My all seeing eyes
From the moment I wake up in the morning to the time I try to sleep at night, my eyes are working non stop acting like a camcorder. Everything I look at is then sent to my brain (do I really have one?) for processing and storage much like on a DVD.
Our eyes are a very complex part of our bodies and nature has provided many features which protect the eyes. The eyebrows are the strips of hair above your eyes which prevent sweat from running into them. Eyelashes help keep the eye clean by collecting small dirt and dust particles floating through the air. The eyelashes also protect the eye from the sun’s and other light’s glare. The eyelids sweep dirt from the surface of the eye. The eyelid also protects the eye from injury. Tears are sterile drops of clean water which constantly bathe the front of the eye, keeping it clean and moist.
Did you know…..
Most people blink every 2-10 seconds.
Each time you blink, you shut your eyes for 0.3 seconds, which means your eyes are closed at least 30 minutes a day just from blinking.
If you only had one eye, everything would appear two-dimensional. (This does not work just by closing one eye.)
Owls can see a mouse moving over 150 feet away with light no brighter than a candle. The reason cat’s and dog’s eyes glow at night is because of silver mirrors in the back of their eyes called the tapetum. This makes it easier for them to see at night.
An ostrich has eyes that are two inches across. Each eye weighs more than the brain. A chameleon’s eyes can look in opposite directions at the same time.
A newborn baby sees the world upside down because it takes some time for the baby’s brain to learn to turn the picture right-side up.
One in every twelve males is colour blind.
Rummuser said,
December 29, 2009 at 10:51 am
Wow! What brought that on?
Grannymar said,
December 29, 2009 at 11:28 am
Forty shades of white outside my window!
kenju said,
December 29, 2009 at 1:15 pm
So, we should always stand behind a baby who is lying down and look down at him, so that he sees us right-side up?
Grannymar said,
December 29, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Judy, it explains why babies squeal when I look at them!
Nick said,
December 29, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Eyes are quite remarkable organs. It’s amazing that not only can we see things but we can tell how far away they are and how solid they are. And we can pick up the slightest change in a view instantly.
My daylight vision is very good but my night vision is poor. It always amuses Jenny that she can see me clearly in the dark but I can hardly see her at all.
Nancy said,
December 29, 2009 at 2:46 pm
“A chameleon’s eyes can look in opposite directions at the same time.”
I think I dated this guy once… He proposed but I wasn’t sure he was looking at ME and I was RIGHT. He married my next door neighbor….
Brighid said,
December 29, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I always knew we mothers had secret eyes in the back of our heads, and now Marymine has discovered her’s.
steph said,
December 29, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Bet you wish you could roll your eyes like me!
Nancy said,
December 29, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Good to see you back,Steph. Are you feeling OK?
I suppose you are, judging by the way you are rolling those eyes….
Grannymar said,
December 29, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Nick - I hope Jenny is not a twin!
Nancy - I met a guy just like your date! At his office he made coffee for me, it was half and half - one half black coffee and he filled it up with brandy! He didn’t understand the word stop. It was 10am on a cold winter day and I had no problem rolling my eyes.
Brighid - The eyes in the back of my head worked really well, we mothers had great powers.
Steph - Good to see you back, keep rolling!
steph said,
December 29, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Hi! Nancy
Yes, I’m fine thanks.
I had to stay in the hospital overnight as when my husband came to collect me last Tuesday, he said my eyes were still rolling in their sockets after the anaesthetic. I remember nuttin’
I’ve been ’smelling the roses’ ever since I woke up!
Happy New Year to one and all.
Maynard said,
December 29, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Grannymar, why does an ostrich have eyes anyway, its head is always in the sand!?
Magpie11 said,
December 29, 2009 at 9:11 pm
With one eye on the pot and the other up the chimney..
My optician told me recently that the eyes are in fact part of the brain…makes sense and explains why my brain is prone to …what is the word I want? Forgetfulness.
The eyes of a plaice start on opposite sides of the body and one migrates to the side that ends up on top of the flatfish!
What I want to know is :How do they know what a baby sees?
Baino said,
December 29, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Hmm interesting although I once watched a program on microbes, you’d be amazed and disgusted at the little community of arthropod greebies that live within your eyelash follicles. And a word of advice, don’t forget that your corneas can be transplanted so get on the transplant register and give the gift of sight!
Grannymar said,
December 30, 2009 at 12:42 am
Maynard - It has to see where it is putting its head!
Magpie - How did you know about the fish? I have no idea about what a baby sees. I have yet to find one that can talk to tell me.
Baino - We can donate organs via our driving licence forms. It makes the whole process very easy.
Jefferson Davis said,
December 30, 2009 at 1:09 am
Our eyes are remarkable. The optic nerve(s) fascinates me. Any damage to it, and yer blind. Both of my eyes are in descent visual condition, but because the the left optic nerve never grew to the back of the retina, I’ve been legally blind in my left eye since I was knee high to a grass hopper.
I often wonder if it’s just dangling around inside my head like a loose spark plug wire. If I knock me self in the head hard enough, do you reckon it’ll attach itself?
Serious, being blind in one eye has given me a great appreciation for the things that others may overlook. And, I have a nose like a dog!
(JD covertly sneaks back into the shadows of the blogosphere)
Magpie11 said,
December 30, 2009 at 12:09 pm
JD…I thought that the eyes were embryocologically from the same source as the brain and nervous system…more reading indicated.
What wonders you should be able to uncover in wines….
As fort the fish thing…I picked it up along the way, Biology lessons or reading, I don’t know…By the way the two eyes end up on the right hand (fin?) side of the body.
I wonder if there are left handed flat fish?
I did find this online…
http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/07/the_mysterious_origin_of_the_w_1.php.
And this
http://www.arn.org/blogs/index.php/literature/2008/07/15/is_the_case_against_evolution_flounderin
Geri Atric said,
December 30, 2009 at 12:24 pm
1 in 12 males colourblind? Oh dear, that is a lot.
‘What I want to know is :How do they know what a baby sees?’
Good point Magpie11!
Magpie11 said,
December 30, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Actually…what a baby sees is upside down on the retina so I suppose we are talking about a learning process where by the brain learns what is up and what is down.
That begs the question as to how the earliest seeing beings knew which was up or down or top or bottom or left or right. Perhaps we have it all wrong anyway
There are a variety of types of colour blindness…. it is almost exclusively male.
Grannymar said,
December 30, 2009 at 8:00 pm
JD - Hi! *waves* How are you. Don’t you dare bang that head of yours. Concentrate on taking wonderful photos…. as for the dog’s nose, is it cold and damp all the time?
Magpie - Great links there, even if they sent you for moderation.
Geri - As a child I was told I would go colour blind because I didn’t eat butter. It was years later that I discovered it only happened to the males of this world.
Magpie - Perhaps that is why I don’t know if I am on my head or my heels most days!