Dark Matter

This giant map of invisible dark matter recorded in four directions by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope during each season of the year was released on Jan. 9, 2012. The color inset shows the previous largest COSMOS dark matter map and the size of the full moon (as it would appear to the telescope) to scale. [CREDIT: Van Waerbeke, Heymans, and CFHTLens collaboration.]

Dark matter clusters and filaments constitute 98% of the matter in the universe. Mapping is possible through gravitational lensing effect, i.e., light paths from distant objects bent by gravitational pulls of the dark matter before reaching Earth.

A movie by the same name can be seen here.

The/A Higgs Field

[The/A Higgs boson may have been found, CERN announced on 7/4/2012]

From CERN: "A major breakthrough in particle physics came in the 1970s when physicists realized that there are very close ties between two of the four fundamental forces – namely, the weak force and the electromagnetic force. The two forces can be described within the same theory, which forms the basis of the Standard Model. This ‘unification’ implies that electricity, magnetism, light and some types of radioactivity are all manifestations of a single underlying force called, unsurprisingly, the electroweak force. But in order for this unification to work mathematically, it requires that the force-carrying particles have no mass. We know from experiments that this is not true, so physicists Peter Higgs, Robert Brout and François Englert came up with a solution to solve this conundrum.

They suggested that all particles had no mass just after the Big Bang. As the Universe cooled and the temperature fell below a critical value, an invisible force field called the ‘Higgs field’ was formed together with the associated ‘Higgs boson’. The field prevails throughout the cosmos: any particles that interact with it are given a mass via the Higgs boson. The more they interact, the heavier they become, whereas particles that never interact are left with no mass at all. "

It now appears that CERN has evidence of the presence of the/a Higgs particle and by implication, the/a Higgs Field. Very impressive.

The Big Bang Theory

Since the Big Bang started everything, including the eye/vision, we thought it relevant to present it here:

The Laws of Physics apparently had created something from nothing; although it is still unknown how the Laws came into being in the first place.

12.12 It never fails

The ring of God

News from Japan [Japan Today 5/22/2012]:

At least 74 people sought help for eye problems at eye clinics in 18 prefectures across Japan after observing the annular solar eclipse on Monday, the Japanese Ophthalmological Society reported on its website Tuesday.

Doctors and education officials had warned of eye injuries from improper viewing beforehand. Education Minister Hirofumi Hirano demonstrated the use of eclipse glasses in a televised news conference on the weekend.

The society said most of the complaints were solar retinopathy due to not properly using special protective glasses. Of the 74, 16 were children younger than 12.

The next solar eclipse comes on May 20, 2016. Be prepared this time, people.

12.11 Vitamins E, C no help against vision disorder

"In May 2009, a study was published in the journal Opthalmology which broadened the field of eye-friendly foods and nutrients. The following nutritional components were associated with a slowing of the progression of AMD [age-related macular degeneration]:

Vitamins C and E
Zinc
Lutein & Zeaxanthin (antioxidant carotenoids)
DHA & EPA (fatty acids found in fish)"
[quoted from here]

Now a new study, claiming C and E have no protective effect at all, appears in the same journal:

"This latest study is the longest-running one to test vitamin E for eyesight in men, and the first to try out vitamin C alone, said lead researcher William G. Christen, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. It found no benefits of either vitamin in older men who took supplements for eight years."
[quoted from here]

As usual, the field of epidemiology is full of contradictory results. The latest study recruited 14,000 male physicians, a "well-nourished bunch" as the authors noted. Apparently, no one has the last words yet.

12.10 Rainbow in the eye

Rainbow colors in the tear film indicate that it is rich with lipids that are required to keep the aqueous portion of the tears from evaporating too quickly [Source: TearScience] 

What does this mean? Simple: Presence of the rainbow colors indicates the oily film is preventing water in the tear fluids from escaping into air, so the eyes stay moist. On the other hand, lack of this protection leads to a common form of dry eye.

Kang Young Woo, PhD (1944-2012)

Blinded by retinal detachment from a soccer accident while in high school, Dr Kang had overcome all odds and become the first ever blind Korean to have received a PhD degree in the US. This was at a time when the blind had little choice except to become a masseur or a fortunate teller. His lifetime work as the founder of the EREF International was to champion the cause of the visually disabled. Among other endeavors, he had organized low vision conferences held in Seoul and founded a school for the blind, called Angels' Heaven, also in Seoul.

He was only 68 when he passed leaving behind Mrs Kang who volunteered to read lessons to him when they were both still in high school, and two sons, one a corneal surgeon and the other a gov't lawyer.

Dr Kang's was a full life, much too short, however.