Explanation of devices used to extend your senses. Also refer to detectors, sensors, vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste, electric waves, magnetic waves, gravity, physiology, psychic power, animals, insects, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions
Devices to Extend Your Senses
by Ron Kurtus (13 September 1999)
Your senses consist of a very narrow band in what is possible. But there are devices that help people sense things beyond their capabilities or limitations.
Questions you may have include:
- What is the narrow band that limits our senses?
- What devices are used to extend typical senses?
- Are there devices used to extend special senses?
This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.
Narrow band of what is possible
Each of our senses needs a certain amount to energy to work properly. Light must be a certain brightness to see and sound must be loud enough to hear. The pressure on our skin must be great enough to feel.
In some cases, the sense must be sensitive enough to detect changes. The skin must be sensitive enough to detect the any difference in temperature--hot or cold. If there is a 6th sense, it must be sensitive enough in a person to detect the small signals it receives to work.
The sense of sight and hearing are also limited to the wavelengths or frequencies of the signal. For example, you can't hear very high or very low frequencies of sound. Also, there is a range of chemicals that you can taste or smell.
In many of these cases, devices have been invented to do the job for humans.
Human physical senses
There are inventions or devices that can extend the human physical senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, pressure, temperature and gravity.
Sight devices
Our sight is limited to the visible spectrum and certain brightness levels. Some devices used to extend our ability to see are detectors that see wavelengths beyond human capabilities.
- Night-sight detectors that create images in the infra-red.
- X-ray machines that create images with the very short x-ray wavelengths.
- Radio telescopes that see stars that a normal visible light telescope cannot see.
- Visible detectors that can see light that is very dim with respect to the background.
Hearing devices
Our hearing is limited by the range of pitches we can hear and the loudness of the sound. Some devices used to extend our to hear are:
- Some microphones can detect sound at extremely low volumes.
- Ultrasound devices detect sounds of very high frequencies.
- Some sonar equipment detects sounds of very low frequencies or pitches.
Smelling devices
Our smelling capability is limited to a certain number of chemical compounds in the air. There are devices that can detect smell that we cannot.
- Smoke detectors can "smell" chemicals from burning that we are unable to smell or at levels below our threshold.
- There are other commercial devices used to detect the "smell" of various chemicals beyond the capabilities of the human nose.
Taste devices
While smell concerns compounds in the air, taste requires direct contact with the compound--usually in a solution. There are many chemical devices to detect various compounds that go well beyond what the human tongue can detect. For example, litmus paper can tell if a compound is acidic or base.
(Do you have other examples?)
Touch or pressure devices
The human skin can detect the pressure of touch, but there are devices that are much more sensitive to the pressure cause by an object than the skin is. For example, there are scales that can measure the weight or pressure caused by small insects that a human could not detect.
(Do you have other examples?)
Temperature devices
The human skin can detect hot and cold, but it seems relative to the environment. We have invented devices that go beyond our capabilities. For example, thermometers can measure temperature beyond the human's "hot" or "cold" and to a greater degree of accuracy.
Gravity devices
The inner ear detects the orientation of gravity. There are many devices that can easily detect the direction of gravity and are more sensitive than the human inner ear.
Other senses
There are other senses that animals have and that people may have. There are inventions to detect or senses some of these forms of energy.
Magnetic field devices
Some birds can detect the Earth's magnetic field. It doesn't seem like people can detect such fields, but we have invented magnetometer to detect and measure magnetic fields. Another simple detector of the Earth's magnetic field is the compass.
Electrical field devices
Sharks and eels detect electrical fields. It doesn't seem like people can detect these fields, but we have invented electrometers to detect and measure electric fields.
Mental or psychic field devices
As far as I know, no devices have been invented that will detect mental or psychic fields. That may be an indication that either the interpretation of them is incorrect or that such fields do not exist.
Summary
Humans have invented devices that extend their abilities to sense the world around them. Often we take these devices for granted, but we should realize that they are extending the communication of the world to us.
Expand your horizons
Resources
Following are some other resources on this subject.
Websites
Books
Top-rated books on Your Senses
Mini-quiz to check your understanding
1. What devices can see things that we cannot?
2. What is the best way to tell if an object is extremely hot?
3. How do we detect magnetic fields?
If you got all three correct, you are on your way to becoming a Champion in Understanding your Senses. If you had problems, you had better look over the material again.
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Devices to Extend Your Senses