Science News

“Our memory for our city of residence shows a map-like character,” says Meilinger, a research scientist at the institute. “And that map seems to be oriented towards the north.” Frankenstein adds: “At least in western societies, where maps are north-oriented, and people usually use maps and are able to read them, they can -and will- rely on their memory of city maps for certain spatial tasks.”

New research demonstrates that fruit flies keep their bearings by using the polarization pattern of natural skylight, bolstering the belief that many, if not all, insects have that capability.