Clipmarks | Bird's navigation Clips

Birds can 'see' the Earth's magnetic field

Mon, 05 May 2008 01:59:25 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver

It has been debated for nearly four decades but no one has yet been able to prove it is chemically possible. Now good evidence suggests that birds can actually "see" the lines of the Earth's magnetic field.

Klaus Schulten of the University of Illinois, proposed forty years ago that some animals – including migratory birds – must have molecules in their eyes or brains which respond to magnetism.

The problem has been that no one has been able to find a chemical sensitive enough to be influenced by Earth's weak geomagnetic field.

Now Peter Hore and colleagues at the University of Oxford have found one.

Cryptochromes are a class of light-sensitive proteins found in plants and animals

A few years ago, Henrik Mouritsen of the University of Oldenburg in Germany showed that they were present in the retinal neurons of migratory garden warblers, and that these cells were active at dusk, when the warblers were performing magnetic orientation.

Tags: biology, bird's navigation, perception

Black Friday

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 15:07:26 GMT

clipped by: pibita
clipper's remarks: "The lines outside were twice as long as last year because we're offering 101 doorbuster items, which is four times as much as last year," Storch said, adding that he was "encouraged" by the crowds given this year's spate of toy recalls that affected millions of products.

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

Black Friday shopper surge

At malls and big-chain stores, crowds gather in the dark for super specials. TVs, laptops selling out. Analysts wonder if the enthusiasm will last through the holidays.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Black Friday 2007 bargain frenzy kicked off just after midnight as throngs of shoppers shrugged off Thanksgiving Day fatigue to grab early bird sales on flatscreen TVs, clothes, jewelry and toys.

Many retailers offered "doorbuster deals," which are special sales offered only for the first few hours on Black Friday. Some chains, including Kohl's and J.C. Penney (Charts, Fortune 500), opened at 4 a.m. nationwide.

Electronics - especially high-definition plasma and LCD TVs, GPS navigation devices, Apple's iPhone and MP3 players - were expected to be among the most sought-after items.

The first big shopping day of the holiday season also attracted plenty of international shoppers, taking advantage of weakness in the dollar.

Tags: shopping, more shopping

Adult songbirds map out a way home

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:19:20 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: The study suggests that a bird's ability to navigate, is learned, or acquired, rather than inherited. They're still working to identify exactly how this is learned, but may be as simple as getting the 'feel' of a location, either through sun position, magnetic field or both,. It could also be a mechanism that we have yet to be able to clearly understand. Still, nature has a way of solving a problem as simply as possible, but like cryptic puzzles, they can seem perfectly simple, but only after we've worked out the answer.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Tiny songbirds caught during their annual migration and shipped 3000 kilometres away can still find their way to nesting grounds, a US study shows.

The adult white-crowned sparrow builds up a navigational map as it migrates to and from its nesting grounds

Princeton University researchers trapped 30 white-crowned sparrows as they migrated from

Alaska to winter nesting sites in the southwestern US and Mexico.

The birds were flown in the windowless pet compartments of commercial jets from the west coast city of Seattle, Washington to New Jersey, 3700 kilometres away on the east coast.

A few days later the birds were released with a tiny radio transmitter attached to a piece of cotton glued between their shoulders.

Their flight paths were followed

on the ground and in a small plane.

A very simple pattern emerged: the 15 adult birds realised they needed to fly southwest to get to their nesting grounds while the 15 juveniles, who had never made the trip before, simply continued to fly south.

Tags: bird, migration, navigation, fly, nesting, adult, juvenile

Birds May Be Able to 'See' Earth's Magnetic Field

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:48:42 GMT

clipped by: michellezm

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Birds can travel the world without any of the gizmos that humans depend on, and a new study suggests how: Our feathered friends might "see" Earth's magnetic field.

While other mechanisms are thought to help birds navigate, including magnetically sensitive cells within their beaks, their brain regions responsible for vision are in full gear during magnetic navigation, researchers said.

The researchers previously discovered molecules called cryptochromes, which change their chemistry in the presence of a magnetic field, in the retinas of migratory birds' eyes.

"When light hits these molecules, their chemistry changes and magnetism can influence them," Mouritsen said.

The molecules might then affect light-sensing cells in the retina to create images, which would help the brain navigate during flight,

A direct connection between the specialized cells and the region of the bird's brain active during magnetic orientation, however, had never been shown before.

