The vastness of the world is so large that animals can see it, but humans cannot.
Ed Yong, a Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer, uses the example of a room that is dark. Although it may seem like there would not be much to see in the dark, a bird living in this room could pick up the magnetic field and determine which direction it should fly if it was time for migration. Dogs would detect different odors than humans. The infrared radiation of humans would be detected by a rattlesnake.
Yong states that each of these creatures could be sharing the exact same physical space, but have a radically differing experience.
Yong’s new book An Immense Universe explores the variety of perception in animal world and our limitations. He points out that every animal has its own sensory environment, aEUR”, also known as an “umwelt”, which creates its “bespoke sliver” of reality.
Yong states that Jakob von UexkA 3/4 ll, a German biologist, popularized the term “Umwelt.” “The German word for environment is the root of the word, but Jakob von UexkA 1/4ll didn’t use it to refer to the physical environment. The sensory environment is the unique combination of sounds, sights, smells and textures each animal can access.
Yong says that humans cannot sense the faint electrical fields that sharks and platypuses use, nor the magnetic fields that robins or sea turtles sense. Our ears are unable to hear rodents calling and hummingbirds. We also can’t see ultraviolet light as the birds and bees can. He says that imagining the world through the eyes of animals opens up new appreciations for nature’s everyday wonders.
When you begin to think about other animals’ umwelts, you will see that nature’s beauty is all around you. It’s all around us. In our gardens, in our backyards. And in the bodies of familiar creatures like my dog and the pigeons that live on the streets. It makes familiar things feel new and wonderful.
What is the difference between human and insect vision?
Flowers are beautiful and can be seen in a variety of patterns. However, if you have the same ultraviolet vision as a bee, you will be able see patterns on flowers we cannot see. For example, a sunflower would not look like a dull yellow uniform. Instead, it would have an ultraviolet bullseye at the center. Many flowers have these UV shapes, such as arrows or bullseyes, to help insects find the pollen. Crab spiders are one example of a predator that eats pollinating insects. They blend in with the flowers, but stand out in ultraviolet light, which acts as an attractant to insects. They are drawn to the spider waiting for them.
I love the way that insects and flowers interact. If you were to take all the colors found in flowers, and ask… which type of color vision can distinguish between them? You get an eye that is almost as sensitive to ultraviolet, blue, green, and ultraviolet as a bee’s. You might believe that the bee’s eye is able to distinguish the colors of flowers. This is exactly the opposite. The bee eye evolved first and the flowers later. The colors of flowers have evolved so that they can ideally attract bees’ eyes, which I believe is a wonderful result. This means beauty is not in the eye of bees, but arises from that eye.
On echolocation
Echolocation, a form of advanced hearing, is used by many animals like bats and dolphins to see the world around them. They make ultrasonic, high-pitched calls that are beyond human hearing range. Then they listen out for the echo of the calls as they bounce off objects. They can sense the world around them by listening to those echoes and passing these echoes on. In complete darkness, a bat can track down and even swoop on a flying insect. It can even navigate in darkness. This extremely sophisticated hearing system allows it to navigate around obstacles. …
Echolocation is a skill that bats and dolphins have in common. The main difference is that dolphins echolocate in water. Their calls travel farther. Echolocation for dolphins is more effective than for bats. Bats can detect small moths within a few feet of the animal. Echolocation is a way for dolphins to coordinate their movements and to plan their hunt strategies across a large pod. Echolocation can be used by dolphins to scan for medical conditions. They can also detect hard surfaces in other animals. Echolocation on humans could allow a dolphin to see your bones and possibly your lungs. Echolocation can detect the swim bladders of fish that dolphins hunt. The shape of their swim bladders can help them distinguish between different types of prey. They have an amazing ability to see through things. It’s not vision. It has to do with sound.
