Now on Satellite: Penguin Poop!

Posted by Miss Cellania in Animal on June 5, 2009 at 9:06 pm

Scientists have found a new way to track colonies of penguins in the Antarctic by satellite. Normal satellite imaging doesn’t show penguins well because of their natural camouflage. So instead, British penguin-trackers are looking at penguin poop.

“We can’t see actual penguins on the satellite maps because the resolution isn’t good enough,” said mapping expert Peter Fretwell. “But during the breeding season the birds stay at a colony for eight months. The ice gets pretty dirty and it’s the guano stains that we can see.”

The method helped scientists identify 38 penguin colonies — of those, 10 were new. Of previously known colonies, six had re-located and six were not found.

Link -via Simply Left Behind

(image credit: Flickr user Carles-FlashOnTheBlog)

Previously at Neatorama: Penguin Poop.

 
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GPS Tracking Watch for Kids: Is it Spying or Good Parenting?

Posted by Alex in Gadget on January 7, 2009 at 2:36 am

It’s 10 PM. Do you know where your children are? Well, with this GPS tracking watch, you definitely do. Here’s the Nu.M8 digital watch that lets parents track their children’s whereabouts through a secure website (it’ll even overlay the location on Google Maps).

And to answer the obvious question: an alarm will be triggered if the watch is forcibly removed.

Link

Is it too much or just being a prudent parent in today’s environment?

 
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