On Twisted but True: Dark Matters there was a person who wanted to be popular for some scientific findings in physics [since in the 1800s?] the Europeans where getting so much done and he was jealous, so him and his assistant started to work on optics.
He found nothing until he looked away and then the light flicked, after that he hypothesized a new particle that was later debunked.
If you don't know anything about this could you please tell me why things flicker in our peripheral vision sometimes?
:D
Answers (2)
There are two reasons.
Firstly, the image you 'see' is not the image that falls on the back of your retina in your eyes. What you see is a processed image, a reconstruction produced by your brain, and not 'what is out there'. That might be hard to believe but ask yourself why you don't see two big black spots in your vision where the 'blind spot' is in each eye? The reason is because your brain just fills them in with what it expects to be there.
What has this got to do with peripheral vision? Well, your peripheral vision has a lower resolution than the centre, and the brain does a certain amount of processing in that region. A good example of this is if you look at complex patterns of colour in your peripheral vision, such as wallpaper or posters or patterns on curtains or clothing. They'll appear to 'flicker' because your brain is trying to fill in the fine detail and is 'guessing' what it might be.
The second reason is that your brain is more sensitive to movement in your peripheral vision (most animals want to see predators sneaking up on them). So, not only is your brain trying to fill in details you aren't getting, but it's also looking out for any small movements. If something moves slightly in your peripheral vision, it seems more significant.
I'm guessing that this is a psychological/neurological effect related to the way our brain processes the nerve signal s from the periphery of our visual field.
This would mean it has nothing to do with physics, so you might have more luck asking under Psychology.