Upgrade your eyes with these contact lenses

Welcome to the first issue of Future of Us. My name is Anthony and I’m the creator of this newsletter. Although I’m currently the only subscriber, my plan is for this newsletter bring a ton of value to many science and tech enthusiasts out there.

I’ll break down the latest innovations and breakthroughs for you each day (Monday to Friday).

Stay tuned.

The Big One

• 👀 Unlocking new vision with these contact lenses

👀 Unlocking new vision with these contact lenses

Scientists in China claim to have developed contact lenses that allow wearers to see near infrared light.

The lenses are embedded with tiny nanoparticles that absorb light with longer wavelengths (800 to 1,600 nanometre range) and convert it to shorter wavelengths, that humans can see (400 to 700 nanometre range).

A common example of infrared light in our everyday life would be the heat our bodies radiate. You know, like when you decide to take the stairs instead of the elevator and have to pretend you’re not out of breath when you run into someone.

To test the contacts, participants wearing these lenses were shown infrared LED lights that would normally have been invisible. They were able to see these LED lights while wearing the contacts, even if their eyes were closed!

Why it matters?

While these contacts aren’t able to detect body heat, eventually the hope is this technology could improve to do so. Perhaps being able to replace bulky night vision gear, aid in search-and-rescue, enhance visibility for firefighters, or even assist with medical imaging.

The future is looking brighter. 😉 

🏆 Quick Hits

• Turns out your fingers always wrinkle the same way when you soak them in water.

• The first astronaut in space had to pee in his suit. (it’s always the small things that get overlooked)

That’s it for this first issue. Talk to you in the next one.

-Anthony