Perception

Irresistible Motion

This exhibit consists a cylinder with a pool of water at the bottom containing small live fish. The inside wall of the cylinder is vertically striped. When the cylinder is slowly rotated the fish can be observed to swim along with the stripes, which keeps their view of the surroundings from blurring. Virtually all animals reflexively focus their eyes on moving objects. Most animals can follow motion by moving their eyes. But fish can't move their eyes very much, so they swim along with moving objects to see their world more clearly.