See What You've Been Missing
Monday, January 12, 2009
The third event in the Science of the Five Senses Series, a 5-part series of live events designed to convey to scientists and nonscientists alike the state-of-the-art scientific knowledge about how humans perceive our environment, through presentations that integrate science and art.
Leading cognitive neuroscientist and visual perception expert Christof Koch (the research partner of the late Francis Crick) reveals the shortcomings of human sight, and television personality and "honest thief" Apollo Robbins, demonstrates how readily the eye and mind are tricked.
Christof Koch is professor of biology and engineering, specializing in the study of how consciousness is linked to the brain, at CalTech.
Apollo Robbins makes his living as an honest thief who first made national news as the man who pick-pocketed the Secret Service while entertaining President Jimmy Carter. Robbins' performances utilize pick-pocketing and sleight-of-hand to demonstrate proximity manipulation, diversion techniques, and attention control. He has appeared on the Travel Channel, Animal Planet, and A&E's Mondo Magic.