Flying without Fractals
A new study raises doubts about fractal patterns in animal behavior
Scientific fashions can rise and fall, like the hems of each year’s skirts. Unlike haute couture, however, scientific fads can shed light on the world.
Fractals have been in fashion for a couple of decades or so, and researchers have been finding fractal-based patterns in the ways that many animals search for food. Albatrosses, deer, and bumblebees are among the growing array of animals with fractal-based search patterns. But a new study has found flaws in the methodology used in all such animal studies, raising questions about whether fractal search patterns really do occur in animal behavior.