The Naked Scientists
Toggle navigation
Login
Register
Podcasts
The Naked Scientists
eLife
Naked Genetics
Naked Astronomy
In short
Naked Neuroscience
Ask! The Naked Scientists
Question of the Week
Archive
Video
SUBSCRIBE to our Podcasts
Articles
Science News
Features
Interviews
Answers to Science Questions
Get Naked
Donate
Do an Experiment
Science Forum
Ask a Question
About
Meet the team
Our Sponsors
Site Map
Contact us
User menu
Login
Register
Search
Home
Help
Search
Tags
Member Map
Recent Topics
Login
Register
Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback
Just Chat!
Why do humans and other animals see in colour?
« previous
next »
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Down
Why do humans and other animals see in colour?
2 Replies
3085 Views
0 Tags
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Ray
(OP)
First timers
1
Activity:
0%
Why do humans and other animals see in colour?
«
on:
23/02/2011 10:40:01 »
The physiology of the colour sense is quite clear and well documented but my question is why did this ability evolve in the first place? Different frequencies in the visual electromagnetic spectrum are presented to our conscious mind as different colours. A simple equation for frequency is 1/time so in essence when we see colour we are actually experiencing the inverse of time.
If our colour sense is actually also a time sense does this have any bearing on our current understanding of the time 'dimension'??
Logged
rosy
Naked Science Forum King!
1015
Activity:
0%
Thanked: 1 times
Chemistry
Why do humans and other animals see in colour?
«
Reply #1 on:
23/02/2011 11:17:06 »
We're not really perceiving the "frequency", except insofar as that's related to the photon energy. The ability of our eyes to detect particular colours is based on the energy of the photons breaking down the rhodopsin (visual purple) in the rod cells, and the photopsins in the cone cells.. different energies cause reactions in different molecules.
So our colour sense isn't in any meaningful way related to our sense of time.
Logged
Don_1
Naked Science Forum King!
6889
Activity:
0%
Thanked: 15 times
A stupid comment for every occasion.
Why do humans and other animals see in colour?
«
Reply #2 on:
23/02/2011 13:21:16 »
Colour!!!!!! Time!!!!!!
I don't think so.
We (Humans) did not evolve the ability to see in colour, that evolved 1000s of millions of years before humans. Insects have been able to see in colour almost since they first evolved.
You can thank plants for our ability to see in colour, not time.
Logged
If brains were made of dynamite, I wouldn't have enough to blow my nose.
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Up
« previous
next »
Tags:
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...