Color Scope

Blue eyes are in fact pale brown

As light enters a 'blue' eye, it is scattered to create a blue hue, there is no actual blue pigmentation in the eye. The only difference between a brown eye and a blue eye is this very thin layer of pigment on the surface. If you take that pigment away, light can enter the eye’s stroma and only reflects back the shortest wavelengths, which are at the blue end of the spectrum.

Of 64,000 vertebrates, only two have blue pigment

The Mandarin Fish and the aptly named Psychedelic Fish have blue pigment. Other vertebrates that appear blue have layers of crystals that reflect light at shorter wavelengths to create a structural color.

Some Ancient languages didn't have a word for blue

It has been shown that some ancient languages like Greek, Japanese and Hebrew never used the word blue, leading to questions about whether they were able to see it or if they simply couldn't describe it. Ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to have a word for it, while some tribes today still don’t acknowledge the color blue.

We can see blue better than any other color in the dark

Cones are the part of our eye that can detect all colors. However, in very low level light these cones can no longer function and our eyes become more sensitive to light with a higher wavelength; at the blue end of the spectrum. This is known as the Purkinje Effect. So in when in dim light, blue lights like emergency vehicle lights, appear brighter.

Landscapes appear bluer in the distance

This is down to a phenomenon called 'atmospheric perspective'; when the amount of atmosphere affects the color of objects. The atmosphere contains dust and water particles which causes light to scatter when it passes through them and since blue has the shortest wavelength, this is what people see when the light is scattered.

Dr. James Fox is an academic and BAFTA-nominated broadcaster. He is a Fellow of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where he teaches History of Art. He has been obsessed with color since he was a boy, and is currently writing a book called The Meaning of Colour. Follow him on Twitter @doctorjamesfox.