Your eyes are incredible. Without them, not only would you not see this beautiful world of ours, but you wouldn’t even know what was out there to see! Shocking, we know.
Even though you use your eyes as your literal lens from which you see the world, we’d bet a decent amount that you don’t know these five cool facts:
Your Entire Face is Designed to Protect Your Eyes
Well, at least the upper half of it is. Your eyes are extremely delicate and in need of constant protection. As a result, our skull is shaped to encase the eye in a recessed socket, protecting the eyes from most side impacts; our eyebrows are purpose-built to wick sweat away from our eyes, ensuring our vision remains clear; eyelashes, aside from looking gorgeous, are meant to sweep debris and dirt away from our eyes.
The Eye is the Most Complex Organ in The Body (Almost)
Aside from your brain, that is. Next to the brain, your eye is but a speck among a sea of specks. Next to anything else, the eye is a complex and sophisticated mechanism that magically turns light into sight.
Okay, the brain’s a big deal… we’ll give it that.
Still, the eye is one of the most complex parts of the human body. Composed of more than two million working parts, and each six times more unique than a fingerprint, it really is no surprise that the eye holds the non-brain complexity claim to fame.
One benefit of this complexity? Healing. Next to the tongue, the eye heals faster than any other organ. With proper care, corneal scratches can heal in just a day or two… though we don’t recommend that you test that claim out.
Your Eyes Are (More or Less) Fully Developed at Birth
While your nose and ears never stop growing, from the day you’re born, your eyes seemingly never start; they will be more or less the same size and shape throughout all your life. This doesn’t mean that your eyes (and eyesight) doesn’t change as you grow and mature; it just means that your eyes tend to stick to the same form factor they come with at birth. Neat!
Your Eyes Move, All the Time, Without Telling You
Ever heard of microsaccades? They are tiny jerks or twitches that your eyes make so that objects do not fade away from your vision. If you stare at a specific object for too long it will disappear from sight. This is called the Troxler Effect. Microsaccades stop this from happening.
Thanks, microsaccades!
Your Eye Can Differentiate Approximately 10 Million Different Colours
Unless you’re a member of the 12% of men/1% of women that are color deficient; those men and women, including this post’s author, only see around 250,000 colours. But hey, less is more… right?
