Get to know some fun facts about your eyes!

2.  Many of us are disturbed by the occurrence
of a “red eye” in a photograph. Here’s why it
happens:
 “Red eye” occurs in photos because light
from the flash bounces off the back of the
eye. The choroid, rich in blood vessels, is
located behind the retina and appears red on
film.

3.  Eyes can heal themselves very quickly. 48
hours is sufficient to repair a minor corneal
scratch.

4.  Your eyes start to develop two weeks post-
fertilization.

5.  People who are blind can see their dreams if
they weren’t born blind.

6.  An iris has 256 unique characteristics, while
a fingerprint has only 40. No wonder why a
retina scan is more reliable than a
fingerprint scan for security purposes!

7.  Only 1/6 of our eyeball is exposed.

8.  Corneas are the only tissues that don’t have
blood.
 Apart from the cornea, some other areas of
the body including hair, nails, tooth enamel
and the outer skin layers, do not have blood
supplies. So it is more accurate to say that
corneas are the only ‘living’ tissues that
don’t have blood.

9.  Newborns can only make crying sounds; the
tears don’t start flowing until 4-13 weeks
after birth.

10.  Some people have a condition called
heterochromia and are born with two
differently colored eyes.

11.  An eye, being composed of more than two
million working parts, is the second most
complex organ after the brain. Seeing an
object requires about half of the brain to get
involved. The muscles that control our eyes
are more active than any other muscle in our
body.

12.  The human eye can distinguish around 10
million different colors. Some women can
have a genetic mutation which causes them
to see millions of more colors.

13.  We blink about 12 times every minute, with each
blink lasting for about 1/10th of a second. This
means around 10% of our waking hours is spent
with our eyes closed due to blinking.

14.  It is impossible to sneeze while keeping
our eyes open.

15.  Your eyeballs stay the same size from birth
to death
 Our eyeballs indeed grow bigger as we grow
up. A new-born’s eyeball is about 75% of
the size of an adult eyeball.

16.  Our pupil dilates 45% when looking at
something pleasant.

17.  Eating carrots will improve your vision.
 Carrots have beta carotene and are a source
of Vitamin A. However, they can only prevent
diseases caused by Vitamin A deficiency, like
night blindness, but do not significantly
improve vision.

18.  Sitting close to the television will harm your
eyes.
 Sitting close to the television is a sign of
nearsightedness, but it is not what causes
damages to your eyes. Rather, it is the number
of hours spent in front of the television screen
which is the determining factor.