Bats use echolocation while flying
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EcholocationEcholocation is a natural sonar system that animals such as bats, dolphins and whales use to perceive their environment. Bats emit ultrasonic chirps and listen for "echoes" to navigate and negotiate obstacles. In 1938, Donald Griffin an American scientist discovered that bats used these high frequency sounds and termed it echolocation. A broad definition may be the ability to hear echoes, but it's literally "seeing" with sound. The sounds travel through air or water in waves. When the sound wave encounters an object, it bounces off the surface and comes back as an echo. Listening and interpreting the returning echo can provide information about location (where the object is), dimension (how big it is and it's general shape), and density (how solid it is). For example, a louder echo might result from a larger, closer, or denser object. |