Ward, Mark. “Bat study to help roving robots.” bbc.co.uk. BBC News, 11 May 2010. Web. 15 May 2014. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10104494
This article explains how humans can improve their technology through mimicking echo-location. The Biologically Inspired Acoustic Systems (BIAS) research group studied the ways in which bats use echo-location techniques to pinpoint minute areas where prey can be found. The research group put small backpacks onto Egyptian fruit bats in order to listen to the sounds produced, evaluating how the bats are able to produce and locate small areas around them where food can be found. The research group wants to apply the bat’s technique to robots in order to locate small, specific areas that need to be repaired in reactors or containment vessels. The research could also be applied in the medical field, utilized by ultrasound machines in order to locate specific types of skin tissue. The article also cites that the research could be used in order to find various types of minerals underground, specifically oil.
I liked this article because it applied the natural with the digital. I thought it was a reverse of the idea of using technology to translate the “unspoken” natural communication systems found in the environment and instead we’re utilizing the environment’s communication system for mechanical/technological use. I found that researching the sound-systems of bats could be beneficial in respect to medical diagnosis or robotic maintenance, but the article does hint that the research could be used to find oil, which sounds problematic if the techniques and research is used by the wrong people, with the wrong motivations (most likely money). Instead of using this research to help the hearing-impaired or to utilize it for robotics, I do think that the first application of this research would be to find more oil.
