Comments

  1. phasma, Feedingfrenzy Thoughtpolice Bullies Initiate says

    And see fecal matter moving through your colon?
    Eww…No, thanks.

  2. phasma, Feedingfrenzy Thoughtpolice Bullies Initiate says

    And see fecal matter moving through your colon?
    I think I’ll give it a pass…

  3. karmacat says

    Especially when things go wrong. You could see gallstones or kidney stones without a pesky ultrasound.

  4. Tigger_the_Wing, asking "Where's the justice?" says

    That was my first thought too, karmacat. Also, no more worrying about ‘silent’ cancers, such as ovarian or bowel.

    As for the ‘squick’ factor, we’d still wear clothes, wouldn’t we?

  5. davidnangle says

    Tigger, the idea of wearing clothes made me think about sex, and what doesn’t get hidden.

  6. davidnangle says

    Sunburn… wow. And you could accidentally start fires by focusing sunlight with various body parts.

  7. Jeff S says

    Why has transparency evolved as presumably a means of avoiding being seen by predators in countless sea creatures, but very few land dwelling species (to my knowledge) have evolved with this trait?

    Is this trait compatible with animals? Hypotheticall, could skin transparency genes from a cephalopod be spliced into animal genes to create lab rats with transparent skin (for example)?

  8. mikehuben says

    #14 Jeff S:
    The likely answer is refractive index. It is hard to match the refractive index of the atmosphere, but much easier to match the refractive index of water. The better you can match the refractive index, the more difficult it is to spot you.

    Here’s an example of a transparent land animal: The amazing Glass katydid .

    Many very small insects and mites can be transparent, but I imagine that they are most difficult to see in low or diffuse lighting, rather than in bright light where they would refract a lot.

  9. René says

    It would be so cool to be able to see our own guts like that.

    Yeah, right. It would have saved me from a painful cystoscopy yesterday.