Science: Bat Sonar

Scientists have known for years that bats navigate by sonar. Like destroyers hunting down a submarine, they send out pulses of sound and steer by the echoes that bounce back from obstacles or prey. In the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Dr. Donald R. Griffin of Cornell University adds some new details about bat navigation.

First step in bat study, says Dr. Griffin, is learning how to handle the bats themselves. Since they normally live on insects caught on the wing, they are hard to keep healthy in captivity. Luckily, they can be made to hibernate if they are put...

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