This month, echolocation seems to be the new black for scientists. Last week, researchers at Vanderbilt University figured out that the electrical powers of eels might be used for not only stunning their prey, but for finding it in the first place through the use of a spatial and reflective type of sensory conflict; now, scientists at the University of Antwerp and the University of Bristol think that the way bats navigate as they fly under the cover of complete darkness might be a lot simpler than previously thought.
Up until now, it's been assumed that bats have a vastly advanced and comprehensive understanding of and ability to ingest a multifacted system of echoes—that is, to figure out where their prey or point of destination is by an overwhelming number of "subtasks," like "navigation, prey detection and object recognition," all of which seems like a gargantuan task.
But in an article published by the collaborating research teams in PLOS Computational Biology, the scientists posited that only "minimal cues" are needed for bats to determine where they are, where they want to go, and what they want to go after.
To come to this conclusion, the researchers laser-scanned an area of forest for bat activity (bat-ctivity?) to collect enough data for a simulated bat habitat and digital bat models. From there, the scientists used a computer algorithm they developed to apply to what the bats are doing and imposed it into their sim habitat, which gave them some surprising results.
The root of bat navigation seems to be through binaural movements, or more specifically, bouncing off each osmosed sound from one ear to the other, and then avoiding the side that has a bigger echo—i.e., the side that has a larger berth of distance, or an object that isn't easily accessible to munch on. It looks like sometimes, the easier explanation can be the right one.
Via: Popular Science
Photo: Bernard Dupont | Flickr
