How eyelash length keeps your eyes healthy

New York, February 25: Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered that 22 species of mammals, including humans, have eyelash length one-third the width of their eye that keeps the eyes healthy. Anything shorter or longer, including the fake eyelashes that are popular in Hollywood and make-up aisles, increases airflow around the eye and leads to more dust hitting the surface. “Eyelashes form a barrier to control airflow and the rate of evaporation on the surface of the cornea,” said Guillermo Amador from George W. Woodruff school of mechanical engineering who authored the study. “When eyelashes are shorter than the one-third ratio, they have only a slight effect on the flow. Their effect is more pronounced as they lengthen up until one-third. After that, they start funneling air and dust particles into the eye,” he cautioned. To reach this conclusion, Amador and the research team sent a student to the American Museum of tural History in New York to measure eyes and eyelashes of various animals. Aside from an elephant, which has extremely long eyelashes, every species studied had evolved to the same ratio of lash length to eye width.  (ians)