Long Story

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%BCller-Lyer_Illusion_-_MathWorld_version.svg

This is a familiar variation on the Müller-Lyer optical illusion. The horizontal segments on the left appear longer than those on the right, but in fact they’re all the same length.

Italian researcher Gianni A. Sarcone devised the dynamic demonstration below — the blue and black segments are all the same length and do not change; only the “fins” are moving:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sarcone%E2%80%99s_Pulsating_Star_(Dynamic_M%C3%BCller-Lyer_illusion).gif

(The Müller-Lyer illusion works even in blind subjects!)