How a dog sees a rainbow, and 12 other images that explain how we see color - Wonkblog

[Electric Monk]

The Internet furor over “the dress” has mostly subsided, but its status as the ultimate symbol of media frivolity is likely to last. But there was also something deep about the dress, both scientifically and philosophically. For many, it was unsettling to discover that something they saw as literally black or white was, to someone else, blue or gold.

(snip)

Consider a rainbow. We see the standard "ROYGBIV" (red, orange, yellow...) spectrum. But a dog sees a less vivid image, while a butterfly can see many more colors than a human.

We can't show you a visualization of what a rainbow looks like to a butterfly. But WNYC Radiolab did a cool representation with sound, in which they had a choir sing a note for each color an animal can see. For the dog's rainbow, the choir sang only two notes. For humans, they sang seven, and for the butterfly, a much fuller, more complex chord.



What's going on here? To understand color, you need a (brief!) dose of basic science.

cont'd
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/09/how-a-dog-sees-a-rainbow-and-12-other-images-that-explain-how-we-see-color/

[leveymg]

1. How your dog sees a cat on acid

[Electric Monk]

2. Except for the oranges, reds, purples, and greens. That cat's nose looks like Pi to me.

Is that in honor of Pi day, or simply a coincidence?

[leveymg]

3. That movie was in black-and-white, remember?

[Electric Monk]

4. I remember it in color...

[leveymg]

5. That was a different Pi

[Electric Monk]

6. Pi can be looked at many different ways, and still be Pi

Working with Cristian Ilies Vasile, a self-described "artist by accident," Krzywinski also created a series of circular representations of pi, where the numbers are connected across the circle with a chord. The artists start at 3, draw a line to 1, draw a line to 4, and so on, changing the color with each new digit.

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/14/10-stunning-images-show-the-beauty-hidden-in-pi/?tid=hybrid_linearcol_1_na

[leveymg]

7. Gotta love those interference wave gifs

[leveymg]

8. and check out the math tats for geeks

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. The amazing thing in that article is the last bit about the Himba

They easily pick out one square from among several that all look green to me; while they have problems picking out one that looks obviously blue to me.