Tracking Migratory Birds is a Good Book to Read

The Best Technology and Other Writing from the Previous Week.

Basic questions regarding the life histories of migrating birds have perplexed scientists for years, but new monitoring technologies are allowing scientists to identify the timing and routes of an increasing number of bird migrations, ushering in an era of historic discovery. Tracking small flying creatures over large distances on a continental scale is a logistical and engineering challenge. Although no single tracking technique works well with all species, advances in older technologies, such as GPS, can help. Satellite tracking, as well as advances in global positioning systems, cellular networks, solar geolocation, radar, and information technology, are improving our knowledge of when and where birds migrate during their annual cycles and informing a variety of scientific disciplines, including evolutionary biology, population ecology, and global change. Many long-standing issues about animal behaviour and life histories will be answered thanks to the recent breakthroughs detailed in this article. Migratory birds' remarkable lives NPR's Fresh Air Author Scott Weidensaul explores how new tracking technology may help keep migrating birds alive and how one species, the bar-tailed godwit, can fly over water for more than a week in this suggested listening. Musicians are pleading with concertgoers to wear masks. This is why. Pitchfork's Nina Corcoran SXSW made a comeback earlier this month, two years after it was the first major music festival to be cancelled because to COVID-19. In conference rooms and show halls, the festival demanded proof of vaccination or a negative test, as well as masks, however the requirements for music venues were left to the discretion of the venues' proprietors. Many people developed COVID just as their touring schedules began to pick up again, and many can't afford to miss performances after missing out on money for the previous two years. Is my location being monitored? Apple's anti-stalking technology, Tile, falls short. The Washington Post's Geoffrey A. Fowler You've probably heard stories about Apple's AirTags being used to stalk people by now. The Washington Post looked at Apple, Samsung, and Tile's anti-stalking capabilities to see if they might prevent this, but found that the tools aren't good enough.