10 Amazing Eye Facts

Your eyes play a fundamental role in the way that you live. As one of the senses of your body your eyes open opportunities to witness spectacular events and see incredible sights which you can never forget. But how much do you actually know about your eyes?

Here are 10 amazing facts you may not know about your eyes.

  1. Eye Camera. If the human eye was an actual camera it would have 576 megapixels. Compared to a standard camera with 24.2 megapixels, your eyes could take the best high definition and 3D photographs you have ever seen.
  2. It is a fact that humans spend around 10% of waking life with eyes closed, blinking. Keeping your eyes fresh and alert blinking is a natural reflex to gusts of wind and to help with the removal of dust from your eye.
  3. Game Plan. Researchers have successfully treated adults with lazy eye using the game Tetris. Not only is it an impossibly addictive and classic game but it is also good exercise for your eyes!
  4. It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. An automatic reflex that makes your eyes close when you sneeze means you can’t do it even when trying, even if you’re trying to physically hold them open. Go ahead and have a go yourself!
  5. Evil Eyes. Amongst the list of fears and phobias there is a phobia of eyes. Ommatophobia is the fear of eyes. Medication is available for the phobia but it can have side effects.
  6. Night Vision. Night vision goggles are always green because the human eye can differentiate more shades of green than any other colour in the spectrum.
  7. It is an actual fact that carrots do not make you see in the dark, it is a lie. The lie derives from the time of the Second World War as the British made efforts to cover up technology from the Nazis. However, beta-carotene, a nutrient in carrots does have an impact on eye health so don’t give up on your meat and two veg dinners just yet!
  8. Green Eyes. Despite being the colour the human eye can differentiate the most, only 2% of humans have green eyes, making it the rarest eye colour of them all.
  9. Land of Oz. The retinas actually view everything you see upside down, or down under. It is your brain that flips the images the right way up.
  10. 50 Shades of Grey. Instead of picking up just 50 shades of grey, the human eye can distinguish between 50,000 shades of grey, making it a much more complex place than the world of E.L. James’s imagining.