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> Imagine you were an insect and you would use the moon for navigation. Would you really be flying directly towards moon? No, right? Then how could someone thin
by rdtsc 3y ago
> Imagine you were an insect and you would use the moon for navigation. Would you really be flying directly towards moon? No, right? Then how could someone think that insects flying directly towards artificial light source is the basis for the theory that insects use moon as navigational aid?
If you're flying parallel to the ground (horizontally), you'd want the moon to be where your back is and you'd have a good change of flying straight. It's like when the kids say that the moon seems to "follow" them.
"Dorsal" means where the top part is, the insect's back, as it were.
- jameshart 3y agoWhat’s so special about keeping it ‘where your back is’? The moon is rarely located directly overhead. Wherever it is, keeping it in a fixed relative position will get you going in a straight line. The article talks about the ‘dorsal flight response’ being more about the overall alignment to the sky hemisphere, not the moon specifically. “the brightest part of the visual field has been the sky, and thus it is a robust indicator of which way is up. This is true even at night, especially at short wavelengths (<450 nm)”
- rdtsc 3y ago> What’s so special about keeping it ‘where your back is’? Since we're to imagine the grandparent flying around like an insect. I imagined them as person flying but with insect wings. Since we're mammals with eyes pointing straight ahead, as opposed with them being on the side of our heads, we'd need some light sensor on our back to ensure we're flying straight at night and keeping the moon above, as opposed to having to look behind every so often to ensure the moon is still there :-)