The Threshold of Human Sensation
About this episode
The episode explores the limits of human sensation and perception, discussing the faintest stimuli we can detect and the biology behind our senses and emotions.
What is the smallest thing you can possibly feel? Michael Stevens and Professor Hannah Fry journey through varying levels of perception, from the faintest touch on skin to the faintest trace of flavour and odour, and on to the remarkable question of whether the eye can register a single particle of light. This is an exploration of human senses at their most sensitive, blending physics and neuroscience with everyday experience to reveal where our biology draws the line between nothing and something, and what about emotion... how do we feel those? What is the smallest thing you can possibly feel? Michael Stevens and Professor Hannah Fry journey through varying levels of perception, from the faintest touch on skin to the faintest trace of flavour and odour, and on to the remarkable question of whether the eye can register a single particle of light. This is an exploration of human senses at their most sensitive, blending physics and neuroscience with everyday experience to reveal where our biology draws the line between nothing and something, and what about emotion... how do we feel those? Darwin's The Expression Of The Emotions In Man And Animals. Lisa Feldman…
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