Interesting Facts

According to a study in the Journal of Marketing Research the actual taste of inexpensive wine improves, if the label looks expensive. (In one experiment a group tasted the same wine from different bottles, and the more the tasters liked the label, the more they liked the wine. Another survey back in 2012 , found that consumers believed heavier bottles were more expensive and contained higher-quality wine. It seems we really do taste with our eyes, and it means we have a tendency to enjoy wine (as well as other products) more when we think they’re expensive.  Seemingly a carefully crafted label can make us think that something is more expensive than it actually is, so much so that people enjoy identical products such as wine or chocolate more if they think they have a higher price tag. Of course that doesn't explain the Primark effect.)

Over the last 50 years short-sightedness amongst children in the UK has doubled. ( In the 1960s just 10% of British 12 and 13-year-olds had myopia, today that is 23%. Experts are blaming this increase on our increasingly indoor lifestyles and use of computers.   And it's not just happening in the UK, in the US in the 1970s 25% of children were diagnosed myopic, by the year 2000 this had risen to over 40%.  In China The journal Nature reported that around 90% of China's teenage and young adult population are short-sighted, up from 10 to 20% of the total population 60 years ago. One Chinese city is so worried, they are experimenting with transparent classrooms to expose children to more sunlight. How about giving them more time and space to play outside?)

Young children really believe they become invisible if other people can't see their eyes. (Studies carried out by researchers at the University of Cambridge found that when children aged between 3 and 4 had their eyes covered with masks, they really believed they could not be seen by the researchers. On being asked to explain how they were made invisible by simply hiding their eyes, many knew that their bodies remained visible, suggesting a childhood distinction between their physical bodies and the 'self' they connect to their eyes. Peekaboo! The eyes really are the window to the soul.)

In connection with our last fact, there are other animals with superpowers that don't work properly for them. The tiger beetle is one such, they can run really, really fast.  Like the Flash. (However, their eyes can't keep up.  This means that they run towards their prey, then they have to stop let their eyes catch up and then sprint again and hope they’ll hit it. A bit like me playing darts. I aim, and then I just throw the dart willy nilly and hope I hit the board.)

To pass your driving test in the UK, you must be able to read (with glasses or contact lenses, if necessary) a car number plate made after 1 September 2001 from 20 metres. (In addition, you must also meet the minimum eyesight standard for driving by having a visual acuity of at least decimal 0.5 (6/12) measured on the Snellen scale (with glasses or contact lenses, if necessary) using both eyes together or, if you have sight in one eye only, in that eye.  But as I mentioned earlier, you don't have to have a regular eye test, which accounts for all the old codgers, driving at 10mph craning over the steering wheel.)

There is no law in the UK that says drivers have to have their eyes tested.

According to research carried out by road safety charity Brake, 1 in 3 visually-impaired drivers make two journeys each week without their glasses or contact lenses. (The excuses given include:- 'I forgot to put glasses on/contacts in' 'I was only planning to drive a short distance' 'It was too sunny so I swapped my glasses for sunglasses' 'My eyes felt dry/tired so I took my lenses out' 'I have broken my glasses and can't afford to replace them' UK law states that, if you need to wear glasses or contact lenses to meet the ‘standards of vision for driving’ you must wear them every time you drive.)

Scientists have discovered a new species of flatworm in the UK. (Discovered by Brian Eversham, chief executive of the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, it's just 12mm long, so, what makes a flatworm interesting? Well this one has 60 eyes!   I hope it doesn't need glasses.) Source

According to research carried out at the University of Cambridge the time children spend outdoors could be linked to a reduced risk of being short-sighted, research suggests. (Researchers found that for each additional hour spent outside each week, the risk of myopia reduced by 2%. I am long sighted, so maybe I spent too much time outdoors.)

A study at Stirling and Aberdeen Universities found that averting the eyes by even a fraction can make you appear less attractive. (You can increase your attraction to the opposite sex simply by looking straight at them and smiling. Of course as I'm completely boss-eyed this advice is completely useless to me.)

According to research published in the British Journal of Ophthalmolog, men should think twice about how tight they wear a necktie because it could increase their chances of developing glaucoma. (Seemingly a tight necktie can raise the blood pressure in the eye, which is a leading risk factor in the illness that can lead to damage to the optic nerve and loss of vision. I have a better suggestion - don't wear ties.)

If you go blind in one eye you only lose 20% of your vision. (Don't ask me how I know this one!)

If you wore a pair of glasses that made what you see appear up-side-down, after about six months your brain would work-out what was wrong and would adjust your vision to turn it the right way up. But upon taking the glasses off again the world would appear up-side-down, and again it would take about six months for your brain to rectify itself. (Who discovered this? And why?)

Eating lots of carrots will turn the pigment in your skin orange. (Carotenaemia is the presence in blood of the yellow pigment carotene from excessive intake of carrots or other vegetables or fruit containing the pigment, which results in increased serum carotenoids. Strangely carotene is the same substance that makes leaves turn orange in the autumn. But you would have to eat a silly amount of carrots, and eating them in moderation will help your eyes!)