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This story is from the category Sensors
Date posted: 27/07/2009 Nearly all species have some ability to detect light. At least three types of cells in the retina allow us to see images or distinguish between night and day. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered in fish yet another type of cell that can sense light and contribute to vision. Reporting in this week's Nature, the team of neuroscientists shows that retinal horizontal cells, which are nerve cells once thought only to talk to neighboring nerve cells and not even to the brain, are light sensitive themselves. "This is mind-boggling," says King-Wai Yau, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience at the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins. "For more than 100 years, it's been known that rod cells and cone cells are responsible for sensing light, and therefore, vision," says Yau. "Then, about seven years ago, another light sensor was discovered in the retina, revealing a third type of light-sensitive cells in mammals, so we set out to look at whether this was true in other vertebrates as well." See the full Story via external site: www.physorg.com Most recent stories in this category (Sensors): 28/02/2017: DJI drones use plane avoidance tech |
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