Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Chinese Boy Sees In The Dark
Nong Youhui, a young boy living in southern China, has bright blue eyes that glow in the dark, and give him enhanced ability to see in the dark. Now the video.
(Chinese boy sees in the dark)
Ling [the boy's father] said: "They told me he would grow out of it and that his eyes would stop glowing and turn black like most Chinese people but they never did."Medical tests conducted in complete darkness show Youhui can read perfectly without any light and sees as clearly as most people do during the day.
If you're one of my usual attentive readers, you're as skeptical of this story as I am. But, it's hard to resist, particularly for fans of sf films like Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick.
In the film, Richard B. Riddick (played by Vin Diesel) has "eyeshine" - he as bright blue eyes that he can use to see in the dark. Depending on which version of the story you like, Riddick had his eyes operated on while incarcerated in an underground prison to give himself an advantage over other prisoners.
(Riddick's eyeshine)
I've been fascinated with the vision of nocturnal animals since childhood, and read eagerly about the tapetum, an eye structure that humans do not have. The tapetum is a really clever idea (kudos to Nature personified, or to the evolutionary process); it is a layer of reflective cells behind the eye that reflect any incident light back through the layer of receptive cells, thus doubling the chance that the light photons would be absorbed and thus available to the vision system of the animal.
So, if this is a real story, my congratulations to Nong Youhui, the next step in human evolution.
Via Presurfer; thanks to the always-patient Moira, who contributed the tip and the reference on this item sometime last week.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/16/2012)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Biology ")
Biological War: A Scenario
'And now they wre busily transforming all their companions, and so on, and so on...' - Greg Bear, 1984.
What'll You Have? Extinct Animals Returned, Or Synthetic Eggshells?
'...a new plastic with the characteristics of an avian eggshell.' - Michael Crichton, 1990.
Black Fungus Blocks Radiation
'You were surrounded by Astrophage most of the time' - Andy Weir, 2021.
Lunar Biorepository Proposed For Cryo-Preservation Of Earth Species
'...there was no one alive who had ever seen them. But they existed in the Life Bank.' - John Varley, 1977.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..'
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
The Wind Phone Calls Those Who Have Passed On
'Only I heard that!'
Don't Want To Wear A TIght Shiny Bodysuit?
'He looked a good bit like an elderly, fat beetle.'
Light Society: Simulates Earth-Scale Society With A Billion AI Agents
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...'
Satyress Centaur Robot Horror Reminds Everyone Of Something
'Fess was very dutiful'
When Colds Threaten You Can't Do This - Or Can You?
'...a hemispherical force field enclosing his head.'
Beautiful Visualization of Dawn Spacecraft
'Then he became aware of a gentle pressure pushing him away from the ship.'
Biological War: A Scenario
'And now they wre busily transforming all their companions, and so on, and so on...'
Pole-Dancing Stripperbot Robot
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
Collective Superintelligence Is At Hand!
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
Instant Journalists: Ordinary People With Cell Phones
'We'll show them whose planet this is!'
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...'
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
