Loved that one about stretching string from mid-face away from you.
No string handy just now, though...
Someone really knows about this; I'm partly guessing. Many species of
birds (but not owls!) have eyes that share no, or almost no, common
field of view. Seems to me that their double-frequency head motion
while walking allows their brains to store an image from before the
head-jump, and compare it with that from afterward. Brain perhaps
compares the two to give a sense of depth.
Science fair project: Try to use a telescopic lens to take videotapes
of walking birds. See whether their eyes remain fixed with respect to
the background as their bodies move forward.
Much more difficult (Not a school project!): Mount a large-screen
display next to a bird*, and update the display in synch with its
head movements to fool its brain. Update flicker has to be allowed
for. *So to speak...
Nicholas Bodley |@| Waltham, Mass.
Please reply to nbodley@alumni.princeton.edu
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Autodidact and polymath to some extent
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