Re: (fwd) Re: Isn't IR LED an oxymoron?

[Clive Warren <Clive.Warren@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 1:24 am +0000 19/7/98, Willem-Jan Markerink wrote:
>                   *** WARNING ***

>
>Willem-Jan Markerink wrote:
>>
>> In article <35AD0504.734C@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
>>    Don Stauffer <stauffer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >Well, subject line says it  :-)
>> >
>>
>> Might be true for a diode in specific (low intensity), but 'IR-light' is
>> not an oxymoron AFAIK....once you crank up intensity, you can still see IR.
>> The common visible limit of 780nm more or less applies to daylight
>
>	Can't remember where, I read about an experiment in
>2ndWorldWar, that volunteers from the USNavy where recruited
>to be fed with an specifically designed diet (carotens, retinol
>and too-many-other-names-of-the-vitamins-and-proteins-to-be-
>-able-to-remember-them-all). The target of the experiment was to
>check whether it was possible or not to have humans sense
>IR messaging with IR morse lamps (linterns? lanterns?) between
>ships at night.
>
>	The result were two-fold. On one hand, they succeeded.
>Volunteers did develop the ability to see IR Morse at night, and
>had no (collateral? secondary? pernicious? bad? after?) effects.
>On the other hand, the success was rendered obsolete by radar.
>(radar? or something like that... Huh, probably I need a specifical
>diet for my memories... where should I apply? :-)
>
>-javier
>
>
>--
>Bye,
>
>Willem-Jan Markerink
>


Hmmmm.....  Well Willem-Jan, this could be the start of a new urban legend ;-)

My bet is that your story is derived from the time of WWII from the skies
above Britain during the battle for air supremacy.

Radar had been developed, but we had kept it a bit quiet.

Enemy aircraft began to be shot down and located in the dark - clearly
there was some way in which we could "see" them but what?

The British propoganda machine set to work with the carrots story to put
the enemy off the track a bit.  Let it be known that carrots helped you to
"see in the dark" and that all pilots were eating a special carrot diet so
that they could see enemy fighters.  Think they also claimed that pilots
took carrots up in the cockpit with them......

My guess is that carrot consumption increased drastically both in Britain
and other countries so that others could also see in the dark.....


On the memory front, the best thing for bad memory is essence of mandrake
root infused with saffron.  The next best thing is to reduce alcohol
consumption by half ;-)





All the best,

              Clive   http://clive.bel-epa.com


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