This Moving Diamond Optical Illusion Will Break Your Brain

​We love a good optical illusion, even if they make us question our relationship with reality, and this new illusion has us questioning real hard. 

In a paper from researchers Oliver Flynn and Arthur Shapiro, the "Perpetual Diamond" is described as producing "motion continuously and unambiguously in one direction despite never physically changing location." Here, take a look:

The effect is created by the combination of the flashing background and the alternating borders around the diamond — at the end of the clip, the borders are removed and the diamond appears as it actually is: stationary. 

Check out the full academic paper for a more in-depth explanation and more video clips of the illusion in action. 

[Via Arthur Shapiro]