Posted on 03/01/2019 11:10:16 AM PST by Red Badger
Applications include use by the military and helping people who are colour blind
HUMANS could get the power to see in the dark after mice were injected with nanoparticles which gave them the ability to see infrared light.
The rodents were given infrared night vision for 10 weeks after the injection, with only minor side effects, in an experiment conducted by Chinese and US scientists
The team at the University of Science and Technology of China said they could modify a human’s vision to detect a wider spectrum of colours.
Current infrared technology allows the user to see heat emitted from animals but its effectiveness is hampered by bulky batteries and interference from visible light.
But nanoparticles inserted into the eyes of mice boosted their vision beyond the normal range of colours they can detect and enabled the rodents to see infrared light.
Lead researcher Dr Tian Xue said the applications include military use and could be adapted to treat people who are colour blind and can’t detect red.
“We believe this technology will also work in human eyes, not only for generating super vision but also for therapeutic solutions in human red colour vision deficits,” said Dr Xue.
“This is an exciting subject because the technology we made possible here could eventually enable human beings to see beyond our natural capabilities."
The research was published in Cell antested the nanoparticles in mice which, like humans, cannot see infrared naturally.
The researchers made nanoparticles that could anchor tightly to photoreceptor cells and act as tiny infrared light transducers.
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How the nanoparticles gave mice 'super vision'
Mice like humans cannot perceive light with a wavelength longer than 700 nanometres, which is at the red end of the visible spectrum.
But the nanoparticles absorb light with longer, infrared wavelengths and convert that into shorter wave light that the mice retinal cells can detect.
This converted light peaks at a wavelength of 535 nanometres, so the mice see infrared light as green.
“When light enters the eye and hits the retina, the rods and cones–or photoreceptor cells–absorb the photons with visible light wavelengths and send corresponding electric signals to the brain,” said research team member Gang Han.
“Because infrared wavelengths are too long to be absorbed by photoreceptors, we are not able to perceive them.”
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When the light hits the retina, they capture the longer infrared wavelengths and emit shorter wavelengths within the visible range.
The nearby rod or cone then absorbs the shorter wavelength and sends a normal signal to the brain, as if visible light had hit the retina.
Mice that received the injections showed unconscious physical signs that they were detecting infrared light, such as their pupils constricting.
Mice injected with a placebo solution as a comparison did not respond.
During tests in mazes the injected mice demonstrated they could distinguish infrared patterns while also exposed to daylight.
There goes Hillary’s chances of getting any even with the lights off. :)
Well, all this does is allow the user to see glowing body heat.
She has none........................
this is bad news for the less attractive women in the bars towards the end of the evening.
There are no less attractive women in bars at closing time!!!!
ROFLMAO!!! True!!
I remember being in my mid 20s and at 3am (clubs close at 4 here in NYC) it was time to hit on most every and anything!!)
I guessing it would impact humans "normal" range.
Now what they aren't saying is how does this affect 'normal' vision? If you add infrared to normal vision, you'll get some pretty odd looking views...................
Mess with the retina at your own risk.
What works for mice doesn’t necessarily work for humans.
Injections into the eyeball? I’ll stick with the goggles.
Like eye infection and blindness?..................
This may very well work fine for some animals, as many dont see a more expanded full color spectrum like the human eye does. I know my pets see mostly blues and greens and grays, according to their eye structures.
It would be better to test it out as some kind of contact lens type situation and see what it does to normal vision and color comprehension.
700nm (near infrared) converted to 535nm (green) - Sounds like a phosphor.
Green is the traditional choice for night vision devices. Appropriate.
No, it will look like one though.
I expect in normal light, people, animals, cars etc. will have a green glow.......................
Yes, but you can’t turn this one off.......................
Not just a job... an adventure (assuming this is used by military instead of night burglars).
So you hide in the shrubbery
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