Images Dated 25th August 2004

A pedestrian wades through a flooded street in the typhoon-hit town of Shangchung in Taipei county

A pedestrian wades through a flooded street in the typhoon-hit town of Shangchung in Taipei county August 25, 2004. Typhoon Aere triggered mudslides and flash floods in northern Taiwan on Wednesday, forcing thousands to flee their homes and Taipei financial markets and schools to close for a second day. The typhoon, the worst to threaten Taipei this year, is expected to hit landfall in southern China later on Wednesday. REUTERS/Richard Chung. NO RIGHTS CLEARANCES OR PERMISSIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS IMAGE. TW/SH - RP5DRIBOHTAA

Cafe wall illusion

Cafe wall illusion. This illusion is so named because it was first noticed on a tiled wall in a Bristol cafe. The pattern in the image appears to show sloping grey lines between the black and white "tiles", but in reality the lines are parallel. This effect is due to the compromises that both the brain and the light receptors on the retina (back of the eye) have to make when image processing. There is no reason for the tiles to be black and white for the illusion to be achieve - it is their relative intensity which affects the outcome, not their colour

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