Ben Balas
@bjbalas.bsky.social
Vision Scientist, Dad, Would-be artist & dreadful chess player. Check out my new #visionscience textbook here: https://www.routledge.com/Practical-Vision-Science-Learning-Through-Experimentation/Balas/p/book/9781032691121 All opinions my own.
A random post sent me down this interesting rabbit-hole about the intensely weird makeup that was used in the early days of television. I feel like this would make a really cool #visionscience project for a lab class! cosmeticsandskin.com/aba/max-and-...
November 14, 2025 at 7:43 PM
A random post sent me down this interesting rabbit-hole about the intensely weird makeup that was used in the early days of television. I feel like this would make a really cool #visionscience project for a lab class! cosmeticsandskin.com/aba/max-and-...
Beautiful #aurora tonight in Fargo. The colors were absolutely gorgeous and it filled more than half the sky at some points. Photos courtesy of the kiddo.
November 12, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Beautiful #aurora tonight in Fargo. The colors were absolutely gorgeous and it filled more than half the sky at some points. Photos courtesy of the kiddo.
I was talking with our Communications Manager at NDSU about my lab's recent work on #pareidolia (paper announcements soon!) & he sent me this delightful cartoon from the Worthington Daily Globe (8/20/1973). His father was the editor & worked w/ the cartoonist on the idea. #visionscience #sciart
November 5, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I was talking with our Communications Manager at NDSU about my lab's recent work on #pareidolia (paper announcements soon!) & he sent me this delightful cartoon from the Worthington Daily Globe (8/20/1973). His father was the editor & worked w/ the cartoonist on the idea. #visionscience #sciart
...should look more like Nic Cage. Also FACE/OFF is a fantastic and ridiculous movie. <2/2>
November 4, 2025 at 9:18 PM
...should look more like Nic Cage. Also FACE/OFF is a fantastic and ridiculous movie. <2/2>
Opening night of EVIL DEAD:THE MUSICAL was fantastic at Fargo North! Great songs, great laughs, and a whole lot of blood. Here's a photo of me from Parent Preview night having taken a seat in the Splatter Zone, which was absolutely worth the mess.
October 31, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Opening night of EVIL DEAD:THE MUSICAL was fantastic at Fargo North! Great songs, great laughs, and a whole lot of blood. Here's a photo of me from Parent Preview night having taken a seat in the Splatter Zone, which was absolutely worth the mess.
This year's painted pumpkin for #Halloween is K-POP DEMON HUNTERS' Derpy Tiger! Haven't set him outside yet due to some lingering rain, but hopefully the neighborhood kids get a kick out of him.
October 28, 2025 at 9:49 PM
This year's painted pumpkin for #Halloween is K-POP DEMON HUNTERS' Derpy Tiger! Haven't set him outside yet due to some lingering rain, but hopefully the neighborhood kids get a kick out of him.
Tonight is the parent preview night for Fargo North High's production of EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL. The kiddo has the enviable title of Student Blood Lead, which means she's been perfecting the 4 different kinds of stage blood they need for the show. Here she is in action in an awesome backstage photo.
October 28, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Tonight is the parent preview night for Fargo North High's production of EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL. The kiddo has the enviable title of Student Blood Lead, which means she's been perfecting the 4 different kinds of stage blood they need for the show. Here she is in action in an awesome backstage photo.
Myself and @erconwell.bsky.social spend a lot of time at various community outreach events, and we are each very fortunate to have dedicated staff that help us out a ton. Here are our intrepid lab coordinators, Towa and Emily, rocking some Frog & Toad costumes at this weekend's Boo at the Zoo event!
October 20, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Myself and @erconwell.bsky.social spend a lot of time at various community outreach events, and we are each very fortunate to have dedicated staff that help us out a ton. Here are our intrepid lab coordinators, Towa and Emily, rocking some Frog & Toad costumes at this weekend's Boo at the Zoo event!
I've got a little bit of #Artober drawing this evening. I'm not worrying about the drawing-a-day routine this year, but just trying to make time to draw something I'm excited about more regularly. For tonight, a scratch-art Krypto the Superdog from @jamesgunn.bsky.social's SUPERMAN.
October 5, 2025 at 1:21 AM
I've got a little bit of #Artober drawing this evening. I'm not worrying about the drawing-a-day routine this year, but just trying to make time to draw something I'm excited about more regularly. For tonight, a scratch-art Krypto the Superdog from @jamesgunn.bsky.social's SUPERMAN.
My #Chess improvement continues to go slowly, but I am definitely seeing more good stuff during the games. Just a little proud of seeing the right idea here: White to move and mate in 3!
October 2, 2025 at 11:31 PM
My #Chess improvement continues to go slowly, but I am definitely seeing more good stuff during the games. Just a little proud of seeing the right idea here: White to move and mate in 3!
Last night, our newly adopted cat Hal became ill with a sudden and severe septic infection. We ultimately made the decision to let him go & we are heartbroken.
This is Hal. He was the friendliest little guy. He loved his ribbon toy & watching me turn pages when we read together. Miss you, buddy.
This is Hal. He was the friendliest little guy. He loved his ribbon toy & watching me turn pages when we read together. Miss you, buddy.
September 28, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Last night, our newly adopted cat Hal became ill with a sudden and severe septic infection. We ultimately made the decision to let him go & we are heartbroken.
This is Hal. He was the friendliest little guy. He loved his ribbon toy & watching me turn pages when we read together. Miss you, buddy.
This is Hal. He was the friendliest little guy. He loved his ribbon toy & watching me turn pages when we read together. Miss you, buddy.
New cat! This is my man Hal. He's still figuring out what's going on in this new place, but we hung out with a book for a few hours and now we're bros.
