Katie Cordrey
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 Anti-Collision Devices for Birds Prevent In-Flight Fatalities Published: Jan 30, 09 Comments: 1 Views: 1,741 Young Charlie Sobcov, an eighth-grader from Ottawa, loves birds. He learned that up to 500 million birds in North America die each year from flying into windows and wanted to find a way to prevent those deadly collisions. As he educated himself about birds, he learned that they see ultraviolet light a lot better than humans. By painting a clear plastic with ultraviolet—or blacklight-reactive—paint, he was able to make decals that when placed on windows are easy for birds to see, but nearly invisible to humans. Sobcov has had good results and is further testing his invention for entry in an upcoming science fair. Photos in the gallery show the shapes glowing blue under a blacklight.  The colour is ultraviolet, beyond the range of colours visible to humans. That means the "stop sign" lets birds know the window is solid, but is nearly invisible to humans.
Similar flying falcon-shaped decals already exist on the windows of some buildings, but unlike Sobcov's, they are black and can obstruct part of the window.
(blog.makezine)References: ottawacitizen, blog.makezine Filed In: |
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