No one in the world has an eye color like yours. But, if you’re lucky enough to be born with sky-colored eyes, you are an even more special person. It turns out that blue-eyed people have real superpowers.
We are fascinated by the beauty of azure eyes, so we decided to find out what makes them special.
1. Blue eyes are not really blue
There is no such thing as blue eye pigment. For the most part, people of all races get their brown eye color from melanin, the pigment responsible for skin color. But blue eye color is the result of light reflection. By the same principle, the ocean or sky seems to us blue.
2. They can change color
Blue eyes change color depending on the light. They get their color from light that hits the iris and is reflected. You can also slightly change the shade of your eyes, make it brighter or more subdued with makeup.
3. All blue-eyed people have a common ancestor
A team of scientists from the University of Copenhagen found that people with blue eyes can be related. 6-10 thousand years ago, all the inhabitants of the planet had brown eyes, but at some point the gene that controlled the level of melanin mutated. This mutation limited the amount of melanin produced and diluted brown eyes to blue. All blue-eyed people inherited this genetic switch in the same part of their DNA.
4. Blue eyes are very rare
Most of the inhabitants of the Earth have brown eyes, only 8-10% of people are lucky to be born with blue eyes. According to the World Atlas, most blue-eyed people live in Europe. Finland is considered to be the country with the highest percentage of blue-eyed people.
5. In blue-eyed children, from birth, the eyes change color over time
It is impossible to say for sure what the color of a child’s eyes will be when they grow up. Newborn babies have no melanin at all in the iris. After 6 months, the baby’s genes determine how much melanin is in the iris. Depending on this, the eyes may remain blue, gray, green or brown.
6. Blue-eyed people are more sensitive to light
If you have light eyes, you need to be especially careful about sun protection. Ophthalmologists believe that people with blue irises are more sensitive to light. Because blue eyes don’t have enough light-absorbing pigment, more light can penetrate through the iris, which can damage the eyes.
7. People with blue eyes tolerate pain better
People with light eyes are lucky: in comparison with brown-eyed, they have a higher pain threshold. A researcher from the University of Pittsburgh surveyed 58 women and found that women with blue or green eyes