Inquiry: Colin Ellard: YOU ARE HERE: WHY WE CAN FIND OUR WAY TO THE MOON, BUT GET LOST IN THE MALL

How do ants navigate enormous stretches of featureless Saharan desert and still manage to find their way back to their nest? How do Pacific Island cultures find their way across vast stretches of ocean out of sight of land? Why do most of us still get lost in a mall? Humans have an unrivaled ability to understand physical space, but we still have trouble drawing a map for getting across town to our house. If you would like some answers to these questions of space and mind tune in to Inquiry tonight when we talk to COLIN ELLARD, Experimental Psychologist at the University of Waterloo and Director of its Research Laboratory for Immersive Virtual Environments. Professor Ellard will be discussing his endlessly fascinating book: YOU ARE HERE: WHY WE CAN FIND OUR WAY TO THE MOON, BUT GET LOST IN THE MALL: WHAT SCIENCE SAYS ABOUT OUR SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE AND HOW IT SHAPES OUR CONNECTIONS TO NATURE, CITIES, HOMES AND VIRTUAL WORLDS.