Our eyes are amazing organs. They allow us to see so many things- our loved ones faces, beautiful art, stunning scenic views- our eyes enrich our lives in many ways. Here are a few interesting facts about your eyes that you may not know:

• Your eyes are made up of over 2 million working parts.
• Each individual eye contains 107 million cells which are all light sensitive.
• Human eyes are about one inch across and weigh only 0.25 ounce, and unlike your nose and ears which never stop growing, your eyes stay the same size throughout your whole life.
• Your eye is the fastest muscle in your body. This explains the saying “in the blink of an eye”.
• The most common eye color in the world is brown, but brown eyes are blue underneath so you can actually have surgery to make your brown eyes blue.
• Babies can’t produce tears until they are at least six weeks old. Newborn babies also have limited color vision because their eyes’ photoreceptor cells or “cones” aren’t strong enough. Babies typically gain the ability to distinguish red and green at two months and blue and yellow a few weeks after that.
• The cornea is the only tissue in the human body that doesn’t contain blood vessels.
• Our eyes close automatically to protect us from harm or danger.
• We have two eyes to give us depth perception. Seeing objects from two angles allows our brain to determine how far away they are.
• Your eyes can distinguish approximately ten million colors, but humans can see more shades of the color green than any other.
• The only organ more complex than the eye is the brain.
• 80% of all learning comes through the eyes.
• Your eyes can focus on 50 different objects every second, and your eyes can detect a candle flame 1.7 miles away.
• Blind people can see their dreams as long as they weren’t born blind.
• The average lifespan of an eyelash is five months while the rest of your hair lasts 2-4 years.
• Blue eyed people are more tolerant of alcohol but less tolerant of the sun.
• Your eyes can get sunburned.
• The night vision of tigers is six times better than that of humans.
• Owls cannot move their eyes – luckily their heads can swivel 360 degrees.
• Chameleons can move their eyes in two directions at once.
• Dolphins can sleep with one eye open.
• Dogs cannot distinguish between red and green.
• Pirates wore earrings to improve their vision. They believed that the precious metals in the earrings would cure their eyesight.