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NEWS ABOUT: vision

Star Trek-esque Device May Let Blind 'See'

Uses sound to activate visual cortex

(Newser) - Remember the iconic Star Trek visor that allowed a blind engineer to see? A team of scientists in Israel has developed something like a real-life version of the gadget, the Daily Mail reports. The Sensory Substitution Device turns visual information into sound that blind people can interpret after a little... More »

NASA's New Worry: Astronauts Going Blind

It could happen on a trip to Mars

(Newser) - NASA has a serious health concern to resolve before it fires up a manned mission to Mars or some other way-off locale: Astronauts might not be able to see anything once they get there. As the Orlando Sentinel explains, the space agency is seeing more cases of astronauts reporting blurred... More »

Why Elderly Drive Badly: They See Too Much

The brain loses its ability to filter out background visuals: Study

(Newser) - One of the knocks against elderly drivers is that, like Mr. Magoo, they just can't see what's in front of them. A new neurological study flips the premise and suggests that they see too much, reports Scientific American . The theory goes like this: Our brain takes in so much visual... More »

Retinal Implant Restores Partial Vision to Blind

Microchip under retina senses light, sends signals to brain

(Newser) - Scientists in Germany have used an implant to restore at least partial eyesight to three patients with a disease that causes degenerative blindness, PhysOrg reports. The new device, called a sub-retinal implant, is a light-sensitive microchip with 1,500 light sensors inserted below the retina. Previous devices required an implant... More »

Lab-Grown Corneas Restore Sight

Six out of 10 patients were able to see

(Newser) - For the 1.5 million who go blind each year waiting for new corneas, new hope: For the first time, lab-grown corneas have been successfully transplanted—and worked, stimulating regeneration and allowing patients to blink and cry, and, in some cases, fully restoring their sight. Currently, human donors are the... More »

Teary Glenn Beck: I Might Be Going Blind

Macular dystrophy may rob his eyesight

(Newser) - A teary-eyed Glenn Beck has confided to a conservative crowd that disease may rob him of his vision in a year. "I can't focus my eyes," he told some 6,000 people in Salt Lake City on his American Revival tour. After tests, his doc told him: "... More »

Scientists Cure Red-Green Color Blindness in Monkeys

Adult brain can re-wire to use new vision input: study

(Newser) - Scientists have cured red-green color blindness in monkeys, the Times of London reports. Researchers injected a virus containing L opsin, a gene that regulates the production of the red-sensitive light receptor—known as a “cone”—into the retina of red-green colorblind adult monkeys, according to a study published... More »

Lost Contact Lens Delays Brown Speech

British PM, already blind in one eye, may be losing sight in other

(Newser) - Gordon Brown was forced to delay a speech to a Labour Party conference last week after he accidentally washed a contact lens down the sink, reports the Times of London. The British PM had no extra pair, and a staff worker had to detach the pipe beneath the sink to... More »

Vitamins Lower Risk of Vision Loss: Study

B vitamins, folic acid shown to decrease macular degeneration

(Newser) - Folic acid and two B vitamins lowered the risk of vision loss in middle-age women who took the supplements for several years as part of a study, the Boston Globe reports. The study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that the combination lowered... More »

"See the Ball, Hit the Ball"

Baseball players boost their averages by honing their vision

(Newser) - Top-level athletes are using technology to sharpen their vision—and their games—even if it's not weak to start with. Not only laser surgery, but amber-tinted contacts, and special pitching machines now help baseball and Olympic softball players hone their eyesight, the Los Angeles Times reports. More »

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