Tags: birds, ornothology, magnetic fields, migration

Pileus, the Internet Umbrella - Flickring and Google Earthing in the rain

Sun, 20 May 2007 18:35:37 GMT

clipped by: ReneGuz

Clip Source: www.pileus.net

Pileus is an umbrella connected to the Internet to make walking in rainy days fun. Pileus has a large screen on the top surface, a built-in camera, a motion sensor, GPS, and a digital compass, and it provides two main functions; A Social Photo-sharing and A 3D Map Navigation.
The photo function is connected to a major web service "Flickr". A user can take photo with a camera on the umbrella, and pictures are uploaded to Flickr in two minutes with context tags via a wireless Internet connection. User can also enjoy theirselves watching photo-streams downloaded from Flickr (and video-stream from YouTube on an advanced proto) with simple operation of wrist snapping.
3D Map Navigation is powered by "Google Earth". Detecting a location data from GPS, it shows a 3D bird view around the user. User can walk-through a city comparing the 3D views and real sights, and the map is always updated by GPS and a digital compass. As it has a large screen, it create virtual reality but not immersive.

Tags: umbrella, internet, google, earth, flickr, pileus

Blogniscient - bird's eye view of blogs

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 04:15:31 GMT

clipped by: michigan
clipper's remarks: Excellent listing of top, best blogs covering United States politics, liberal & conservative on same page. Great idea so everyone can look at both views easily & quickly, from a variety of sources. With 2006 & 2008 elections upcoming, site helps one to easily find further info on the news that is summarized & sandwiched in between the commercials on TV. Science, tech,sports, entertainment & business are other categories here, also. Great interface. Colorful, ez navigation.

Clip Source: www.blogniscient.com

About Blogniscient

Everyone has heard the buzz about blogs, but finding the best information is a real challenge without the right tools.

That's where Blogniscient comes in. We categorize and rank blog articles and blogs in real time, providing up-to-date information on the hottest blog entries.

Blogniscient...
your portal to the Blogosphere!

Top Blogs

Freshest Stuff

RSS 2.0 Feed

Politics
Conservative:
Liberal:
Sci/Tech
Technology:
Sports
Poker:
Baseball:
Entertainment
Gossip:
TV:
Music:
Business
VC:

Tags: business, entertainment, sports, science, tech, technology, rss, newsfeed, us, politics, right, left, liberal, conservative, blog, search, blogniscient

Zillow.com

Sun, 07 May 2006 21:55:43 GMT

clipped by: jaybna
clipper's remarks: Neat site for estimating home value

Clip Source: www.zillow.com

Primary navigation

Free, Instant Valuations and Data for 65,000,000+ Homes

(...and you don't have to enter any personal info and no one will contact you)

This is a beta site. You can see exactly what we have in our Data Coverage and Zestimate™ Accuracy table. We will add and improve home information as we grow.

HOME VALUES

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 04:49:51 GMT

clipped by: CHRISSMITH999

Clip Source: www.zillow.com

Primary navigation

Free, Instant Valuations and Data for 65,000,000+ Homes

(...and you don't have to enter any personal info and no one will contact you)

This is a beta site. You can see exactly what we have in our Data Coverage and Zestimate™ Accuracy table. We will add and improve home information as we grow.

Buyers

Compare home values to avoid overpaying

Sellers

Use home valuation tools to arrive at the right selling price

Owners

Track the value of your most important asset

Tags: zillow home values

Clipmarks | Bird's navigation Clips

Birds can 'see' the Earth's magnetic field

Black Friday

Black Friday shopper surge

At malls and big-chain stores, crowds gather in the dark for super specials. TVs, laptops selling out. Analysts wonder if the enthusiasm will last through the holidays.

Adult songbirds map out a way home

Birds May Be Able to 'See' Earth's Magnetic Field

Pileus, the Internet Umbrella - Flickring and Google Earthing in the rain

Blogniscient - bird's eye view of blogs

About Blogniscient

RSS 2.0 Feed

Zillow.com

Free, Instant Valuations and Data for 65,000,000+ Homes

(...and you don't have to enter any personal info and no one will contact you)

Value Any Home

Buyers

Sellers

Owners

HOME VALUES

Free, Instant Valuations and Data for 65,000,000+ Homes

(...and you don't have to enter any personal info and no one will contact you)

Value Any Home

Buyers

Sellers

Owners

Clipmarks | Bird's navigation Clips

Birds can 'see' the Earth's magnetic field

Black Friday

Black Friday shopper surge

At malls and big-chain stores, crowds gather in the dark for super specials. TVs, laptops selling out. Analysts wonder if the enthusiasm will last through the holidays.

Adult songbirds map out a way home

Birds May Be Able to 'See' Earth's Magnetic Field

Pileus, the Internet Umbrella - Flickring and Google Earthing in the rain

Blogniscient - bird's eye view of blogs

About Blogniscient

RSS 2.0 Feed

Zillow.com

Free, Instant Valuations and Data for 65,000,000+ Homes

(...and you don't have to enter any personal info and no one will contact you)

Value Any Home

Bird's Eye View Images! NEW!

Buyers

Sellers

Owners

HOME VALUES

Free, Instant Valuations and Data for 65,000,000+ Homes

(...and you don't have to enter any personal info and no one will contact you)

Value Any Home

Bird's Eye View Images! NEW!

Buyers

Sellers

Owners