Photo: Thinkstock

When I asked my 3-year-old recently what her favorite animal was, I was expecting something like, "kitten." Her answer? "Mantis shrimp!" She has good (if freaky) taste: we have been talking about the mantis shrimp lately, and how (in addition to being super mean and violent, which she finds fascinating) they have excellent vision. Apparently mantis shrimp have these extraordinarily complex eyes that see more colors than any other animal in the world. And you know what that means: even more pinks.

Turns out seeing a wide spectrum of color can help more than just coordinating outfits or recognizing hungry barracuda: it can also help you to identify emotions, or even disease. Evolutionary neurobiologist Dr. Mark Changizi has researched color vision and developed glasses that will help people to better see hue changes on others' skin, which can signal changes in feeling or health. According to Good, the target market for the eyewear would be medical professionals who could "use the filters in examinations to pick up on cues about patients unavailable to the naked eye." Veins and trauma would be easier to see; diseased blood would show up in a different color. But creator Dr. Changizi thinks these tinted glasses could also have applications in poker, sports, dating, and security; as he puts it, "one sees other people better by keeping them on." So we can all be a bit more shrimp-like. You know, in a good way.

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