(单词翻译:单击)
The Science of Color
颜色的科学
The human perception of colour is caused by the way our eyes respond to light.
人类对颜色的感知来自我们的眼睛对光的反应方式。
While humans can see many different colours, light that is visible to humans only makes up a small amount of the light in the universe.
虽然人类可以看到许多不同的颜色，但人类可见的光只占宇宙中的一小部分。
This is because of the limits of the photoreceptors in our eyes.
这是因为我们眼睛中的光感受器有局限性。
Human eyes contain types of photoreceptors known as cones, which are responsible for detecting coloured light.
人类眼睛中有被称为视锥细胞的光感受器，它们负责探测彩色光。
Because light is made up of waves, each type of light has a different wavelength.
因为光是由波组成的，所以每种类型的光都有不同的波长。
Cones can pick up on these wavelengths, which is how we differentiate between colours.
视锥细胞可以识别这些波长，这就是我们区分颜色的方式。
Humans have three types of cones in our eyes—known as red, green, and blue cones.
人类眼睛中有三种视锥细胞——红色、绿色和蓝色视锥细胞。
We can see any colour of light with a wavelength within the range of those cones.
我们可以看到波长在这些视锥细胞范围内的任何颜色的光。
However, light outside of the visible range—such as infrared and ultraviolet light—can’t be seen by the human eye.
然而，超出可见范围的光——如红外线和紫外光——是人眼看不到的。
Though this light is invisible to us, it isn’t invisible to every species.
虽然这种光对我们来说是看不见的，但并不是每个物种都看不见。
Different animals have different amounts of cones in their eyes.
不同的动物眼睛里有不同数量的视锥细胞。
Dogs, for example, only have two types of cones, and therefore can’t see as many colours as we can.
例如，狗只有两种视锥细胞，因此不能和我们看到一样多的颜色。
An animal known as the mantis shrimp, however, has sixteen types of cones.
然而，一种被称为螳螂虾的动物有16种视锥细胞。
That means that its range of visible light is much wider than ours, and it can see colours we can’t even imagine.
这意味着它的可见光范围比我们的要宽得多，而且它可以看到我们甚至无法想象的颜色。
