Why bats are blind to smooth surfaces

Researchers have figured out why bats go bump in the night. Echolocation usually allows bats to sense their environments in great detail, but it’s not foolproof. Smooth surfaces act like acoustic mirrors and can appear invisible to bats from certain angles. This sometimes leads to some unfortunate collisions and could explain why bats crash into buildings and other manmade surfaces.

7th September 2017

[gervaiscurrie]

There is a species of moth that has adapted to co-exist within bat habitats - their dense body hair/bristles absorb the bats' ultrasonics, making them 'invisible' to the bats.

[lexlex]

I once had a stupid teacher who kept telling me that bats are blind, while even the books we had for class clearly stated that they are sensitive to light(yeah, you need to have sight for that, can't be sensitive to light if you are blind).It's obvious they use echolocation to help with hunting and seeing in the dark, and not because they are blind, but because it's just hard to see in the dark over great distances.I even had an argument some some geek that had grandma glasses, with the processing power of a dead plant, who also kept telling me that bats are blind, even tough he knew that they were sensitive to light and had EYES ! I mean. I mean, you don't need more proof for this other than knowing that they are sensitive to light and have eyes.

[ChefMimsy]

Glass windows also do in bats that don't echo locate., Such as flying foxes. Their vision is fantastic, but the reflection looks like more sky. Many are injured and some die from this (birds, too).

[dj_laundry_list]

We could learn a lesson from them and design ships with flat surfaces so they have a smaller radar cross section. Except that it would be bad for bats.

[cane]

That explains why the bat that was in my house the other night fell towards the floor when it came in between the the washer and the dryer, The smooth surfaces of the both machines must have messed up its echolocation and it hit the floor and it somehow bounced itself back up and went back into flight.. Thank you for that information I was very curious as to why it went on the floor. And supposedly cannot take off from being on a floor but I have the video to prove it. It was not on the floor for more than a second or two and its wings were constantly moving so that's probably why it was able to get back up off the floor so quickly.

[GabrielKnightz]

What about a still pond? could a bat accidentally drown itself?

[bbsshhoorraa]

We need more explanation for this
Why smooth surfaces act like that?

[baildclark]

So do bats have similar problems with calm bodies of water? Or are those never smooth enough to cause this issue?

[lightbear]

So do Bats bump into old people since their skin is so wrinkly?

[thehandyman]

So bat's can c during the day, but y r they still asking if bat's can c during the day wen i read they can.

[CariagaXIII]

test this to the echolocating guy who cant see

[insightfool]

Her accent over emphasis is a bit much, but the video is great.

[zhiqiandu]

My fluffy cat catches bats with ease. Guess cats fur is also invisible from sound location

[verioffkin]

What's not less than that is interesting is there's no smooth surfaces in nature, it's completely a human matter. Let's say it's our _contribution_ to natural environment. Hail maths! Nature's maths is much stronger than ours ))
Also there's interesting thing how insects fly above very quiet water surface (ponds, puddles) and don't fall onto it. In comparison with bats or birds they have very primitive navigation systems, but still it works perfectly.
P.S. Maybe I'm wrong with "very primitive" isects's navigation system though.