Hi, we're here from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes.

I'm Cody Gough.

And I'm Ashley Hamer.

Today you learn about the optical illusion that makes stars look like UFOs, surprising facts

about one of math's greatest mysteries, and why the most common form of prejudice may surprise you.

Let's satisfy some curiosity.

Did you know that if you stare at a star in the night sky for long enough, it'll start to move?

I mean, it's not really moving, but it sure looks like it is.

Same if you stare at a faraway street light or basically any bright stationary points on a dark

background. And if you've ever wondered why this happens, the answer is that it is an optical

illusion called the autokinetic effect.

And it could explain why a lot of people think they've seen

UFOs throughout history.

A German astronomer named Alexander von Humboldt noticed this phenomenon at the turn of the

19th century and it took decades for the

scientific community to figure out the reason why. So let's celebrate those

decades of research by learning about their conclusions. Of course it all goes back to how the human eye works. Your eye moves a lot

throughout the day and sometimes that movement is voluntary while other times it's involuntary.

When you have a stable point of reference

in your field of vision, alongside a bright dot,

your brain can kind of edit out your eye movements, meaning it removes any blurring or

twitchiness in what you see. So if the dot is near something, you won't notice

...