Can some people see infrared or ultraviolet light?

Question

On Wikipedia in the article "visible spectrum", it says the typical human can see 380nm (violet) to 750nm (red). I know of some animals that can see UV light (bees) and others that can sense heat / see infrared (some snake species).

Are there some people that can see light that is a little bit beyond the spectrum that normal people are able to see?

Answer 1

No, our eyes are made from two types of photosensitive cells, Rods and cones. These cells detect light of different wave lenght/colour and feed the info back to our brain via optic nerve. These cells are incapeable of detecting light of wavelenghts other than 'visable light'

Answer 2

No

Dont think so anyway....

We cant see UV infrared. We are not like animals..

Answer 3

Yes although only two cases have been reported as it is extremely rare. Here is an article about it:

Tetrachromacy is the ability to see light from four distinct sources. An example of this in the animal kingdom is the zebrafish (Danio rerio), which can see light from the red, green, blue, and ultraviolet sections of the light spectrum. True tetrachromacy in humans is much rarer however – according to Wikipedia only two possible tetrachromats have been identified.

Humans are normally trichromats, having three types of cone cells that receive light from either the red, green, or blue part of the light spectrum. Each cone can pick up about 100 graduations of color and the brain combines colors and graduations so that there are about 1 million distinguishable hues coloring your world. A true tetrachromat with an extra type of cone between red and green (in the orange range) would, theoretically, be able to perceive 100 million colors.

Like supertasting, tetrachromacy is thought to be much more common in women than men – estimates range from 2 – 3% to 50% of women. Interestingly, colour-blindness in men (much more common than in women) may be inherited from women with tetrachromacy.

Answer 4

I don't think so. There's no such thing as ultra-vision. Ears are a different story and some people have a very keen sense of hearing.