High Tech Plant Examining Glasses

These sunglasses might look like throwbacks from the 1990s as far as style goes, but they feature technology developed by NASA scientists, during research funded by both NASA and the US Department of Agriculture.

As you can see, our tax dollars are hard at work developing useful technologies. The lenses are efficient, but we wouldn't expect NASA to put any fashion designers out of work anytime soon.

The lenses let you spot stressed turf or greenery close up or at a distance, with plenty of time to react to correct unhealthy conditions before they would become apparent to the un-aided human eye.

How They Work:
The specially designed lenses block out green color reflected from chlorophyll in healthy turf and greenery, causing it to look black or gray.

Since the human eye is extremely sensitive to light in the green color range, any off-green colors that might be caused by disease, water, or pests will stand out against the black background as glowing red, coral, pink or other hues. This allows problem turf and plants to be quickly identified, much earlier than you would be able to see it with the naked eye.

The best part, of course, is how you can feel as cool as someone walking around in Blu-Blockers while you are examining your grass and plants.

Who knows, you might end up starting a local trend by wearing a pair of these!

Everyone else will be wearing them because they are so "cool" in an ironic way, but you'll have the last laugh, because you'll be using them as they are intended, and not wearing them as a fashion victim like these Blu-Blocker hipsters on Flickr.