The CBC is reporting that a Japanese scientist has won an award for duplicating the kind of optical illusion that can be experienced at the famous Magnetic Hill in Moncton, N.B. Tourists have been visiting the site since the 1930s, and up until recently it seemingly defied a proper explanation.

 

"Kokichi Sugihara of the Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences won the international competition for Best Visual Illusion of 2010, at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples, Fla., for showing how objects can appear to roll uphill, as if they are being pulled by a magnet.

 
Sugihara's video, "

" shows a structure with four slopes. At the start, four wooden balls all appear to roll up the slopes against gravity. But as the camera circles the structure, the slopes are seen to be actually pointed down."

The CBC contacted Judy Dougan, manager of Magnetic Hill for the City of Moncton, for a comment and she said that "the phenomenon related to perspective and background may have been solved but that is unlikely to curb the enthusiasm of people visiting the well-known Maritime attraction.

"The secret's out, but you have to come and experience it," Dougan said. "It's a unique experience."

 

There are other "Magnetic Hill" locations throughout the world that have various myths and folklore attached to them including one in southern Ontario that will also now explained by Kokichi Sugihara's work.

 

Source: CBC