00:00Why do humans have different eye colors and does one color have an evolutionary advantage?
00:08These are questions scientists have been trying to figure out for decades.
00:12But now anthropologists say lighter eyes might actually have an edge under certain conditions.
00:17Researchers conducted 30-second eye tests all while dimming the lights incrementally for both brown and blue-eyed participants.
00:23They found that those with blue eyes were able to read under significantly darker conditions at just 0.7 lux.
00:29Meanwhile, those with brown eyes tapped out once the light levels fell to just 0.82 lux.
00:34So why might this be of evolutionary benefit?
00:36Well, that's still unclear.
00:37But the researchers say their best guess is that it provided some advantage during the low-light months of winter as mankind moved north out of Africa.
00:45Perhaps blue-eyed people were able to hunt for longer or work longer days next to dimly lit campfires.
00:50Experts warn that this not-yet-peer-reviewed study is still incomplete and that the photo-processing parts of everyone's eyes are the same, regardless of iris color.
00:58Still, if the results are sound, it shines a light on how such a small mutation can affect the course of human history.
01:05Magneto's The High-Speed
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