stevenwoo a day ago

Video excerpt from Planet Earth series:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gy5b6x

text BBC coverage in non New Yorker style:https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231130-the-scientists-f...

All of the Planet Earth series is worth watching, if a bit depressing sometimes IMHO, the making of bits at the end of most episodes is informative as well.

  • shermantanktop a day ago

    It’s so common. Amazing nature documentaries filled with the wonder of life, cute animals, interesting science…and a long parade of grim warnings about ecological destruction and catastrophe.

    I know why they do it, and I am already deeply concerned about that stuff, but outrage leads to fatigue.

    • cruffle_duffle 20 hours ago

      It absolutely leads to fatigue and really keeps me from watching those shows. Like I get it… I do… but it is preachy and annoying. It feels like “buddy you are preaching to the choir but there absolutely nothing I can do”

      The issues surrounding almost all of that are incredibly complex and are deeply tied to socioeconomic, political, and god knows what other factors. In all honestly they are probably unsolvable.

      Show me the cute animals and let me form my own judgments. Don’t make me feel like an asshole for existing. I didn’t cause that shit and I am powerless to stop it. And even then, I don’t want to hear it in the context of that show.

whalesalad a day ago

One of my favorite movies as a kid was Fly Away Home which is really a similar story - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_Away_Home

TIL it is based on a true story. Going to have to re-watch this soon.

  • mitchbob a day ago

    The article mentions that the film was the inspiration for the leader of this project.

I_ a day ago

The long arc of entropy. Easier to not spill the glass than to clear it up, but fascinating to learn how in any case.

  • MattGaiser a day ago

    It is when you could leave someone else to clean it up, which is what happened here.

ge96 a day ago

Hmm robot bird(s) time perhaps

edit: (to lead the migration)

  • eliaspro 14 hours ago

    If you read the article, you will realize that the flying itself is the least problematic part.

    It's sensing when the birds' mood is right, nutrition of the birds, sensing distractions and dealing with them, regrouping when the birds decide to not follow along,...

    It's a really difficult and complex undertaking that isn't solvable with technology.

  • stevenwoo a day ago

    Two of the glider pilots raise the chicks for months at a time. So when we have something that can not only fly but hand raise chicks to full grown and also nurture that bond while on stops on the journey to teach the ibis the path.

    • ge96 a day ago

      Yeah that bond/recognition could be something (hard to do with a robot)

      • stevenwoo 21 hours ago

        It might be possible, they do minimize human contact with other some other animals we are trying to raise in captivity or only have the same humans wearing a fur/feather suit/puppet to lower the animals' acclimation to other humans, so the animals stay wilder, and in this instance got the loons to associate a shade of yellow with their handlers/gliders, but definitely a hurdle to get over.

  • metalman a day ago

    Great idea! Lots of possibility! Vid, below is of a newer flapping wing "hawk" robot bird

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TXg-qoRN0co

    • ge96 a day ago

      yeah longevity is a problem, ornithopters are pretty impressive but the flapping mechanism is brutal (high rpm motor with high gearing) and the noise

      not sure if the wings were covered in panels and it landed/spread its wings on the ground how long to charge

      but yeah there was a hopping bird recently too so being able to take off again would be good