Extreme Vision: Ultimate Designs in Animal Optics

视觉是最基本的感官，想象世界在其他动物面前的样子是令人兴奋的。想象一下4种颜色看起来是什么样子？虽然我们了解动物拥有的一些不可思议的视觉能力，如紫外线视力或使用镜子而不是镜头，但仍有一些值得注意的视觉适应问题尚未解决。我的研究目的是发现动物王国中一些特殊的、无法解释的视觉能力的基础。这是生物学的一个重要领域。了解动物如何看待它们的世界并与之互动具有基本的意义。此外，发现这些不同寻常的能力背后的潜在原理往往会带来技术上的新突破。例如，了解龙虾如何使用眼睛中的反射镜启发了望远镜的新设计。归根结底，细胞的特性如何影响动物的行为是非常重要的。在我提议的奖学金中，我想把重点放在以下两个视觉研究领域，我认为这两个领域都是及时和重要的，也是对我研究技能的赞扬。海洋深处的景象耐人寻味。除了极端寒冷和巨大的压力，阳光只能穿透到平均海洋深度的四分之一，唯一可用的光是生物发光。许多动物进化出了令人难以置信的复杂眼睛来应对这种恶劣的物理和视觉环境。然而，我们不知道这种情况如何影响深海动物的视力。我将是第一个理解这一点的人，通过发现深海眼睛中的光敏感细胞在真正极端的温度和压力下是如何真正发挥作用的。这项工作将为我们提供对动物视觉这一重要领域的完整和前所未有的了解。我研究的第二个主题将考察一项轰动一时的新发现背后的原因。最近，一种名为螳螂虾的动物被证明在它的眼睛里有一个细胞，它可以精确地操纵光线，远远好于任何人造光学装置。然而，细胞如何做到这一点仍然是一个谜。我所做的一些初步工作表明，细胞结构和光学性质的结合是如何导致这种能力的。我将彻底解决这个问题，推动动物视觉研究的新方向。我不仅拥有实现这一目标的成熟的专业知识和技能，而且我已经与澳大利亚昆士兰大学的贾斯汀·马歇尔教授和美国密歇根大学的托马斯·克罗宁教授进行了合作。他们是原始发现的主要调查人员，这一项目的国际支持将有助于确保其成功和高度影响。这项工作的另一个重要部分是它与工业应用的相关性。这种高效的人造光学设备目前还不存在，但可能会对一系列科学研究产生巨大的好处。许多光学科学家对发现这种机制会有相当大的兴趣。总而言之，申请奖学金将使我能够在地球上最大、最多样化的栖息地发现一些令人兴奋的、真实的生命视觉能力。

Vision is the most fundamental of the senses, and it is exciting to imagine how the world appears to other animals. Imagine what seeing in 4 colours looks like? Whilst we understand some of the incredible visual abilities animals possess, such as ultra-violet vision or using mirrors instead of a lens, there are some remarkable visual adaptations that remain unsolved. The aim of my research is to discover the basis of some extraordinary unexplained visual capabilities in the animal kingdom. This is an important area of biology. Understanding how animals view and interact with their world is of elemental significance. Also, discovering the underlying principles behind such unusual capabilities has often led to new breakthroughs in technology. For example, learning how lobsters use reflecting mirrors in their eyes inspired new designs for telescopes. Ultimately, how properties of cells influence animal behavior is of great importance. In my proposed fellowship, I want to focus on the following two areas of vision research, which I believe are both timely and important and also compliment my research skills. Vision in the depths of the ocean is intriguing. In addition to the extreme cold and huge pressure, sunlight only penetrates to a quarter of the average ocean depth and the only usable light is bioluminescence. Many animals have evolved incredibly complex eyes to cope with this harsh physical and visual environment. However, we do not understand how such conditions affect vision in deep sea animals. I will be the first to understand this, by discovering how the light sensitive cells in deep sea eyes truly function when placed under real extreme temperatures and pressures. This work will provide us with a complete and unprecedented understanding into this important area of animal vision. The second theme in my research will examine the reasons behind a sensational new discovery. Recently, an animal called a mantis shrimp was shown to possess a cell within its eye that can precisely manipulate light far better than any man-made optics. However, how the cell does this remains a mystery. Some preliminary work I have done suggests how a combination of the cells structure and optical properties could be responsible for this capability. I will completely solve this problem and drive a new direction in animal vision research. I not only have both the proven expertise and skills to accomplish this goal, but I also already have existing working collaborations with Prof. Justin Marshall, UQ, Aus and Prof. Thomas Cronin, UMBC, USA. They were the principal investigators in the original discovery and such international support in this project will help ensure its success and high impact. Another important part of this work is its relevance to industrial applications. Such an efficient, man-made optical device does not currently exist but could be hugely beneficial to a range of scientific research. Discovering this mechanism would be of considerable interest to many optical scientists. In summary, the requested fellowship would allow me to discover some of the exciting, true visual capabilities of life in the largest and most diverse habitat on Earth.