Visual World To
Revert To Black-and-White
Scientists have warned that
our visual world will almost certainly revert to
monochrome, or black-and-white, within the next
five to ten years.
Those who have viewed
photographs, films or television recordings made
during the early or mid 20th century, will have
seen the achromatic world in which people then
lived. Those alive at the time will recall the
gradual emergence of colour, from the late 1950s
to the early 1970s, that finally led to the
rainbow hued spectrum with which we are now
familiar.
‘Scientists were
initially baffled by the colour phenomenon,’
recalled Dr Ivor Tan of the Cambridge Solar
Research Institute in a recent interview with the
BBC. ‘Solar researchers then discovered that
the sun has a “chromatic cycle”, and
that the type of light emitted by the sun changes
at different phases of that cycle.’
Dr Tan explained that the
apparent colour of objects on Earth is
significantly influenced by colours in the
sunlight that falls upon them. ‘Currently,
sunlight reaching Earth includes the whole colour
spectrum,’ he confirmed. ‘During the 19th
and much of the 20th centuries, however, the sun
was mostly emitting light in the monochromatic,
or black-and-white spectrum. There is some
photographic evidence,’ he continued,
‘that sepia light was reaching the Earth for
periods. However, for the most part, the
population viewed the world in black, white and
shades of grey.’
In the late 20th century,
the advent of colour led scientists to explore
the historical effect on the Earth of the Solar
Chromatic Cycle, or SCC. ‘It’s clear
that Leonardo da Vinci painted in colour,’
confirmed an expert from London’s National
Gallery, ‘so the sun must have been in a
chromatic phase in the 15th and 16th centuries.
It’s difficult to be certain about more
historic art, however,’ he admitted,
‘as we know that many earlier black-and-white
paintings were coloured-in during the Renaissance.’
Evidence for much older
SCCs comes from evolutionary biology. Richard
Dawkins in his latest book, I Told You There
Isn’t A God. How Many Bloody Times Do I Have
To Repeat Myself?, points out that creatures
would not have evolved colour if it had no
survival value. He concludes that brightly
coloured animals such as birds of paradise must
have evolved during a chromatic phase of the SCC
when their colours would have been visible. He
also argues that colourless animals, such as
zebras, grey seals and polar bears, must,
conversely, have evolved during an achromatic
phase.
Governments have attempted
to reassure people that, although a new
achromatic phase of the SCC is imminent, this
should be no cause for alarm. Studies have been
quoted that show many alternative cues in most
situations where colour is currently employed.
‘Everyone would know that the top grey beam
of a traffic light would mean stop whilst the
lower grey beam would mean go,’ commented
the UK Minister for Transport. He confirmed that
zebra crossings were expected to be unaffected.
Despite reassurances,
financial markets have been nervous. Shares have
plummeted in Kodak, Sony and other leaders in
colour imaging technology. Paint manufacturers
have also been badly affected by lack of investor
confidence.
The advice to the public is
to prepare for the chromatic transition by
reducing dependency on the rainbow colour
spectrum and by embracing monochromism.
‘People should to do some “grey sky
thinking,”’ suggested a UK government
spokesperson, ‘and view this as an
opportunity to see the world in a new light.’
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