• Thrashy@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I told my wife that from a genetic standpoint starfish are disembodied heads crawling across the seafloor on their mouth, and she was so squicked out that she left the room… Which was, in fairness, my intent, so, uh… mission accomplished?

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Seems a bit weird that every culture would call them some variant of “stars” since they don’t look like actual stars. Actual stars are just dots.

      • Pipoca@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        They particularly look like diffraction spikes/starbursts.

        Astigmatism, cataracts, glaucoma or smudged glasses can cause you to see starbursts when you look at bright lights at night.

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          For clarification, the lines are caused by the mirrors’ edges, and the cross hatch pattern common on street lamps in pictures comes from a filter (or scratched lenses/other filters.)

          With your normal eyeballs, it comes from defects like cataracts.

          • angrystego@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            You don’t need defects in your eyes to see it. All you need to do is to close your eyes slightly and look through your eyelashes. The light refracts on the lashes and creates a star-like pattern.