Blinded Light facts

While investigating facts about Blinded Light, I found out little known, but curios details like:

Following the Trinity nuclear test in New Mexico, a blind woman 150 miles from the site asked, "What's that brilliant light?".

The reason tigers are orange is because their prey see them as green. Deer, which are the main prey of tigers, are only capable of seeing blue and green light, which effectively renders them color-blind to red. Therefore, to deer, the tigers are seen as green.

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 39 of the best facts about Blinded Light I managed to collect.

1. During the production of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, the actor who played Grandpa George had to be directed by a red light from offstage, due to the fact that he had been nearly blinded by poison gas in World War I.

2. A deer's eyes are more sensitive to light than ours. That's why when a deer is suddenly struck by the beam of a car’s headlights, its fully dilated pupils become blinded by the abundance of light, so it cannot see at all. This is why the deer just stands still in front of the car.

3. Blind people may detect and respond to light if it is a kind of skyblue light at 481nm. "There is more to the eye than rods and cones — the discovery of a third photoreceptor is rewriting the visual rulebook."

4. Photoflash bombs existed. Dropped by reconnaissance aircraft, these 100lb bombs created a blinding 500,000,000 candlepower burst of light, enabling nighttime aerial reconnaissance photography from high-altitude

5. Due to such normally low light levels some species of deep sea animals are blinded and eventually die after being exposed to the light from a research submersible.

6. Fresh snow can reflect 80% of UV light and can cause "snow blindness" which is a painful sunburn on your eyeball

7. Shenzhen police force drivers who illegally use high beams to stare into their blinding lights for 1 minute.

8. A blind and partially deaf man regained his sight and hearing when he was struck by lighting while out chasing his pet chicken

9. The blind do not actually see darkness. Instead, they see a constant barrage of light in different shapes and sizes.

10. There's a color blind artist who has made himself part cyborg by implanting a light sensor into his brain which allows him to "hear" bone vibrations corresponding to certain light frequencies. He can even hear UV light.

What is true about blinded light?

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Blind people who use echo location can literally see much like sighted people can. We all form images in the visual cortex of our brains to "see." Blind folk form these images from sound; sighted people form them from light.

Blinded by the Light was originally written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen in 1972. It did not become popular until four years later when it was covered by Manfred Mann's Earth Band and reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. - source

During WWII, the British had a series of specially modified tanks called "Funnies" that ranged from flamethrower cannons, ditch fillers, mine clearing flails, and literal light cannons intended to blind enemies. - source

Tactical Flashlights" are actually for self-defense and military/police use. The light is bright enough to momentarily blind an attacker, and the bezel (area around the lens) is toothed for attacking the face.

Tiger beetles run faster than their eyes can process light, basically rendering them blind when they chase their prey - source

Photoflash bombs existed. Dropped by reconnaissance aircraft, these 100lb bombs created a blinding 500,000,000 candlepower burst of light, enabling nighttime aerial reconnaissance photography from high-altitude

Complete blindness generally results in the loss of sleepcycle synchronization to the 24-hour day and in recurrent insomnia. Because their eyes do not encounter light which results in suppression of melatonin.

Blinded by the Light was written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen

Humans have a "blind spot" in each eye... an area on the retina without receptors that respond to light. This is where the optic never exits the eye on its way to the brain

Brain activity responds to light, even in completely blind individuals.

Cabin crew dim the lights for take off and landing to allow your eyes to pre-adjust to darkness, so that you're not suddenly blinded if something happens and the power goes out, and you're dashing for the doors in darkness or smoke