Mind expansion: Contrary to what you may think, illusions don't have to be performed by tiger-owning, puffy-haired men in black spandex. For tricks that defy both the eye and the mind, all you need is your computer and Michael Bach's collection of 57 optical illusions. Don't expect dot pictures that you have to unfocus your eyes and stare at for a half-hour to see a crudely-rendered 3D unicorn - these mind mashers are animated and include scientific explanations. Don't believe everything you see at www.michaelbach.de/ot/.

Noodle news: How can you turn a handful of uncooked spaghetti into a night of free drinks at the bar? Try betting your friends (or enemies or total strangers) that they can't bend a strand of spaghetti until it breaks into two pieces - if they can, you owe them a drink. But if it splits into three or more pieces, they owe you. Prepare to get blotto. A couple of scientists in France actually researched the spaghetti-breaking phenomenon and found it's impossible to split it in two by bending. Empirical evidence at www.lmm.jussieu.fr/spaghetti/.

Comments? Michael Citrome