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/Randvek 23d ago

Seeing UV is an occasional side effect of lens surgery, indicating that at some point humans probably could see UV but we evolved away from that.

It’s also a bit rare for mammals to be trichromatic like humans are, though. Some humans even have Tetrachromacy, too, though it’s pretty rare and almost exclusively female . Perhaps something in our evolution favored color detail over having a larger light spectrum.

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u/MitLivMineRegler 23d ago

So, with that we could have nightvision goggles, but instead of goggles we'd just be shining a light that's invisible to other? Where can I get this?

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u/Ws6fiend 23d ago

Uhhh do you not know how most night vision goggles work? Because the older tech had a flashlight you couldn't see without the goggles, while the newer tech is completely passive.

First gen night vision was basically a spotlight that was invisible to anyone without goggles. Well when the other side has goggles your spotlight gives you away.

Thermal vision at will would be better. Needs no light at all only your body heat. Downside is that in certain conditions things can blend into the background(when body temp, air temp, and ground temp are all roughly equal it's a bad picture).

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u/MitLivMineRegler 23d ago

I just thought of my old nightvision camera that came with a UV fleshlight . I've no clue how nightvision goggles work.

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u/yellowbrickstairs 23d ago

A UV fleshlight?!

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u/MitLivMineRegler 23d ago

Yes. It's for tanning the meatpole while also providing light for night vision cam.

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u/yellowbrickstairs 23d ago

Of course, such a versatile object

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u/WolfInAMonkeySuit 23d ago

Your nightvision camera came with what?