Bats can help us devise better gadgets for people with visual impairment Even the brains of the biggest bats cannot be very large, but their computing power is truly stupendous as they home in on their targets with more precision than a heat-seeking laser-guided missile:-The Indian Express

 

Thanks to Nipah and Covid-19 (and rabies), which they have been accused of spreading, bats are not currently a favourite among most people. What we tend to overlook is their invaluable pollination and pest control services, the fact that they’re the only mammals known to fly properly — and in hunting prey in pitch darkness, home in on their targets with more precision than a heat-seeking laser-guided missile.

Even the brains of the biggest bats (the fruit bats) cannot be very large, but their computing power is truly stupendous. We all know that most bats use echo-location to target their prey; emitting high-pitched, ultrasonic squeaks and waiting for their echoes in order to get a fix on their target (which is how we got our ideas for radar). But it’s not all that simple and there are any number of hurdles the bat has to overcome to ensure it actually hits a target that is usually moving extremely fast indeed and (like a moth for example) all over the place.