Can a guy in a superman suit walk right in front of you—and you not see him? The answer is yes.

Shocking proof that we don’t all see the same thing when looking at the same scene, and that we can’t always believe what we do see, is revealed in the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History current ExploraZone exhibit, Seeing. Select interactive components from San Francisco’s Exploratorium, are on display at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame across the street. The neighboring museum is hosting the exhibit and others on its lower floor while the Museum of Science and History is under construction. Admission to ExploraZone and all National Cowgirl Museum exhibits is one price and free for all Museum members.

Learn why seeing may be believing for each of us, even though we can’t always believe what we see. Grapple with the contradiction of being able to see and not see at the same time, as in Spinning Eraser, where objects right in front of you seem to disappear. This phenomena, which has fascinated Nobel scientists, is one of several exhibits that represent some of the latest in vision and visual perception research.

Seeing seems to question our notion of objective reality and provides insight to how the eye and brain function together and determines what we see – or think we see. Starting with the eye itself, the exhibition asks you to consider that the images formed by light on the backs of our eyes are flat, upside-down, distorted, full of holes, out of focus and obscured by dark networks of blood vessels. It’s amazing that we see at all!

Such exhibits as Corpuscles of the Eye deal with the anatomical and physiological features of the light-sensing eye. At Corpuscles see your own retina in front of you -- maybe for the first time in your life -- and see the red blood cells nourishing your eye.

It turns out that our eyes, even in the initial stages of vision, are not just passive cameras. At Red/Green Goggles experience how light influences the eye. Saturate your right eye with green light and your left eye with red light. Then look at the world by blinking one eye and then the other—friends seem to go from rosy good health to sickly green as you learn about how your eyes respond to colored light.

The exhibition moves from these physical realities of the eye to the surprises (and unreliability) of perception. At Cheshire Cat, a case of eye rivalry makes your friend’s face disappear -- leaving only their eyes and smile – as your brain tries to make sense of the competing information coming from each eye.

Yet, countless examples remind us how the eye and brain together perform other amazing feats. At Hoop Nightmares, learn about the flexibility of the eye. Wear prism glasses as you try to play a game of tabletop basketball. Test your accuracy before, while using, and after wearing the glasses. Experience a shocking change in your eye/brain connection as you try to play this game!

And find out the shocking truth about all that you CANNOT see at the exhibit Count the Bounces. Without giving away what researchers have learned about how easily we can miss even obvious things, suffice it to say that at this exhibit, following the ball is not always the best advice—even if most basketball players are noted for their visual acuity.

Admission to ExploraZone and the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is $8 for adults, $7 for children (3-12) and seniors (60+). The exhibit will be on display through Spring 2008. The exhibits in Seeing originated at the Exploratorium, San Francisco, the prototype for hands-on science museums around the world.