Or what appears to be a thin stream of water trickling down the wall…at strategic intervals.
And then, as the lights in the far distance flicker out, one by one…
The human cyclopede.
Point of reference…
https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/3crbh5/is_pluto_small_enough_that_you_could_obviously/
However, a tunnel is different as you’re not looking at a single vanishing point that’s much harder to see than a large horizon. As you intuit, it would depend more on individual visual acuity, with most unable to see far enough into the tunnel to see anything other than a grey or white light (depending on how bright the tunnel lights are). Not being a biologist, I can’t tell you the theoretical limits of perfect human eyesight in relation to distance.
Edited: My bad, I misunderstood the question.
Boston’s MBTA Downtown Crossing subway station used to have a pair of wooden escalators which emerged on one side of what was then Filene’s department store where I worked as a box stacker for a season while on a break from college. (edit: a box stacker is someone who literally stacks boxes where boxes need to be stacked within the department store)
In my dreams, when my mind is in need of an escalator, I dream of that place, because the wooden escalators were so rickety and such a surprising one-off that they must’ve left an impression.
That’s a … bike … tunnel? How is that even a thing in this day an age. A true liability and public menace.
No sorry, I just meant a smooth surface, since I’m sure all the features would make any discernible curvature less discernible. But for some reason the word ‘smooth’ didn’t come to me last night
Hey, I think the worse mistake was deleting your answer about standing on a large disc, which was quite interesting and even included a reference to black holes for extra points.
Great, now you’ve confused Osaka.
A monstrous gaping crack in the wall should chase away the boredom.
Like a what now?
It helps if the tunnel is narrow, since our perception of curvature is partially derived from the asymmetry of the vanishing point. A skinny tunnel has a narrow vanishing point closer to the observer, so you could get away with a lower radius of curvature.
Of course there are patterns that could do a really good job of obscuring the curvature, especially in a tiled tunnel like this one.
Iirc, there are several under the Thames
what would the diameter of a well-lit circular tunnel like this need to be for its curvature to be imperceptible?
… am I the only one who feels noticeable discomfort when even briefly imagining that?
The first question that comes to my mind: how was the acoustic?
Drove through this one a couple of times on a motorbike.
Quite surreal. 3.3 km in a straight line, relatively steep dimly lit with strip lights.
I named two of them upthread. And I can’t recommend the Greenwich tunnel too highly, not because it is by itself such a pleasant experience (after a century it could use a good rehab) but because it is a fantastic way to get to the Greenwich Observatory.
It’s pretty normal, feels like home.
It needs some decoration. I’m sure the local artists are up to the task.