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I guess I'm that guy. My answer would be "principally Ultraviolet C." Only if you asked "What color is the sun after filtering through our atmosphere?" am I goi

I guess I'm that guy. My answer would be "principally Ultraviolet C." Only if you asked "What color is the sun after filtering through our atmosphere?" am I going to say "white." Similarly the correct answer to "Why is the sky blue?" is: "It isn't - small particles reflect ultraviolet even better than blue. We just can't (consciously) see those colors." ipRGCs do detect UV, and our brains do get this message, and we can report it under at least some conditions.

DanBC 6y ago
> Similarly the correct answer to "Why is the sky blue?" is: "It isn't - small particles reflect ultraviolet even better than blue. We just can't (consciously) see those colors." Cliff Stoll gives a great anecdote about this. He's asked "Why is the sky blue", and to every answer he gives the interviewer asks "Why?" Turns out it's a bit complicated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfm3MFj6LLU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfm3MFj6LLU
lm28469 6y ago
> I guess I'm that guy. My answer would be "principally Ultraviolet C." > "Why is the sky blue?" is: "It isn't - small particles reflect ultraviolet even better than blue. We just can't (consciously) see those colors." Aren't "colors" defined as the sensations our eyes give us depending on the wavelengths entering them ? Hence "ultraviolet" isn't a color, since our eyes can't detect them. There is "light" and "visible light" but afaik there is no such thing as "colors" and "visible colors", as "colors" = how our brain interpret visible light.