WIKIMEDIA, FRANK VINCENTZ
Mammals’ eyelashes are one-third the length of the eye’s width, the ideal length to create an air buffer above the cornea to reduce evaporative air flow and airborne particles that land on it by half, according to a study published this week (February 25) in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
To investigate the mysterious function of eyelashes, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology measured the eyelash and eye lengths of 22 mammalian species. From armadillos and hedgehogs to giraffes and kangaroos, the lengths of the animals’ eyelashes were proportional to eye size, averaging one-third of the eye’s width. The scientists used this information to design models and experiments.
Mathematical models demonstrated that lashes of the length seen in nature reduced the incoming ...
