Radio Lab Color

This podcast explains many different aspects of color. They talk about some of the history of color, culture that goes along with color, and some of the scientific oddities. The first part that interested me was how different animals have different number of color cones. As humans we have three, while dogs only have two. It's surprising that this subtle change results in a significant difference between the colors we can see and the colors dogs can see. It was also very surprising to hear that an animal as small as a mantis shrimp has 16 color cones. It makes me wonder what they need color for and what they use it for.

The podcasts then talks about color blindness and color enhancement. It was very interesting to hear about monkeys that couldn't see red, but were able to see it after injecting the color cone into their eyes. Other than the legality of the operation, it makes me wonder why more people don't know about this and why there hasn't been a stronger push for the FDA to allow it. They then talked about how some women possess an extra color cone and have the possibility to see colors that the average person cannot. The brown cloth test was interesting because while the woman who claimed to have the fourth color cone completed the test correctly, a male painter was also able to complete the test. They explain how even people with the fourth cone who don't practice using it lose the ability to use it. As someone who has been involved in art my whole life it makes me curious to know if I have the ability to decipher between two very close colors.

I was also very intrigued by the little girl and how she initially didn't see the sky as "blue" because no one ever told her that it was. She interpreted the color in her own way. It was very interesting to hear how naming a color and putting it into a category changes a person's experience of that color. This may also be why people that do have the fourth color cone are unable to use it. They aren't exposed to those types of color on a regular basis, resulting in their brain categorizing it as an unneeded skill.