Study finds that animals and humans have similar lash length.It started with a trip to the basement of the American Museum of Natural History in New York to inspect preserved animal hides. Later, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers built a wind tunnel about 2 feet tall, complete with a makeshift eye. By putting both steps together, the team discovered that 22 species of mammals – from humans, to hedgehogs, to giraffes ¬- are the same: their eyelash length is one-third the width of their eye. Anything shorter or longer, including the fake eyelashes that are popular in Hollywood and make-up aisles, increases airflow around the eye and leads to more dust hitting the surface.”Eyelashes form a barrier to control airflow and the rate of evaporation on the surface of the cornea,” said Guillermo Amador, a Georgia Tech Ph.D. candidate in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering who authored the study. “When eyelashes are shorter than the one-third ratio, they have only a slight effect on the flow. Their effect is more pronounced as they lengthen up until one-third. After that, they start funneling air and dust particles into the eye.”

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The eyes are windows into the attention span at least Whether you’re taking a test or walking your dog across a busy street, your ability to tune out irrelevant sights and sounds in the environment — or your openness to detecting potential dangers — is crucial for success and survival.Duke University researchers have looked into monkeys’ eyes for insight into how the brain processes distractions and they’ve found that changes to pupil size in response to distractors might predict how well the brain focuses on a goal.The results, appearing in the journal Neuron, may inform our understanding of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or other disorders in which mechanisms for maintaining attention go awry. The results could also inspire new ways to improve performance in school or on the job.In recent years, researchers have gained a greater appreciation of the importance of eye movements and pupil size for focusing the mind, and how the brain might regulate these behaviors.

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