Round and Round We Go

Fortunately I've never been lost, partly because I haven't spent much time in the wilderness and partly because in an urban area I don't believe it's possible to get lost, all those wrong turns are simply serendipitous paths to the undiscovered.

If I ever get lost though at least I'll know that I'm likely walking in circles.

From PhysOrg...

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany have presented the first empirical evidence that people really walk in circles when they do not have reliable cues to their walking direction.

Their study examined the walking trajectories of people who walked for several hours in the Sahara desert (Tunisia) and in the Bienwald forest area (Germany). The scientists used GPS to record their trajectories.

The results showed that participants were only able to keep a straight path when the sun or moon was visible. However, as soon as the sun disappeared behind some clouds, people started to walk in circles without even noticing it.