--- Erik Reuter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Deborah Harrell wrote: > > > No, it isn't - unless the blind folks' technology > is advanced enough > > to detect a soaring condor (I admit I was thinking > 'plain villagers' > > in my scenario, so no radar), there is no way for > them to verify that > > a creature with a 10+ foot wingspan is passing > hundreds of feet above their heads.
> Yes there is. Those type of birds often call. No, they don't: http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/priors/george.shtml "In common with all New World (American) vultures, the Andean Condor is, to all intents and purposes, silent. It does utter wheezes, suppressed coughs and grunts, but has no real voice. Technically, the syrinx, which is the organ which produces birds' voices, and equates to our larynx, is absent from all seven species of New World vultures." > Or if they have any type > of bow and arrow or slingshots, he could shoot it > down. Um, how could a blind person shoot a silent moving target, especially so high up? > And anyway, why > not radar? Ultrasonic or RF sensing devices would be > extremely valuable to them. Because dogonnit, it's my scenario, and if I specify primitive blind folks without advanced technology like radar, that's the scenario! :D (But I confess that I read a story long, long ago that had an adventurer stumbling across a valley of blind people with only simple technology; no recall of the author or title, but I do remember that they considered "the sightless sockets to make pleasing depressions in the face," and offered to remove the adventurer's 'troubling deformities'...) But of course once (if) they develop such technology, they _would_ be able to verify that a huge creature soars hundreds of feet overhead and travels hundreds of miles without touching the ground...And isn't it quite likely that we will continue to discover new things that we had *no idea* existed before, as our technology advances? Consider "dark matter" and so-called "dark energy" -- these were concepts once un-thought of, then ridiculed, and now taken quite seriously, worthy of study. Hey, they track some condors utilizing satellites: http://www.clemetzoo.com/rttw/condor/migintro.htm Debbi Touch The Sky Maru __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
