The perception of carbon dioxide provides insects with sensory data on their environment, and informs many insect behaviours. It seems that this sense relies on two dedicated neural receptors. We inhabit a different sensory universe from that of many of the animals around us. We are deaf to high-pitched sounds that dogs perceive, blind to ultraviolet light that honeybees see, and numb to electric fields that sharks feel. And there is a world of chemicals swirling around us that we cannot smell, but that carry pungent signals for other species.
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