Perhaps because we humans were destined to be diurnal and not nocturnal species, evolution didn't equip us with night vision. Instead we received cone cells for color vision, ideal for enjoying the wide spectrum of colours in broad day light. On the other hand nocturnals developed a thin membrane tapetum lucidum, behind the retina which functions as a rear light reflector enabling vision in low light and during night. None the less we humans know how to jump over natural barriers with the help of technology; thus we have extended our working hours into the darkness of night and peeped through night vision goggles and infrared cameras to see what cannot be seen with naked eye. Night vision devices are available in a wide range of prices/functionalities.
Because we are bent upon following knowledge like a sinking star, beyond the utmost bounds of human thought, we have breeched another barrier. No not for ourselves, but for rodents. A research team led by neuroscientist Tian Xue at the University of Science and Technology, Hefei, China has given the power of night vision to mice through an ocular injection of nanoparticles. Xue says it started as a crazy idea. Nano particles of ytterbium and erbium, two metals that belong to the rare earth group caught the attention of the team. Ytterbium can absorb infrared light and transfer it to neighbouring erbium which in turn responds with the emission of green light. The team tagged these nanoparticles with a protein called ConA which preferentially attaches to the surface of photoreceptor cells in the retina This concoction was injected into the rat's retina. ConA latches on the retinal cells. Once safely anchored there, ytterbium and erbium nanoparticles work in unison converting infra red signals to green light which retina picks up, converts to electrical signals and sends to visual cortex for processing and decoding. Xue and team ran a series of experiments to monitor the behaviour of rats in dark and infrared light lit chambers. These experiments proved conclusively that the injected mice could actually see in the dark.
A concept has been proven and a patent has been applied for. Xue et al are confident of the civilian and military applications of the technique. It is indeed debatable whether night vision would improve the quality of human life; but certainly ghosts would scramble to hide in plain sight.
A concept has been proven and a patent has been applied for. Xue et al are confident of the civilian and military applications of the technique. It is indeed debatable whether night vision would improve the quality of human life; but certainly ghosts would scramble to hide in plain sight.
Reference
- Mammalian Near-Infrared Image Vision through Injectable and Self-Powered Retinal Nanoantennae. Cell, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.01.038 Yuqian Ma, Jin Bao, Yuanwei Zhang, Zhanjun Li, Xiangyu Zhou, Changlin Wan, Ling Huang, Yang Zhao, Gang Han, Tian Xue.
