As a prelude to the Australia-New Zealand Final of the Three Minute Thesis Competition I was interviewed on 720 ABC Radio Perth on “Drive” with Russell Woolf.
I presented my Three Minute Thesis to researchers, Deans and benefactors at the UQ Engagement Dinner at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Apparently, you could hear a pin drop!
After winning the Three Minute Thesis, Ryan Stafford (runner-up) and I were asked to “appear” on 612 ABC Radio with Steve Austin. It was great fun.
I’ve taken out the UQ level of the Three Minute Thesis Competition! Ryan Stafford was Runner-up and People’s Choice winner. The thought of presenting three years work in three minutes was daunting. It it even possible? How will I get my point across? Will I fall before the audience in a quivering heap of incoherent babble? I entered the 3MT to overcome my anxiety and learn to talk about my research as plainly as possible.
I presented “Tricks of the Mind” to around fifty people at the Queensland Museum as part of Sharing Science during National Science Week. I discussed how the human mind doesn’t work like a camera and how our perceptions of the world can be distorted with a few simple tricks.
Here’s an article entitled, “Figuring Out Fingerprints” that appeared in the August edition of Security Management Magazine. I was interviewed by Laura Spadanuta, Associate Editor, on the human side of fingerprint identification. [PDF] Click for more.
Our Flashed Face Distortion Effect hit the four million view mark on YouTube today! It was the most viewed video in Australia for the month of July. Click for more.
Our Flashed Face Distortion Effect was viewed on YouTube over one million times in 48 hours! It is also the most viewed video in Japan this week.
Continue reading Illusion Viewed 1 Million Times in 48 Hours
Like many interesting scientific discoveries, this one was an accident. Sean Murphy, an undergraduate student, was working alone in the lab on a set of faces for one of his experiments. He aligned a set of faces at the eyes and started to skim through them. After a few seconds, he noticed that some of the faces began to appear highly deformed and grotesque. He looked at the especially ugly faces individually, but each of them appeared normal or even attractive. We called it the “Flashed Face Distortion Effect” and wanted to share it with the world, so we put it on YouTube. Click for more.
Continue reading Flashed Face Distortion Effect Published in Perception
I volunteered and took some shots at the ATSE Extreme Science Experience where over 240 Year 10 Science students and 40 teachers from across Queensland did some science. The day was hosted by the lively Bernie Hobbs with a key note address by Queensland Chief Scientist Professor Geoff Garrett.
