4 ms·

Saving Birds During the Tribute in Light

35 points by danso 8y ago

joewee 8y ago
The solution? Turn off the lights. Didn’t seem very innovative. Why not use drones that look like birds of prey to circle the lights? The innovation seems to be the analysis of weather data to identify the presence of birds, so someone knows when to turn off the lights.
- phyzome 8y ago
  Why does it need to be innovative? Sounds like it's working as is. It's not clear that they're actually using radar to detect the birds for live monitoring. Here's what the article says: « So, how to avoid disaster? New York City Audubon has positioned trained volunteers armed with binoculars on the roof of a parking garage in Battery Park City, at the base of the tribute, to monitor aggregations of birds in the tribute light beams. If densities exceed more than 1,000 birds or if a bird is found dead, the lights are shut down to allow the birds to disperse. »
  - joewee 8y ago
    You’re right, they aren’t using it in real time, they are using people looking up at the sky to make a gut determination as to when there are “too many” birds. I expected there to be innovation because based on the article, light pollution of this sort is a known issue for birds. Not ever source of this type of pollution will be able to have volunteers stand around looking at the sky. This seems like a problem that needs a automated solution to scale.
    - dogecoinbase 8y ago
      This seems like a problem that needs a automated solution to scale. How many more giant light beams are they planning on putting up?
    - mirimir 8y ago
      This is orders of magnitude more intense than typical light pollution.
    - phyzome 8y ago
      Yeah, I'd love to see a more general solution, but it turns out this is a very specific problem that doesn't relate all that well to the usual effects of city light on migrating creatures.
- riffic 8y ago
  "Innovate as a last resort. More horrors are done in the name of innovation than any other." Charles Eames.
- mirimir 8y ago
  Why not just do it on 11/9 instead? Or 3/11, six months shifted?
Scaevolus 8y ago
The birds are opportunistically eating the insects that cluster in the bright light beam. Warblers, like many species of birds, are insectivores. Luxor Palace in Las Vegas has a similar sky beam, which has huge numbers of bats and birds feasting every night: https://youtu.be/5_lGN6rrU1E?t=16 https://youtu.be/5_lGN6rrU1E?t=16 https://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Las-Vegas-Luxor-s-shining-light-guides-bats-2920575.php https://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Las-Vegas-Luxor-s-shini...
tomatotomato37 8y ago
I don't really see how this is a problem worth addressing. The lights are literally only on for one day of the year, are drenched in light pollution from the rest of the city, and have a killcount lower than my neighbor's cat, and under one thousandth of the humans killed during the attack this memorial is built to honor. Honestly it seems almost disrespectful making such an issue out of this.

35 points by danso 8y ago

The solution? Turn off the lights. Didn’t seem very innovative. Why not use drones that look like birds of prey to circle the lights? The innovation seems to be the analysis of weather data to identify the presence of birds, so someone knows when to turn off the lights.

phyzome 8y ago
Why does it need to be innovative? Sounds like it's working as is. It's not clear that they're actually using radar to detect the birds for live monitoring. Here's what the article says: « So, how to avoid disaster? New York City Audubon has positioned trained volunteers armed with binoculars on the roof of a parking garage in Battery Park City, at the base of the tribute, to monitor aggregations of birds in the tribute light beams. If densities exceed more than 1,000 birds or if a bird is found dead, the lights are shut down to allow the birds to disperse. »
- joewee 8y ago
  You’re right, they aren’t using it in real time, they are using people looking up at the sky to make a gut determination as to when there are “too many” birds. I expected there to be innovation because based on the article, light pollution of this sort is a known issue for birds. Not ever source of this type of pollution will be able to have volunteers stand around looking at the sky. This seems like a problem that needs a automated solution to scale.
  - dogecoinbase 8y ago
    This seems like a problem that needs a automated solution to scale. How many more giant light beams are they planning on putting up?
  - mirimir 8y ago
    This is orders of magnitude more intense than typical light pollution.
  - phyzome 8y ago
    Yeah, I'd love to see a more general solution, but it turns out this is a very specific problem that doesn't relate all that well to the usual effects of city light on migrating creatures.
riffic 8y ago
"Innovate as a last resort. More horrors are done in the name of innovation than any other." Charles Eames.
mirimir 8y ago
Why not just do it on 11/9 instead? Or 3/11, six months shifted?

Scaevolus 8y ago

The birds are opportunistically eating the insects that cluster in the bright light beam. Warblers, like many species of birds, are insectivores. Luxor Palace in Las Vegas has a similar sky beam, which has huge numbers of bats and birds feasting every night: https://youtu.be/5_lGN6rrU1E?t=16 https://youtu.be/5_lGN6rrU1E?t=16 https://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Las-Vegas-Luxor-s-shining-light-guides-bats-2920575.php https://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Las-Vegas-Luxor-s-shini...

tomatotomato37 8y ago

I don't really see how this is a problem worth addressing. The lights are literally only on for one day of the year, are drenched in light pollution from the rest of the city, and have a killcount lower than my neighbor's cat, and under one thousandth of the humans killed during the attack this memorial is built to honor. Honestly it seems almost disrespectful making such an issue out of this.