Newsletters
  • COVID
  • Health
  • Mind & Brain
  • Environment
  • Technology
  • Space & Physics
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Subscribe
  • Current Issue
  • Sign In
  • Newsletters
      • Share
      • Latest

      Colors Out of Space [Slide Show]

      Colors can change with their surroundings and spread beyond the lines

      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on Reddit
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share via Email
      • Print
      Colors Out of Space [Slide Show]
      Slideshow (5) images
      View
      Credits: Dale Purves Duke University

      Colors Out of Space [Slide Show]

        • Share
      • TRY A RISK-FREE ISSUE Order now to receive an issue of Scientific American MIND, risk-free,
        with no obligation to buy. » Get your risk-free issue today
      • WHITE'S EFFECT
        In 1979 Michael White of the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education described an illusion that changed everything in visual science. The gray bars on the left look brighter than the gray bars on the right... Akiyoshi Kitaoka
      • MULTICOLORED RINGS
        Here is another example of how the brain determines color depending on the context. In the bull’s-eye structures in the top half of the checkerboard, the center rings look either green or blue, but they are all the same color (turquoise)... Akiyoshi Kitaoka
      • RED RINGS
        This image by Kitaoka contains a number of blue-green circular structures. The red rings are purely a creation of your brain. A process called color constancy makes an object look the same under different lighting conditions, even though the color of the light reflecting from the object is physically different... Akiyoshi Kitaoka
      • Advertisement
      • EYE SHADOW
        It looks like this Japanese manga girl has one blue eye and one gray eye. In fact, both eyes are exactly the same shade of gray. The girl’s right eye only looks the same as the turquoise hair clip because of the reddish context... Akiyoshi Kitaoka
      • Previous
      • Next
      of
      • View all
      • Link copied!
      • TRY A RISK-FREE ISSUE
      • <b>WHITE'S EFFECT</b><Br>
      • <b>MULTICOLORED RINGS</b><br>
      • <b>RED RINGS</b><br>
      • <b>EYE SHADOW</b><br>
      Advertisement
      Advertisement

      Newsletter

      Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter.

      Sign Up

      Support Science Journalism

      Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.

      Subscribe Now!Support Science Journalism

      Follow us

      • instagram
      • soundcloud
      • youtube
      • twitter
      • facebook
      • rss

      Scientific american arabic

      العربية
      • Return & Refund Policy
      • About
      • Press Room
      • FAQs
      • Contact Us
      • Site Map
      • Advertise
      • SA Custom Media
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Your US State Privacy Rights
      • Your Privacy Choices/Manage Cookies
      • International Editions
      Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

      © 2023 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc.

      All Rights Reserved.

      Scroll To Top

      Support science journalism.

      Scientific American paper issue and on tablet

      Thanks for reading Scientific American. Knowledge awaits.

      Already a subscriber? Sign in.

      Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue.

      Create Account

      See Subscription Options

      Continue reading with a Scientific American subscription.

      You may cancel at any time.

      Sign in.