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Echolocation Expert Explains How He Sees Through Sound

Last week, NPR's "Morning Edition" aired a segment about echolocation. It's the way bats are able to navigate via sound waves, and it's possible for people to learn the same trick.

Daniel Kish is a developmental psychologist in California. He lost both of his eyes as a toddler due to cancer.

"My claim to fame is the use of human echolocation, which basically allows me to move through completely silent objects, whatever they may be, and recognize them by the patterns of sound that reflects from them, which we would all an echo — an echo pattern," Kish told "St. Louis on the Air" host Don Marsh in 2013.

Kish teaches others how to use echolocation, which was the focus of a weekend Invisibilia segment.

“St. Louis on the Air” discusses issues and concerns facing the St. Louis area. The show is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer and hosted by veteran journalist Don Marsh. Follow us on Twitter: @STLonAir.

Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org.

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