Colour judgment as a function of stimulus conditions and memory colour.

We have developed confocal multicolor single-molecule spectroscopy with optimized detection sensitivity on three spectrally distinct channels for the study of biomolecular interactions and FRET between more than two molecules. Using programmable acousto-optical devices as beamsplitter and excitation filter, we overcome some of the limitations of conventional multichroic beamsplitters and implement rapid alternation between three laser lines. This enables to visualize the synthesis of DNA three-way junctions on a single-molecule basis and to resolve seven stoichiometric subpopulations as well as to quantify FRET in the presence of competing energy transfer pathways. Furthermore, the ability to study correlated molecular movements by monitoring several distances within a biomolecular complex simultaneously is demonstrated.

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PubMed2007

Color naming reflects optimal partitions of color space.

The nature of color categories in the world's languages is contested. One major view holds that color categories are organized around universal focal colors, whereas an opposing view holds instead that categories are defined at their boundaries by linguistic convention. Both of these standardly opposed views are challenged by existing data. Here, we argue for a third view based on a proposal by Jameson and D'Andrade [Jameson KA, D'Andrade RG (1997) in Color Categories in Thought and Language, eds Hardin CL, Maffi L (Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, U.K.), pp 295-319]: that color naming across languages reflects optimal or near-optimal divisions of an irregularly shaped perceptual color space. We formalize this idea, test it against color-naming data from a broad range of languages and show that it accounts for universal tendencies in color naming while also accommodating some observed cross-language variation.

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PubMed2007

Readers see red over low-impact graphics.

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