[criticas]

Nature is lit. Moths' wings and fur are extremely efficient at absorbing sounds. One study showed a moth's wing scales absorbed up to 87% of the sound energy directed at them. ""Even more impressive is that the moth's wings do so despite being extremely thin, with scales only 1/50th the thickness of the wavelength of sound they absorb. This extraordinary performance shows that moth wings are 'supernatural'. surfaces' (materials with unique properties and abilities that cannot be achieved with traditional materials) absorb sound in nature," explains Dr. Thomas Neil, lead author of the study." https://scienceinfo.net/soundabsorbing-weapon-helps-moths-fi...

[ChuckNorris89]

Yeah, evolution in nature is really badass. Bats must have some crazy powerful DSP in their brain to process all that.

Fun fact from Ben Rich's Skunkworks book: when the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the world's first stealth plane, was stored in a cave before it's first deployment in the Gulf, it was found in the morning surrounded by dead bats since they keep bumping into it overnight, as the plane was also invisible to their echolocation, which gave the crew reassurance over its stealth capability.

[soulofmischief]

For more context, look into acoustic metamaterials [0]. I am curious about this 87% number. I would rather see a distribution of absorption by frequency/intensity. I imagine lower frequencies are much less affected while the high frequencies of a bat's pings might be almost entire absorbed.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_metamaterial