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眼中的样子是令人兴奋的。想象一下看到四种颜色是什么样子？虽然我们知道动物拥有一些令人难以置信的视觉能力，比如紫外线视觉或使用镜子代替透镜，但仍有一些非凡的视觉适应尚未解决。我研究的目的是发现动物王国中一些无法解释的非凡视觉能力的基础。这是生物学的一个重要领域。了解动物是如何看待它们的世界并与之互动的，是非常重要的。此外，发现这些不寻常能力背后的基本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里的反射镜启发了望远镜的新设计。最终，细胞的特性如何影响动物的行为是非常重要的。在我申请的奖学金中，我想重点关注以下两个视觉研究领域，我认为这两个领域既及时又重要，也与我的研究能力相辅相成。海洋深处的景象令人着迷。除了极端的寒冷和巨大的压力，阳光只能穿透海洋平均深度的四分之一，唯一可用的光是生物发光。许多动物进化出了极其复杂的眼睛来应对这种恶劣的物理和视觉环境。然而，我们不了解这种情况是如何影响深海动物的视力的。我将是第一个了解这一点的人，通过发现深海眼睛中的光敏细胞在极端温度和压力下的真正功能。这项工作将为我们提供对动物视觉这一重要领域的全面和前所未有的理解。我研究的第二个主题将探讨一个轰动的新发现背后的原因。最近，一种叫做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，比任何人造光学装置都要好得多。然而，细胞是如何做到这一点的仍然是个谜。我所做的一些初步工作表明，细胞结构和光学特性的结合可能是这种能力的原因。我将彻底解决这个问题，推动动物视觉研究的新方向。我不仅拥有成熟的专业知识和技能来实现这一目标，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UMBC大学的托马斯·克罗宁教授建立了合作关系。他们是最初发现的主要研究人员，这种国际支持将有助于确保该项目的成功和高影响力。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装置目前还不存在，但可能对一系列科学研究大有裨益。发现这种机制将引起许多光学科学家的极大兴趣。总之，所要求的奖学金将使我能够在地球上最大、最多样化的栖息地中发现生命的一些令人兴奋的、真实的视觉能力。

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.