How dolphins perceive sound as three-dimensional
You don’t think of sound as creating a rich, three-dimensional representation. I would be enthralled by a recording of a person playing a saxophone. However, I can’t imagine how I would be able to recreate the shape of a Saxophone from this recording. Dolphins can actually make sound. Echolocating on objects is something they can do. They can create a physical model of the object’s shape and texture. This can then be used as fodder for other senses, such as being able to recognize it on a screen. That is quite extraordinary. This speaks volumes about their bizarre sensory worlds and how intelligent animals can use them.
How cephalopods feel pain
One example is to look at cephalopods and octopuses as well as squid, among other related animals. … For example, a squid doesn’t seem able to sense pain when it is inflicted on a part of its body. If I stub my toe, I know, “Oh, my toe hurts.” A squid. It appears that the entire body of the squid becomes hypersensitive. It’s not like it hurts when you touch your third arm. It could be that the arms of a squid are too short. It is unable to explore much of its body. It might not be capable of doing anything if it knew that a part of its body had been injured.
This is not the case for octopuses who have longer, more dexterous arms. They seem to feel pain. They seem to be able to identify which area of their bodies has been damaged and will tend to it, just like humans. Even though this is only one group of animals, it’s clear that there are many types of pain. This is really important. We often think of pain in the animal kingdom as a yes or no situation. Some people claim that animals don’t feel pain, while others say they experience it exactly the same way as humans. In most cases, it will be somewhere in the middle. Their experience of pain will vary as much as ours of color, sound, or other sensory information.
How cats feel vibration
Many animals have vibration-sensitive cell in their touch organs. They are available at my fingertips, for instance. This is what cats seem to have on their stomachs. One scientist I spoke with suggested that if a cat lies down in a crouch it may also sense vibrations from potential prey. Is it possible that a lion is also able to see the footsteps of its prey when it watches antelope from a distance? Let me be clear. We don’t have the answers to this question and it could be just speculation. It’s the kind of question I believe we should be asking. Many people, even scientists, ignore the world vibrating and the seismic tremors that run through the ground. These vibrations travel through the air and are called sounds. We tend to ignore vibrations that move across surfaces. However, a large number of animals, including scorpions, moles and elephants, seem to be paying attention to this vibrational world. It is amazing what you can learn about nature if you stop thinking about it and look at it.
How the light sculpture to commemorate Sept. 11, 2001 and the attack at the World Trade Center disrupts bird migration
It shines vertically towards the heavens. It is stunning. It’s a magnificent art installation. It is a problem for migrating birds. They are drawn in by the light, which causes them to circle for long periods of time, drains their energy and often distracts them, sending them hurtling towards nearby buildings. These beams can be captured by thousands of birds at once. You can’t afford distractions if you are a migrating bird. Migration is already a difficult process and birds require all of their energy. Scientists have observed that the lights can be turned off for long periods of time when enough birds are caught in them.
Many other lights at night can also confuse migrating birds as well as pollinating insects and hatchlings. Lights at night can cause all kinds of problems, including death. This is a serious problem. It’s not a new problem. These rhythms of light/dark have been a part of animal life for almost all of Earth’s history. These rhythms were broken only by the constant illumination of the night that humans have provided in recent centuries. We don’t see light as a problem. Instead, we view it as a positive thing, something we want and something that’s safe. It is a problem for nature. The consequences can be catastrophic.
How understanding umwelt has enlarged his view of nature
If we view nature as something distant and inaccessible, only someone can visit a national park, then we lose the drive to save it and protect it.
If we view nature as something distant and remote, only accessible to those who have the means to visit a national park, then we lose the drive to save it and protect it. If you see nature everywhere, I believe I can have an adventure by just thinking about the sensory world of the sparrow sitting on my house. Nature feels close to me, my heart and my life. If that is the case, I believe people will feel more motivated to protect it. It’s not about saving pandas, whales, or other endangered species. Protecting nature is about caring for all living things. Each creature has its own unique experience of the world. This makes it worth our time, effort, and love.
This interview was edited and produced by Joel Wolfram and Sam Briger. It was adapted for the internet by Bridget Bentz and Molly Seavy–Nesper.
