Friendly Reminder: The content of this article may cause discomfort, please read and view with caution!!!
Some illnesses are not only painful but also sound like something out of science fiction.
Take, for instance, the case of Victor Sharrah from the United States. One day, he realized something was wrong with his eyes. Everyone he looked at seemed to have exchanged their face for a twisted one, almost like goblins.
Scientists at Dartmouth College in the United States, based on his description, managed to replicate the distorted faces he saw. This allowed other normal individuals to experience the eerie world through his eyes. The images they eventually generated looked like this:
Waking up and finding yourself in the world of Naruto, huh? Is that you standing before me, Kisame?
For netizens, this scene was nothing short of miraculous, but for Victor Sharrah, it was a near-madness-inducing moment.
The face is severely stretched in his eyes, with the mouth, ears, and nose all elongated towards the back of the head. At the same time, deep grooves appear on the forehead and cheeks, resembling a demon straight out of a movie or TV show.
One morning in 2020, this dude, a truck driver, woke up to a bizarre situation. Despite having good vision for years, he suddenly experienced a sight-related episode. His first glance fell upon his roommate, but to his horror, the face before him seemed utterly unrecognizable. It took him a while, amidst his panic, to finally identify the person. This unsettling realization confirmed that he wasn't in a dream but still firmly planted in reality. What followed was even more chilling—all faces around him appeared distorted.
He found himself wondering if he had descended into hell, surrounded by "demons" everywhere. He expressed that others couldn't imagine the terror he felt, despite being nearly 60 years old, he was still on the verge of wetting himself.
Scientists have diagnosed a rare condition known as Facial Recognition Distortion Syndrome. With fewer than a hundred documented cases since 1904, this illness presents extraordinary challenges. Afflicted individuals experience visual disturbances wherein facial features appear distorted in various ways, including drooping, swelling, discoloration, and even shifting positions. It's akin to feeding a photograph into a quirky AI algorithm and receiving a slew of bizarrely misaligned images as output.
No matter how it changes, the faces in the patients' eyes are always twisted in a frightening and ugly direction. For instance, familiar faces suddenly have cartoonish features, mouths become crooked, noses are askew, or one eyebrow sits much higher than the other.
It's as if, even though you haven't opened your phone, the filters from short videos have already covered everyone's faces.
Some patients even report seeing protruding teeth and eyes, describing it as resembling a transformation into a goblin. Imagine being surrounded by a horde of goblins, and you'll get a sense of how distressing this condition can be.
Approximately half of the patients currently report experiencing deformation across their entire face, while the other half feel this distortion is localized to only one side, albeit more dramatically so.
Yes, it's me. Uchiha Madara.
Certainly, this kind of visual distortion has its limitations. For instance, according to reports, Victor Sharrah could only see distorted faces when interacting with people face-to-face, while photos and television appeared normal to him. Scientists at the time exploited this characteristic, having him compare photos with real individuals in front of him, gradually piecing together the differences he perceived in facial features.
From his description, it seems that the face he sees not only distorts from the front but also stretches from the side.
So, how long will this symptom last? The answer is: it varies. It could persist for days, weeks, or even years. Take this gentleman, for instance; his condition has lingered for nearly four years, with no signs of improvement. Presently, he remains hopeful for a gradual recovery but is also prepared to adapt to the new world before him.
As for the cause of this illness, it remains unclear at present, but scientists have observed damage in Victor Sharrah's brain. However, it's worth noting that he sustained a severe head injury at the age of 43, and additionally, he experienced carbon monoxide poisoning in the months leading up to the onset of the illness.
Ah, it feels like giving me the sensation that Yama, the King of Hell, thinks he's tough to kill, so let's scare him to death.
Apart from him, the faces seen by other patients were also uniquely peculiar. A 24-year-old patient described seeing faces where the left half seemed displaced, with half of the face appearing abnormal whether it was a familiar or unfamiliar person. However, what's "normal" is that the patient can still imagine those familiar faces in their brain, and the mental images conjured up do not have a distorted feel to them. Another 75-year-old patient experienced distortions mainly in the nose and mouth area of faces, where the nose appeared narrow and elongated while the mouth was small and round.
The most outrageous thing is that some patients claim to have seen "dragons".
She mentioned experiencing such episodes a few times a day, where faces initially appear normal but then morph into dark, distorted features resembling those of reptiles. The skin takes on an almost scaly texture, eyes protrude, and strange, vivid colors emerge.
In essence, the world as perceived by patients often resembles the bizarre fantasies portrayed in movies and TV shows. Consequently, such disorders are frequently misdiagnosed. However, some individuals entertain elaborate conjectures, prompting chilling contemplation: what if what they see is the actual reality, and it's us who are "ill"?
(The images and information in the article are sourced from the internet.)
Tech Giants Join Forces in Climate Initiative
In a groundbreaking move towards environmental sustainability, tech giants Apple, Google, and Microsoft have announced a collaborative initiative aimed at reducing their carbon footprint. The alliance, named "Tech for Green," pledges to invest billions of dollars in renewable energy projects and implement eco-friendly practices across their operations.
The initiative comes at a critical juncture as concerns over climate change continue to mount. With each company individually committing to ambitious carbon reduction goals, the collective impact of their collaboration is poised to make a significant difference in combating global warming.
Apple, known for its commitment to renewable energy, has already achieved carbon neutrality for its corporate operations and aims to extend this initiative throughout its supply chain by 2030. Google has similarly made strides in sustainability, with plans to run its entire business on carbon-free energy by 2030. Microsoft, a leader in the push for corporate sustainability, has committed to becoming carbon negative by 2030, effectively removing more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits.
By pooling their resources and expertise, these tech giants hope to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and inspire other companies to follow suit. With innovation and collaboration at the forefront, "Tech for Green" signals a promising step forward in the fight against climate change.
