this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2023
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

While sight is great, if you think of it as a electromagnetic wave sensors, natured has evolved that feature in several ways.

For example, you skin can feel infra red radiation in the form of heat. Our ancestors evolved specialised cells that detected visible-light radiation and those cells became increasingly sophisticated organs. But the ability to detect light intensity has existed for a lonnnng time. Even in the primordial puddle, it was useful to know where the sun was shining.

Another comparison I saw was that eyes are electromagnetic sensors and touch is a nuclear force sensor. Smell is just a special kind of sense of touch that only reacts to certain molecules.