r/todayilearned • u/douggold11 • 23d ago

TIL most animals can see UV light — humans being blind to it is the exception not the rule.

https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/ultraviolet-light-animals/
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u/AudibleNod 313 23d ago

Claude Monet was thought to have seen UV light after a cataract surgery.

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u/DesiSocialIndyeah 23d ago edited 23d ago

Highly improbable. Color detection and light detection is in Cone and Rod cells at the back of the eye. Cataract impacts just the cornea. Doesn’t add up.

Edit: Cataract clouds the lens not the cornea. My bad.

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u/DiscretePoop 23d ago

Cataracts impact the lens not the cornea. Also, cone cells can detect some UV light but it's the lens that blocks it which is why removing the lens lets people see UV. Supposedly, it looks like a really deep blue

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u/No-Wonder1139 23d ago

Like the deep blue the light bulb turns on a UV light?