Word of the week: Echolocation

Echolocation, the ability to ‘see’ using sound, is typically associated with animals such as dolphins and bats. These mammals can navigate their surroundings by making clicking sounds and listening carefully to how the sound is reflected - or echoed - back to them.

But did you know that humans can do it too? In particular, some blind or partially sighted people have developed echolocation as a skill to help them mentally picture their environment. Humans can create sounds such as mouth clicks, finger snaps, whistling or even just footsteps to echolocate. Just like bats hunting for prey in the dark at night, blind people need to rely more heavily on their hearing than those without visual impairments. The use of echolocation in humans is a powerful illustration of how our senses can adapt to the world around us.