Human eyeballs can see a feature of light believed to be the exclusive ability of certain creatures like bees, octopuses and cuttlefish.
This is a property of light called polarisation where the oscillations of light waves are in one particular direction.
Research at the University of Bristol demonstrated that the human eye can pick out polarised light, even if for a few seconds only.
Look for the "Haidinger's brushes" or yellow shaped bows on the white LCD screen of a computer or phone by tilting your head from side to side.
A bluish bow can also be seen at right angles to the yellow one, says Shelby Temple from the University of Bristol, who conducted the research.
This is a property of light called polarisation where the oscillations of light waves are in one particular direction.
Research at the University of Bristol demonstrated that the human eye can pick out polarised light, even if for a few seconds only.
Look for the "Haidinger's brushes" or yellow shaped bows on the white LCD screen of a computer or phone by tilting your head from side to side.
A bluish bow can also be seen at right angles to the yellow one, says Shelby Temple from the University of Bristol, who conducted the research.
The bow-ties, slightly larger than a thumb, can also be seen with some practice in blue skies at 90 degrees from the sun – meaning at sunrise and sunset. The long axis of the yellow bow-tie will point approximately towards the sun, writes research associate Juliette McGregor in The Conversation.
As the bow is not a real external object but an effect, it will disappear after the brain processes the information.
Among 24 people who took part in Temple's study, the average polarisation sensitivity threshold was 56%.
The researchers believe polarised light detection could help screen people at risk of age-related macular degeneration - a leading cause of blindness, by looking at the organization of pigments in the eye.
SOURCE:IB TIMES
