New kid on the block: May 2008 Archives

Rock'n'roll legend Lou Reed has been forced to ditch his ever-present sunglasses in favour of regular specs after repeatedly tripping up on stage.

Shades have played a key role in Reed's iconic look, from his inception as the Velvet Underground's frontman and through his long and varied solo career.

But is the idea of glasses being uncool outdated? A recent news story suggested cries of "Hey four-eyes!" have ceased to ring around playgrounds as children with glasses are no longer bullied for their ocular deficiency. So is there a pair of frames out there that could actually enhance Reed's image?

The marine biology community has been awash with excitement this week as some lucky representatives of it took apart a colossal squid. Caught last year in the Ross Sea off Antarctica, the specimen is only the 10th of its kind unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of scalpel-wielding scientists. The creature’s eyes have been widely acclaimed as the largest to be found in nature – an impressive 30cm in diameter. Sizable as they are, Optician’s Clinical Editor assures me the squid has relatively poor vision due to their unsophisticated nature. A case of size not being everything…