Color Vision Test #1, 50 color plates: answers and sources
Spoilers ahead! Play the video first. Here is every answer, the fun fact and the source we checked it against.
Scores: 0-19: Foggy glasses · 20-29: Good eyes · 30-39: Sharp eyes · 40+: Eagle eyes. Don't forget your Couch Wager. Spotted a mistake? Email hello@ahaville.com with the question number.
Level 1: Warm-up
- 1
Plate 1 (warm-up plate)
12
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 2
Plate 2 (warm-up plate)
8 Most people have three types of cone cells.
Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_cell
- 3
Plate 3 (warm-up plate)
29
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 4
Plate 4 (warm-up plate)
5
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 5
- 6
Plate 6 (warm-up plate)
3
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 7
Plate 7 (warm-up plate)
45
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 8
Plate 8 (warm-up plate)
7
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 9
Plate 9 (warm-up plate)
16 Cones see color; rods see in dim light.
Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_cell
- 10
Plate 10 (warm-up plate)
57
Our own plate, made for this video.
Level 2: Red & Green
- 11
Plate 11 (red-green plate)
6 Red-green is the most common color blindness.
- 12
Plate 12 (red-green plate)
15
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 13
Plate 13 (red-green plate)
73
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 14
Plate 14 (red-green plate)
2 Dogs see mostly blues and yellows.
Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_anatomy
- 15
Plate 15 (red-green plate)
42
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 16
Plate 16 (red-green plate)
97
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 17
Plate 17 (red-green plate)
26 John Dalton described color blindness in 1794.
Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalton
- 18
Plate 18 (red-green plate)
9
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 19
Plate 19 (red-green plate)
35
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 20
Level 3: Blue & Yellow
- 21
Plate 21 (blue-yellow plate)
4 Blue-yellow color blindness is very rare.
- 22
Plate 22 (blue-yellow plate)
63
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 23
Plate 23 (blue-yellow plate)
18
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 24
Plate 24 (blue-yellow plate)
50
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 25
- 26
Plate 26 (blue-yellow plate)
92
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 27
Plate 27 (blue-yellow plate)
38
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 28
Plate 28 (blue-yellow plate)
1
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 29
Plate 29 (blue-yellow plate)
24 Goldfish can see ultraviolet light too.
Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfish
- 30
Plate 30 (blue-yellow plate)
66
Our own plate, made for this video.
Level 4: Hard
- 31
Plate 31 (hard plate)
13
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 32
Plate 32 (hard plate)
58
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 33
- 34
Plate 34 (hard plate)
71
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 35
Plate 35 (hard plate)
No number Trick plate: there was no number at all!
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 36
Plate 36 (hard plate)
34
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 37
Plate 37 (hard plate)
86 Shinobu Ishihara was a Japanese eye doctor.
- 38
Plate 38 (hard plate)
2
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 39
Plate 39 (hard plate)
47
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 40
Plate 40 (hard plate)
60
Our own plate, made for this video.
Level 5: Impossible
- 41
Plate 41 (impossible plate)
21
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 42
Plate 42 (impossible plate)
8
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 43
Plate 43 (impossible plate)
No number Another trick plate: no number!
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 44
Plate 44 (impossible plate)
39
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 45
Plate 45 (impossible plate)
65 Some women have a fourth type of cone.
Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrachromacy
- 46
Plate 46 (impossible plate)
5
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 47
Plate 47 (impossible plate)
No number Trick plate again: nothing to see here!
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 48
Plate 48 (impossible plate)
94
Our own plate, made for this video.
- 49
Plate 49 (impossible plate)
17 Colors fade at night because rods take over.
- 50
Plate 50 (impossible plate)
43 Screen brightness changes these colors too.
Our own plate, made for this video.
The Big Aha stories
- How your eyes see color: Your eyes see color with three kinds of cone cells: one for long light waves, one for medium, and one for short. Your brain compares their signals, and that's how you tell colors apart. In red-green color blindness, the long or the medium cones are missing or work differently, so reds and greens look alike. It affects up to 1 in 12 men, and 1 in 200 women. Sources: wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_vision · wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness · nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-dis...
- The main types of color blindness: Protan color blindness: the red cones are missing or weak, so reds look darker. Deutan color blindness: the green cones are missing or weak. It's the most common type. Tritan, or blue-yellow color blindness: the blue cones are missing or weak. It's very rare. And a very few people have no working cones at all. They see the world in shades of gray. Sources: wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness · wikipedia.org/wiki/Achromatopsia
- Why it's mostly men: The genes for the red and green cones sit on the X chromosome. Men have just one X, so one faulty copy is enough. Women have two, so a working copy usually makes up for a faulty one. Mark Zuckerberg is red-green color blind. He has said blue is the richest color for him, and Facebook is blue. Sources: wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness · newyorker.com/magazine/2010/09/20/the-face-of-facebook
Bonus question
Which animal has 12 or more kinds of color receptors? We reveal the answer in the pinned comment under the video.