‘I’m really just high on life and beauty’: the woman who can see 100 million colours

The Guardian ^ | 29 Jan 2022 | Bronwyn Adcock

[DUMBGRUNT]

“It’s not just an affectation and it’s not artistic licence,” says Antico. “I’m actually painting exactly what I see. If it’s a pink flower and then all of a sudden you see a bit of lilac or blue, I actually saw that.”

Antico is a tetrachromat, which means she has a fourth colour receptor in her retina compared with the standard three which most people have. While those of us with three of these receptors – called cone cells – have the ability to distinguish around one million different colours, tetrachromats see an estimated 100 million.

According to Dr Kimberly Jameson, a University of California scientist who has studied Antico, just having the gene – which around 15% of women have – is not alone sufficient to be a tetrachromat, but it’s a necessary condition. “In Concetta’s case … one thing we believe is that because she’s been painting sort of continuously since the age of seven years old, she has really enlisted this extra potential and used it. This is how genetics works: it gives you the potential to do things and if the environment demands that you do that thing, then the genes kick in.”

[GingisK]

You might be seeing life auras.

[GaltAdonis]

...“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”...

Okay - there used to be a pair of box turtles that came out
the woods and mated under an azalea bush in my back yard
every August, like clockwork for years.
The color of the azalea bush? Was supposed to be lavender.

So thank you - all is clear to me now. Except what IS box
turtle mating anyway? 'Reptile Nookie'? 'Slo-Mo Terrapin sex'?

Things that make you say: Hmmmmm...

[Salamander]

I reckon maybe that’s as good of an explanation as any.

[DUMBGRUNT]

—” Except what IS box
turtle mating anyway?”

We had a box turtle for years as a kid never wondered about turtle reproduction...

What I failed to learn down at the gutter with my pals:

How Do Box Turtles Reproduce?
https://oddlycutepets.com/how-do-box-turtles-reproduce/

[Vaduz]

Cue the song the girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

[GaltAdonis]

I watched them do their clumsy thing under that azalea bush.
It's amazing that the species has survived so incredibly long.

[A Navy Vet]

"I cannot see the difference between a 720p vs a 4k tv at a few feet away."

The closer you are to a 720p display, the more you should see the lessor resolution compared to 4K. Move back 10 feet or so and the 720p resolution becomes almost comparative to 4k, providing the displays are the same size. I was sold on 4k a few years back when I saw in a Best Buy. I have two 4k tv's and will never go back. Even though 1080i is better than 720p, 4k is like looking through a window.

[A Navy Vet]

"The flowers are fuscia. Magenta is a tad darker."

Yes, and magenta has very slight brownish tint.

[stevio]

Nope.

[TexasGator]

“If it’s a pink flower and then all of a sudden you see a bit of lilac or blue, I actually saw that.”

So she is not painting what she sees ...

Sounds gimmicky to me.

[Grenada]

Do you know any if the app names?

[Salamander]

If you have an iPhone go to the apps store and punch in animal or dog vision.

There’s a bunch of them

Here’s some

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/how-do-animals-see-camera/id1479677447

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dog-optics/id1447069492

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dog-vision-hd/id812260666

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pup-view/id1483680082

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/animal-vision/id1464890327