Locusts are experts at avoiding collisions. They fly in swarms many millions strong without ever bumping into each other!
Locusts possess uniquely identified visual neurons that respond selectively to looming stimuli, giving the animal a warning of impending collision. It has been suggested that one such neuron, the LGMD (lobula giant movement detector), issues this warning by generating a peak in its response that occurs about 25ms after a looming object reaches a subtense of 17degrees of arc on their retina. This peak is proposed to be a trigger for escape behaviour.
cant say i really understand the above. it comes out of a lab that is studying this amazing ability of locusts to swarm in the millions for hundreds of miles without bumping into each other (determined by video analysis). they are trying to develop an air collision avoidance detector based on their findings.
of course this would be only ONE particular marvelous detail of the locust's abilities to fly efficiently in a swarm.
it doesnt answer how they avoid side to side collisions, up collisions, down collisions, how they as a group modify the swarms speed as a unit based on factors of fatigue, changing wind conditions, nutritional state, etc. whatever peripheral machinery they need and how their behavior patterns are coordinated with the perceptive machinery to adjust speed, direction, and position in relation to all their neighbors, who are also adjusting their patterns at the same time.
no, the complexity of it all staggers the mind, if we could (and we never will, with all the labs in the world studying it)define the entire process it would probably be impossible to mentally assimilate it.
where did this ability, far surpassing the best human pilot and his state of the art computer systems and detectors, come from?
perhaps it all came about through random happenstance, mutations, cosmic radiation, and birth defects, with no planning or forethought whatsoever
yes that makes perfect sense, doesnt it?
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