geekosystem

Yes, you read that right. Researchers at Tufts University have found that an ectopic eye transplanted near the tail of a tadpole -- an eye that has no direct connection to the animal's brain -- will still let the animal see. It's the first time that researchers have observed a vertebrate that can demonstrate vision through a non-traditional, implanted eye, and the implications for bioengineering could be impressive. The results suggest that we could one day develop literal working eyes in the back of our head -- or in our palms, like the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth. You know, if you're into that sort of thing.

It's New Year's Eve, which means plenty of us will be following a certain great global tradition --going home with a stranger in a desperate, booze-addled effort to prove that we, too, are worthy of love. In another tradition, this will leave plenty of us wishing that we were blind when we wake up tomorrow morning to welcome another year. The American Academy of Ophthalmology, though, reminds us that, aside from "while you're pulling on your pants and calling a cab tomorrow morning," being blind is not a desirable condition. The organization has even issued a handy public service warning to remind people to exercise caution when popping the champagne this evening, as the flying corks can put eyes out just as easily as a Red Ryder BB Gun.

Having to wear glasses is a hassle that far too many of us live with on a daily basis. Sure, there's the promise of corrective surgery, and the ubiquitous offer of contact lenses, but regardless of the option, it's something with which to deal. For those of us unable to finagle corrective surgery, there are only glasses or contacts, and contacts can be annoying. Luckily, Gizmine has Star Wars eyewear for anyone that wants to look chic but still wear glasses. The two don't always mix, after all.

I've always been able to count on my eyes to do two things, be bad and get worse. Pretty soon, though, kids may no longer have to worry about the second one. A team of scientists from the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry is set to unveil their prototype for a new sort of contact lens that changes the shape of the wearer's eyes, preventing their nearsightedness from getting worse.

Robots tend to have trouble reproducing the complicated movements of the human eye. Without the ability to mimic the movement of our eyes, engineers have been crafting robots with deadened unnatural eyes for ages but perhaps no longer. There are definitely other issues and obstacles but now researchers at Georgia Tech have finally crafted robotic cameras with seemingly natural eye movement thanks to the piezoelectric cellular actuators used in the design.

You know those paintings that have eyes that follow you around the room? No matter where you are, the eyes are right there watching your every move. I want you to picture those eyes. Focus on those eyes; those eyes that judge you and chip slowly away at your soul. Now take those eyes and replace them with a crazy-eyed brunette lip-syncing to an Avril Lavigne song and you've got the Overly Attached Girlfriend. She's at it again, and she's taken some time away from the hedges outside your house to release this mashup of 7 utterly creepy songs. Watch and be uneasy!

After performing MRI scans on 27 astronauts after they spent an average of 108 days in space, Larry Kramer of Texas Medical School in Houston and his colleagues found that around half of the astronauts now had eye problems. Six of the astronauts had flattening of the eyeball, four had bulging of the optic nerve, and three had kinks in the nerve sheath. The eye problems found in the astronauts are normally found in people with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a condition where the brain experiences high pressure from blood and other fluids. These symptoms are thought to be caused in space due to the living in free-fall, where the blood pools towards the skull instead of towards the legs like it would when living in regular gravity.

Here, take a look at these baby screech owls. Because they're certainly looking at you. (via Neatorama)

The combination of Anime and American teenagers has produced a number of things we might be better off without. The suffixes -chan, -hime, and the word baka used without discrimination, not to mention an extensive new genre of slash fanfiction, and now: dangerous contact lenses.

The New York Times reports on a new trend among young girls in America: circle lenses.

Lady Gaga’s wider-than-life eyes [from the Bad Romance video] were most likely generated by a computer, but teenagers and young women nationwide have been copying them with special contact lenses imported from Asia. Known as circle lenses, these are colored contacts — sometimes in weird shades like violet and pink — that make the eyes appear larger because they cover not just the iris, as normal lenses do, but also part of the whites.

Some girls are wearing them every day, like "mascara or eyeliner." The problem is... they're illegal to sell in the US and many doctors think that they are harmful to the eyes. The eyes that are wearing them, we mean.

Earlier this month at the Dutch Rotterdam Zoo, an eleven year old male gorilla named Bokito escaped and ran rampant through the Zoo's food court, injuring a woman when he bit and dragged her some distance. Now, health insurance company FBTO is distributing eye-contact disguising glasses that allow zoo visitors to stare all they like, a behavior that is threatening to most of the great apes.

A boon to the shy, the voyeuristic, and anyone who wants to look pensive or, frankly, a little weird, the glasses may also be useful to anyone who goes to zoos with sketching in mind.