William Leith

Even worms and vampire bats do it

Footballers and vampire bats have a touching amount in common, discovers William Leith in a review of Touch by David J. Linden

Photo credit: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images 
issue 11 April 2015

I used to think we had five senses — sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. And I used to think I knew how they worked. Using specialised instruments, such as eyes, ears and fingertips, they gave us information about the outside world. I imagined that the eye saw things, and then told the brain what those things looked like.

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