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[TSTwizby]

This is a bit of a weird question, but...
You know how some kinds of snakes can 'see' infrared, which basically amounts to being able to 'see' how hot things are? Could they or something similar with sharper senses hypothetically 'see' thermal updrafts, assuming they had a high enough vantage point?

[Pnx]

Probably yes, although I think you'd need some pretty serious hardware in order to be able to pick out the heat changes in the air that signifies up drafts themselves. It'd much easier in today's world to just look for big sources of heat like tarmac or chimney stacks and ride the up drafts coming off of those, although that doesn't really work for natural up drafts created by weather conditions.

[TSTwizby]

Thanks. Just to make sure I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying that it would be very difficult (presumably due to the low temperature difference) to identify the random updrafts which just pop up due to however the air is swirling around, but it would probably be possible to find heat sources which would create updrafts, such as chimneys or hot patches of ground.

[Cthulhu]

Infrared can't be used to detect changes in air temperature, only the surface temperature of solid objects, which is why infrared thermometers in ghost hunting are a red herring.


But yeah, you could detect sources of heat that create them, but actual air temperature no. 

[penguinofhonor]

Snakes actually see updrafts and use them to leap to places they normally couldn't get to.

[ChairmanPoo]

And some snakes can actually glide

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Infrared can't be used to detect changes in air temperature, only the surface temperature of solid objects, which is why infrared thermometers in ghost hunting are a red herring.

And also why infrared doesn't just result in a solid readout of whatever the air's temperature is. 

[RedKing]

I expected this thread to somehow involve HOW those motherfucking snakes got on that motherfucking plane.

I am disappointed.

[Loud Whispers]

I expected this thread to somehow involve HOW those motherfucking snakes got on that motherfucking plane.

I suspect it was the same person who let the dogs out.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I expected this thread to somehow involve HOW those motherfucking snakes got on that motherfucking plane.

I suspect it was the same person who let the dogs out.

I don't really know why people think that song is so terrible, by the way. It's catchy.

[TSTwizby]

Alright, I think we're done here. Thanks, everyone.