The Hindu News Update Service
News Update Service
Saturday, May 9, 2009 : 0315 Hrs
Sci. & Tech.
'Gecko vision' could usher in futuristic cameras, contact lenses
London (IANS): Nocturnal geckos are among the very few living creatures able to
see colours at night, which scientists could harness to develop better cameras
and contact lenses.
The key to the exceptional night vision of this creature is a series of
distinct concentric zones of different refractive powers, according to a study.
Refractive or dioptic power is the degree to which a lens, mirror, or other
optical system concentrates or scatters light.
This multi-focal optical system comprises large cones, which the researchers
calculated to be more than 350 times more sensitive than human cone vision
at the human colour vision threshold.
Cones are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye which function best in
relatively bright light.
"We were interested in the geckos because they - and other lizards - differ
from most other vertebrates in having only cones in their retina," said project
leader Lina Roth, department of cell and organism biology at Lund University in
Sweden.
"With the knowledge from the gecko eyes we might be able to develop more
effective cameras and maybe even useful multi-focal contact lenses," she said,
according to a university release.
These findings were published in the Association for Research in Vision and
Ophthalmology's online Journal of Vision.
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