Category Archive: birds
Jun 30
German Police Vultures Fail
pic nicked from here Training a vulture to find human remains makes sense on paper. Sadly, in real life, it involves vultures. Turns out the famed German vulture Sherlock prefers walking to flying, is very shy and can’t even tell the difference between human and animal corpses. There’s two younger vultures, Columbo and Ms. Marple, but a …
Mar 26
Seagull Robot Drone
Festco has created a robot that flies like a seagull. People have been trying and failing to mimic bird-like flight for some time. As a child, I conducted my own experiments with my arms and a porch. Like my previous experiments with an umbrella parachute, this series of tests ended in a minor ankle injury. The robot bird …
Oct 12
Bowerbirds Use Illusion
When building the nest that attracts their mates, male bowerbirds use carefully placed trinkets and interesting designs to show off. The Great Bowerbird also uses a forced perspective illusion only visible to females. They place the biggest objects towards the rear of their courtyard and the smallest near the front. John A. Endler says: “The …
Jun 09
The Stain
“A German biologist says that efforts to clean oil-drenched birds in the Gulf of Mexico are in vain. For the birds’ sake, it would be faster and less painful if animal-rescue workers put them under, she says. Studies and other experts back her up.” From here “Out, damned spot; out, I say. One, two,—why, then …
Jun 03
Caught in the (Snake) Oil
“I’d like my life back.” –Tony Hayward: BP, CEO “Drill, baby, drill.” -Sarah Palin “We’ll employ new technologies that reduce the impact of oil exploration. We’ll protect areas vital to tourism, the environment and our national security. And we’ll be guided not by political ideology, but by scientific evidence. That’s why my administration will consider …
Feb 03
Eagle Cam
It’s that time of year again. Eagles are nesting and you can watch streaming footage of it here. I love this stuff.
Although Ryan Oakley began his career as a simple rake (drunk) he has since become Toronto’s most renowned flaneur (no car) and notorious dandy (overdresses). A misanthropic composer of psycho-geographical fictions (sci-fi), he is also a server of food, a tender of bar and a washer of dishes. While performing all these functions with efficiency and elegance (disdain and malice), he somehow finds the time to publicly criticize friends, strangers and cultural crap.
