Do you believe in oasises and mirages (can happen) in the desert or elsewhere?

Question

We all know that all mind plays tricks on us, esp. when in the sun for hours, baked by the heat. I don't know about this one. (Not sure on what science category.)

Answer 1

Mirages are not a trick of the mind. They're caused by the hot ground, and sunlight.

The speed at which light moves through a substance is partly determined by its temperature. So if you have a beam of light that passes from one temperature to another, the path of that light actually bends. (if you don't understand why, visit the link i've included at the end)

So what happens when you have a really hot ground, and a bright sunny sky? As some of the light from the sky approaches the ground, the air temperature gets hotter and hotter - so the path of that light bends upwards. If its hot enough (and often times, it is) light from the sky can be bent so much by the heat on the ground that it ends up going into your eyes.
And what's the result? You see a bright, blue, wavy-looking patch on the ground. Looks a lot like water, but it's not - its the sky. It waves because of the hot air moving up from the ground; the air heats up when it touches the ground, causing it to rise and be replaced by colder air. So you get something like an updraft.

When light bends due to a change in speed, it's called "refraction". It's the same reason that spoons look like they're bending when you put them in water; the spoon isn't bending, the light is.

Here's a website that explains it in some detail:
http://cref.if.ufrgs.br/hiperfisica/hbase/geoopt/refr.html#c1

Answer 2

An oasis is simply an area in a desert area that has water. This water can come from underground. Tuba City, Arizona is a city in the middle of a desert, but Tuba is a Native American word for water. So Tuba City is literally Water City and is a genuine oasis. The reason is because there is an aquifer very close to the surface.

Mirages also happen quite often in the desert. You aren't hallucinating when you see one, a camera will also show the mirage.

Now when people have been in the desert for long periods of time, they may see a mirage and actually mistake it for water. This is the point when the mind is no longer functioning properly.

Answer 3

It's not exactly as you might imagine. The thing is that with the high temperature, you can see the refraction of objects in the ground, from a long distance you think it's that the objects are reflected so you might believe it's water.

You might've seen it on the hot road on a very sunny and dry day, and it's because of the high temperature, that light refracts to create this effect. Check it out here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage
If you walk through the desert and you're thirsty, to think there's water up adhead must be very frustrating, hence the idea of your mind being played, however, mirages are real.

Answer 4

It's both optical allusion and mind playing tricks. Especially when dehydrated. Chemical processes become erratic when in that state.

I've been there and done that. Yes, you can see things that are not there. The most common is to see a lake or other body of water, but this is just heat inversion at the surface of the ground. You can see this on the highway when it is hot out. The road looks wet ahead but it isn't.

Answer 5

Oasises certainly are true- I've been to one. Mirages are also a true phenomena caused by heated air rising over a heated surface. As well as in deserts, they can often be seen just above the surface of tarmac roads in hot conditions.

Answer 6

Oasises are real.They are very scarce throughout the dryland.Those are not mirages.When people halucinate, they think they see an oasis when they get that dehydrated.I am no science major graduate or anything, but there are such things a oasises in dry lands.They are just hard to come accross.

Answer 7

Mirages definitely happen. They are just a strange phenomenon of atmospheric optics. It's caused by extremely strong bending of light rays, meaning they are not just illusions.

Answer 8

Somewhere,
over
the
rainbow.....