Batty research

Bats, porpoises and dolphins have biological sonar technology that is vastly superior to anything that man has yet devised. They use sonar to distinguish resolution and identify objects and their material characteristics for objects that are, to all extents and purposes, bewilderingly similar.

Now, researchers in the University of Leicester Department of Geology are playing a major role in a consortium of UK universities led by the British Geological Survey, in a £3.4million project to develop sonar systems based on those in the animal kingdom.

Researchers recording echolocation calls from bats in free flight hope that such technologies will have far-reaching effects in medical and geological imaging, focussing on materials characterisation and non-destructive evaluation. This will particularly apply to the search for oil, gas and other natural resources in rock samples, and may have a role in the waste management industry. The research will also enable geologists to better understand porous qualities including fracture networks in rock formations.