Ted Gibson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Bevil R. Conway, National Institutes of Health
People across the globe all see millions of distinct colors. But the terms we use to describe them vary across cultures. New cognitive science research suggests it’s about what we want to communicate.
Phosphenes are an experience of seeing light without light entering your eye. Bionic eye recipients use these to map out a visual scene.
Eugene Peretz/Flickr
Thomas Cronin, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
We’re used to thinking of our eyes detecting light as the foundation of our visual system. But what’s going on in other cells throughout the body that can detect light, too?
The first truly terrestrial animals evolved from ancient fishes that left the water for land. But what prompted to move has been a mystery.
Dusk during the second day of the day-night Sheffield Shield match between Queensland and New South Wales at the Gabba, Brisbane, in October 2016.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
Glaucoma is the sneak thief of sight, affecting the eyesight of more than 50 million people worldwide. It remains the biggest preventable cause of blindness today.
The pathway from eye to brain begins in the retina, where light is converted into neuronal signals.
nina/Flickr
Chris Tailby, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Light arriving from the right visual field is processed in the brain’s left hemisphere. So damage to the left part of the primary visual cortex will result in blindness in the right visual field.
Cataracts are one of the leading causes of visual impairment globally.
Rakesh Ahuja, MD/Wikimedia Commons
How does your brain deal with the ambiguous and variable visual information your eyes collect? Neuroscientists think it bets on what’s the most likely version of reality.
Myrmecia croslandi ant carrying its prey backwards.
Flickr/Ajay Narendra