It so happened that evolution endowed man with good binocular vision, but deprived him of the ability to nightlife. We are not nocturnal predators, at night we reflexively want to sleep, therefore, big eyes, like those of owls and felines, are unnecessary for us. But over time, a person nevertheless learned to hunt at night, and often on his own kind. However, evolution is a very unhurried process, and we have completely violated all the rules of natural selection … In general, we had to cope with this problem with the help of the brain. This is how all kinds of active and passive night vision devices, as well as thermal imagers, appeared. All of them do a good job with their duties, but they cost a lot and not all countries, even in the developed world, are able to develop such a technical miracle on their own.
Therefore, a simple and inexpensive tool that can transform human vision into "feline" will always be in trend. The first thing that comes to mind is to artificially dilate the pupil to such an extent that the main light-sensitive receptors of the rods receive more meager night illumination. And there is even a remedy for this - atropine. But the pupil does not want to contract back under atropine, which is fraught with damage to the fundus from bright light. The substance "chlorin e6" can be conventionally considered as another option for drug-induced improvement of night vision. Why conditionally? Because pouring any untested "chemistry" into your eyes is fraught with difficult consequences - every sane person knows this. But in the US, a team of biohackers (as they call themselves) Science for the Masses "Science for the Masses" dared to conduct such an experiment on a volunteer in 2015. By the way, they proudly call themselves another title - independent scientists. As part of the experiment, the guys poured 50 μl of chlorin e6 solution into each eye of a volunteer in three doses, which is used to treat cancer and night vision disorders. Actually, there is no fundamental know-how here - the medicine was used before them for similar medicinal purposes. But independent scientists have made some improvements.
For protection from bright light, the subject received dark lenses, and also additionally covered his eyes with light-protective glasses. The very first experiments showed the ability for night vision, unique for the human eye. In complete darkness (for humans, of course), the subject could distinguish a figure at a distance of 10 meters, and in the "moonless night" mode in the forest he could see people at a distance of 100 meters. The effect lasted for several hours, after which there were no side effects, which is perhaps the main achievement of independent researchers. It is not yet necessary to talk about the long-awaited acquisition of night vision from chlorine drops. First, it is not known how the eyes of other subjects will react - the experiment was carried out on only one person. Second, the long-term effects of regular or episodic use of the drug are also unknown. And finally, the third. Even if chlorine proves to be effective in practical use, how would the eye react to a sudden flash? For example, from small arms? Will the pupil have time to contract to such a size as to preserve the fundus of the eye "warmed up" by chlorine? In general, there are much more questions to such scientific discoveries than answers to them.
Fine tuning
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine and the Chinese University of Science and Technology approached the issue of drug-induced exacerbation of night vision much more professionally. In early 2019, nanoparticles were developed that can convert the infrared spectrum to blue. Actually, this is the key idea of the project - to readjust the sensitivity of our vision to another, previously invisible infrared range. And here any worries about the "exposure" from bright light in the dark will disappear - the reflex system will cope with it in the usual "civil" mode. It is noteworthy that nanoengineers are faced with the daunting task of increasing energy conversion. You cannot build a working nanoparticle in every laboratory, but here you also need to teach it to convert several energetically weak IR photons into one more powerful "blue" photon. Before us is a typical image intensifier from classic night vision devices. And by the way, for further testing, the nanoparticles were slightly reconfigured, and they learned how to convert infrared studies into green light. It is to green that the eyes of mammals are most sensitive.
Unlike independent biohacker scientists, naturalists from Massachusetts tested the novelty not immediately on humans, but previously on mice. Experimental animals after injections of solutions with nanoparticles for several weeks gained the ability to see the world around them in the near infrared region, while not losing the ability to normal vision. Initially, the researchers, using an electroencephalogram, instrumentally proved that infrared rays elicit a response from the receptors in the fundus of mice. And sophisticated behavioral tests have revealed the ability of mice to respond to previously invisible light and even distinguish between figures projected with it. So far, among the side effects, only temporary clouding of the lens has been recorded, but the researchers consider this insignificant.
If we put aside the euphoria of a group of researchers from Massachusetts about the success with nanoparticles, it turns out that a tool has been developed overseas that can significantly change the nature of hostilities. On the one hand, a person will receive long-term funds to replace bulky NVDs. On the other hand, another channel of irritating effect on the human eye will appear. Considering that a large part of the retinal receptors will be tuned to infrared vision, the acuity or "resolution" of the usual should inevitably decrease. Military experts will not fail to take advantage of all these factors. As they say, every action will definitely have its own opposition. Therefore, it is better to leave the introduction of such technologies at the mercy of medical specialists.
