Boing Boing: Bandwidth of the eye: "Scientists have estimated that the human retina can transmit data at approximately 10 million bits per second, equivalent to a standard ethernet connection. The researchers at the University of Pennsylvania came to that number by measuring spikes of electrical impulses from a (disembodied) guinea pig retina 'looking' at movies of biological motion, like a salamander swimming. The ganglion cells in the retina were then classified as either 'brisk' or 'sluggish,' depending on how fast they fired."