15 Mesmerizing GIFs That Will Distract You From Reality

    What's that? You have things to do? Not anymore.

    Kasia Galazka
    by Kasia Galazka

    BuzzFeed Staff

    1. Blink really fast while looking at this.

    main is usually a function / Via science.tumblr.com

    What it is: Quasicrystals as sums of waves in the plane, as this blog explains.

    2. These dots look like a happy version of a printer test page.

    David Whyte / Via beesandbombs.tumblr.com

    What it is: Subtractive color theory, or CMYK dots, which are used in color printing.

    3. This ball don't quit.

    Via trigonometry-is-my-bitch.tumblr.com

    What it is: The Penrose triangle, also known as an impossible triangle.

    4. Did you know physics is like scientific magic?

    David Whyte / Via beesandbombs.tumblr.com

    What it is: Pendulums (or pendula, if you prefer Latin plurals). The period of a pendulum depends on its length, as Discover magazine shows.

    5. Shapes on shapes on shapes! Wait no, just one shape.

    David Pope / Via mathmunch.org

    What it is: Spinning octahedra.

    6. Experience your childhood for eternity.

    sheepfilms / Via reddit.com

    What it is: An infinite-loop equation from Reddit user Fruchtfliege that would fill the universe in after about 1.5 minutes or about 28 cycles (or at least until the bottom brick is crushed).

    7. Sometimes simplicity can have beautiful effects.

    David Whyte / Via beesandbombs.tumblr.com

    What it is: Rotating cubes.

    8. This experiment on repeat looks like a strobe light.

    David Pope / Via dvdp.tumblr.com

    What it is: An experiment with a burning fuel droplet on the International Space Station.

    9. Ever play this on your TI-84? Yeah, but did you win?

    Via trigonometry-is-my-bitch.tumblr.com

    What it is: Snake.

    10. This one's a bit reminiscent of mod opening credits.

    David Pope / Via dvdp.tumblr.com

    What it is: A simple pyramid.

    11. This one's like stepping into a kaleidoscope.

    David Whyte / Via beesandbombs.tumblr.com

    What it is: A color vortex.

    12. This one might trigger flashbacks to napping through geometry.

    David Whyte / Via beesandbombs.tumblr.com

    What it is: A hyperboloid, or a doubly-ruled surface for the math-inclined.

    13. This one almost hurts.

    archery / Via intothecontinuum.tumblr.com

    What it is: A Moiré pattern, or an interference pattern made when two repetitive surfaces overlap and are moved around. You can play around with some here.

    14. Who knew rotating triangles can make something this cool?

    Matthew Henderson / Via blog.matthen.com

    What it is: A Sierpiński triangle fractal.

    15. This just seems like a wheel happily puttering within a wheel.

    archery / Via intothecontinuum.tumblr.com

    What it is: Dots moving along straight lines. The proof!

    See even more amazing GIFs at Bees & Bombs and archery.