Echolocation. It's a kind of sonar bats use to see to compensate for their bad eyesight. They basically chirp out a few sounds, then wait for the sound to come back. The returning echoes help them figure out what's in front of them.

This ability is why, despite being too blind to drive if they had the proper bone structure, they don't fly smack into trees when they fly. Now, this natural batty ability has helped researchers develop a computer algorithm that mimics the bat's "sight."

These researchers are now able to identify certain kinds of plants with high accuracy. They do this by analyzing spectograms created from sonar signals. Because echo response time and frequency differed with each plant depending on the size of its branches and leaves, each plant became unique enough when they are "sounded off" by sonar.

The study not only helps scientists understand bats better, but this new technology could also be developed to a different purpose altogether: to identify anything and everything simply from sonar alone. It's much like infrared sight, only instead of being able to see in the dark by sight, you'll be able to see in the dark by sound.