When humans find ourselves in a crowd, we usually get louder. Our individuality can still be expressed, it just needs more volume in that circumstance. Bats understand conversation is impossible when there are too many other bats about so instead of getting louder they reduce the number of things they say. (Science Daily: Bats avoid collisions by calling less in a crowd)
Navigation by bats uses 'echolocation' which we sometimes call 'bat sonar' but that echo will get muddled when many other sources are echoing in the same area so they reduce the number of echoes they create. In computers or submarines, those are like pings which we send and then await a response.
When bats are flying in a cluttered environment they increase their call rates and listen for returning echoes. This gives them a detailed idea of the location of objects or even other bats. But if a bat's echo overlaps with another bat's call or echo, the information gets lost. This is "interference," and it can be a real problem for a bat because losing information could cause it to miss the insect it was trying to eat or even run into something.
So how do bats get around this, so to speak? More bats mean more echolocation calls, but as soon as a bat hears another bat's call, they actually start to call less. "We call it 'mutual suppression,'" says Adams, "and we really think that this is the key to how they are able to live and function socially."
We have a lot of reasons to be thankful for bats. Who knows? We may soon be thanking bats for more efficient wireless communication.
Navigation by bats uses 'echolocation' which we sometimes call 'bat sonar' but that echo will get muddled when many other sources are echoing in the same area so they reduce the number of echoes they create. In computers or submarines, those are like pings which we send and then await a response.
When bats are flying in a cluttered environment they increase their call rates and listen for returning echoes. This gives them a detailed idea of the location of objects or even other bats. But if a bat's echo overlaps with another bat's call or echo, the information gets lost. This is "interference," and it can be a real problem for a bat because losing information could cause it to miss the insect it was trying to eat or even run into something.
So how do bats get around this, so to speak? More bats mean more echolocation calls, but as soon as a bat hears another bat's call, they actually start to call less. "We call it 'mutual suppression,'" says Adams, "and we really think that this is the key to how they are able to live and function socially."
- SD
'Mutual suppression' is the bat genius and the researchers infer this is a fundamental part of their socialization. We all know and maybe love the human tendency, particularly in political or religious discussion, to shout down the opposition and the larger the crowd the louder the shouting. Bats seem to have cleverly figured it out that the more people talking only makes it more difficult to get around so they don't do it.
Little flying mice figured that out.
The conclusion of the researchers may be farfetched or may be prophetic, your call.
Interestingly, Adams's findings could be useful for improving wireless telecommunication networks. In a wireless network, information is sent from multiple computers simultaneously without much interference. Adams says, "You stop and listen for a second and go again. It's the same thing we're seeing with the bats." The team's future research will determine how bats handle interference from multiple individuals, which may shed light on how to develop better wireless networks.
We have a lot of reasons to be thankful for bats. Who knows? We may soon be thanking bats for more efficient wireless communication.
- SD
A favorite theme on Ithaka is 'bats are our friends' because they're such skeeter-eatin' monsters but now we see there are things we can learn from those little rodents.
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