September 20, 2025 at 2:38 AM
New cat! This is my man Hal. He's still figuring out what's going on in this new place, but we hung out with a book for a few hours and now we're bros.
Alright #VisionScience and #FaceRecognition friends - as of this morning (after two very busy events) the Balas Lab now has just shy of 400 jack-o-lantern drawings by kids between ages of 2-14 y.o. (mostly 5-12 tho). Got a weird data science idea? Let us know!
September 15, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Alright #VisionScience and #FaceRecognition friends - as of this morning (after two very busy events) the Balas Lab now has just shy of 400 jack-o-lantern drawings by kids between ages of 2-14 y.o. (mostly 5-12 tho). Got a weird data science idea? Let us know!
Just because this has been living rent-free in my head: I find it much easier to see the other interpretation in the inverted logo. Speaks to @prokraustinator.bsky.social's point about familiarity.
September 7, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Just because this has been living rent-free in my head: I find it much easier to see the other interpretation in the inverted logo. Speaks to @prokraustinator.bsky.social's point about familiarity.
It took me a long time to work this out, but I'm glad I did. I'm not an amazing artist by any stretch of the imagination, but now I like drawing and feel good about what I make. Posting this Yoda b/c he's one of my faves from 2024 & is both imperfect & better than I was doing a few years ago.
August 17, 2025 at 5:25 PM
It took me a long time to work this out, but I'm glad I did. I'm not an amazing artist by any stretch of the imagination, but now I like drawing and feel good about what I make. Posting this Yoda b/c he's one of my faves from 2024 & is both imperfect & better than I was doing a few years ago.
A fantastic action shot from the kiddo's production of SOMEBODY KILLED OUR MURDERER. To the extent possible, I'm hoping to keep documenting her theatrical work via mid-air photos! An excellent show, and b absolutely nailed her role (grown woman stuck playing child detective for 20 yrs).
August 15, 2025 at 6:40 PM
A fantastic action shot from the kiddo's production of SOMEBODY KILLED OUR MURDERER. To the extent possible, I'm hoping to keep documenting her theatrical work via mid-air photos! An excellent show, and b absolutely nailed her role (grown woman stuck playing child detective for 20 yrs).
Hit a #chess milestone today by crossing 1900 in Rapid over at chess.com! I'll almost certainly drop back below this at some point, but for now I'm glad to have seen the best move here (W to move, what do you do?) AND to have set it up by putting my Rook on b7 as bait for the Black Queen.
July 12, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I was very excited to chair our first meeting of the Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum Science Advisory Panel this morning! We've got a great group of people from different sectors and I'm looking forward to working together. Keep an eye out for FMSM #SciComm content as we get rolling!
July 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I was very excited to chair our first meeting of the Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum Science Advisory Panel this morning! We've got a great group of people from different sectors and I'm looking forward to working together. Keep an eye out for FMSM #SciComm content as we get rolling!
Random #chess moment of the day: I was playing really well before the weekend & then just absolutely tanking over the last day or two. Starting to turn my blitz play around today though and was really pleased to have seen the right move here! White to play, Mate in 8.
July 5, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Random #chess moment of the day: I was playing really well before the weekend & then just absolutely tanking over the last day or two. Starting to turn my blitz play around today though and was really pleased to have seen the right move here! White to play, Mate in 8.
We asked kids and adults to look at symmetric images we made out of natural textures and circle any face-like patterns that they saw. Our job was then to count 'em up: Did negating the images tend to change how many faces people found? Does it matter how old you are? <6/n>
June 6, 2025 at 4:06 PM
We asked kids and adults to look at symmetric images we made out of natural textures and circle any face-like patterns that they saw. Our job was then to count 'em up: Did negating the images tend to change how many faces people found? Does it matter how old you are? <6/n>
Here's the thing about pareidolic faces in real-world scenes: They have a sort of dual nature - sure, they look like faces, but you do also work out what they really are. These look like laughing faces at first, but you also know that they're peppers. <2/n>
June 6, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Here's the thing about pareidolic faces in real-world scenes: They have a sort of dual nature - sure, they look like faces, but you do also work out what they really are. These look like laughing faces at first, but you also know that they're peppers. <2/n>
Here's a quick poster preview too.
May 21, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Here's a quick poster preview too.
Overall an excellent event. I always learn more about #scicomm by doing things like this and I'll try to post more thoughts about how my thinking about this keeps changing. For now, it was great to see so much enthusiasm for #VisionScience in Fargo. Thanks to the museum for including us!
May 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Overall an excellent event. I always learn more about #scicomm by doing things like this and I'll try to post more thoughts about how my thinking about this keeps changing. For now, it was great to see so much enthusiasm for #VisionScience in Fargo. Thanks to the museum for including us!
Color blindness is a great entry point for starting conversations about vision with the public. Here is my intrepid Recruitment Coordinator, Emily Westrick, showing off an excellent simulator app we used throughout the evening. This worked wonderfully with anti-color-blindness Ishihara plates! <3/n>
May 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Color blindness is a great entry point for starting conversations about vision with the public. Here is my intrepid Recruitment Coordinator, Emily Westrick, showing off an excellent simulator app we used throughout the evening. This worked wonderfully with anti-color-blindness Ishihara plates! <3/n>
Our "Mind Mysteries" events at the Plains Art Museum and the Fargo Public Library have been a great opportunity to do community-based testing and outreach about #VisionScience more broadly. Here's our info table for the Gala, featuring a bunch of color vision assessments. <2/n>
May 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Our "Mind Mysteries" events at the Plains Art Museum and the Fargo Public Library have been a great opportunity to do community-based testing and outreach about #VisionScience more broadly. Here's our info table for the Gala, featuring a bunch of color vision assessments. <2/n>