Why not? We could use surgery tto add receptors to our eyes. But this might confuse the brain since we weren't born with it. We can also genetically mmodify humans to have more cones -yuri
The cones that yuri mentioned are the key factor here. The human eye has 3 cones and is thus able to differentiate between a wide array of different colors, however many animals such as cats and dogs only have 2 and are thus restricted in their visual capabilities and they are unable to detect shades in the red spectrum. There are people who are born with 4 or more of these cones and they are able to discern a wider color spectrum so that is the answer to your question, you just have to be born that way. There are other animals as well who are born with more than 3 cones and can see a spectrum beyond what we are capable of visualizing.
are there really humans born with extra cones? I've heard of color blindness but never that. People are born with webbed feet and tails tho so why not -yuri
My main interest is in surgery/cybernetics Yea genetic modification is nice for future generation, but people alive are the ones who want progress now. Science progression is based on incentives I wonder if we will see non medical cybernetics in our lifetimes. Cybernetics now are almsot always for people who need medical attention. Things like robotic limbs and chips in our brains to combat tarets syndrome or however its sspelled I even saw a video of a man who had a chip put in his eye as an experimental blindness treatment. But never anyone adding chips to their body for performance enhancement. -yuri
Look into Tetrachromacy in humans. It is rare, but nonetheless it happens. There are lots of fake online tests out there to determine it but none of them actually work, but that is the reason I discovered this. I am naturally skeptical of any sort of online test so I looked into the condition, which I found to be real, while all of the tests are a scam because computer monitors are unable of producing the colors needed to test for it.
already did ^_^ http://discovermagazine.com/2012/jul-aug/06-humans-with-super-human-vision As soon as I saw your post I looked it up At the bottom of the page people commented. The first comment is of a dude who had a girl in his science class who could see ultra violet. His teacher said it was impossible but then she proved it I'm a little envious -yuri
It must be a fascinating life actually being able to see uv rays haha. But, at the same time, I am fine with being able to see 1 million + colors
reading the article made me wonder though. He said the 4 cone girl also had to aadd different ammounts of color to match, though for the opposite reason. Even thought they see "more" than us, it results in them seeing "different" than us. How many arguments have these children gotten into about what color the flower is? What if I gave that girl directions and said "turn at that blue thing" and she got lost because she turned at the real blue thing? -yuri My imagination is going wild -yuri
I thought the exta cone just allowed them to see more shades than us 3 coners. Wow never heard of someone seeing beyond the normally visible spectrum. Idk if i would like that, might make my black light seem too bright.
A new colour? Well... where on the spectrum would it go? Because above visible light is ultra violet and below visible light is infra red. So I'm not sure a new colour can really come into existence, unless you mean for us being able to visually detect one of those types of waves I just mentioned, in which case sure why not.
There is that weird "What Color Is the Dress?!?" dress that hints at new frontiers of human optical evolution. Also HP Lovecraft's classic "The Colour out of Space"!!!
A new color? While I won't say it is impossible.. going to have to say no. Our sun kicks out full spectrum and the visible light part is what interacts with color. As stated, there are people born with 4 types of cones and I think those cones are more suited towards UV light.. but there is a problem with that. Our lens blocks out UV light, so even if you have a cone that can absorb UV light, the light will never make it to that cone. You could try removing the lens, but UV light is so energetic that it can penetrate and activate all cone receptors and will look like you're on acid. In order for someone to see UV light, their lens needs to be able to let some of it through and then they need a cone to receive it.. which wouldn't be impossible as the UV light closer to the violet wave lengths could make it through, there is some leeway there. Same with infrared, if someone's red cones are mutated some to where they can accept infrared that is closer to red wave lengths, then there could be a slight activation of red from infrared. Both UV and infrared have wave lengths that slightly overlap visible light wave lengths.. but to see a majority of UV and infrared isn't likely to happen. Plus, most animals that can see infrared don't actually see it.. they sense it. That is why animals that can detect infrared do so with a separate sensory organ than their eyes. So seeing new color.. probably not. If someone has another color cone.. it will either be for UV light that is close to the violet wave lengths and would add a white hue to something reflecting UV light, or allow them to see more vivid colors that it is geared towards.
this isn't true As stated earlier in the thread, people who have the UV cones can pick out the UV light 100% of the time compared to the guessing control group You are oprobly half right. They probly don't see it well. But they for sure can see it -yuri
The only way those people can see UV light is if they have something abnormal with the lens in their eyes.. and when they do, it adds a whiteish blue hue to what they are looking at that is reflecting the UV light. It does that because UV light, for the most part, can penetrate and activate all color cones (giving you white).. but effects blue cones more so, giving a white-blue hue. As for people with 4 color cones, the 4th isn't always setup for near UV light.. and in fact, they typically aren't for UV light, but rather color we can already see, giving them a more vivid experience of that color range.
so you know for a fact that our lenses filters 100% of UV light? Care to provide a peer reviewed source for this claim? -yuri