• Question: to an animal with less colors receptors then us does the world look full colour

    Asked by A Lice to Carrie, Ellen, Rupert on 17 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Rupert Marshall

      Rupert Marshall answered on 17 Mar 2017:

      No animal can see every colour as well as all the other colours – they are best at seeing some colours. Imagine watching an old black and white film or a black and white television. We can still see what’s happening it’s just we don’t see the colour and after a while you get used to it. Birds can see ultra violet – garden blue tits look like they have a blue head to us but in fact the male’s head shines with ultra-violet. We can’t see it but other birds can. Einstein was right – when it comes to colour, everything is relative, depending on what our eye’s colour receptors are sensitive to.

    • Photo: Carrie Ijichi

      Carrie Ijichi answered on 17 Mar 2017:

      It’s probably a bit like when people are colour blind – there are certain colours that their eyes can’t detect so they show up as grey or duller. My dad is colour blind to red and green so traffic lights are grey – amber – grey for him. Imagine something a bit like that

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