Men from Mars and Prime Minister's wife on Venus

Clearly, opposites attract. Just consider the marriage between incoming Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his wife Miyuki.

While Hatoyama, head of the upstart Democratic Party of Japan, is largely viewed in Japan as one of the duller members of a fairly colorless profession, Miyuki, an inspirational speaker and former actress, is literally out of this world.

She has recently written a book in which she revealed that her soul has traveled via UFO to Venus — a planet she described as "an extremely beautiful place" and "very green."

She also confessed to eating the sun ("Like this: yum, yum, yum. It gives me enormous energy") and hanging out with Tom Cruise (in a previous life, when Cruise was apparently Japanese).

Hatoyama, who harbors ambitions of starring alongside Cruise in a movie one day, knows exactly what she'll say to him when they cross paths on set. "He would recognize me when I see him and say 'Long time, no see!,'" she told a TV talk-show host earlier in the year.

IS Sex just an Illusion

The only difference between these two faces is their degree of contrast. Yet one appears female and the other male. That's because female faces tend to have more contrast between the eyes and mouth and the rest of the face than male faces.

Richard Russell, the Harvard University neuroscientist who created the illusion, has previously found that increasing the contrast in female faces makes them more attractive. Conversely, reducing contrast makes a male face easier on the eyes.

Visit the Visual Illusion of the Year (2009) Competition and see if you have won

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