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Drone footage of fledging penguins jumping off cliff
- gary_0 3y agoThis should probably just link directly to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PwDFddpo4c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PwDFddpo4c (if you're impatient, skip to 1:50).
- Rinzler89 3y agoThere's times and place when I don't have time, patience or can't due to circumstance watch a video so just seeing a couple of pictures is enough.
- NullPrefix 3y agoHere's a timestamped link if you are too impatient to skip it yourself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PwDFddpo4c&t=110 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PwDFddpo4c&t=110
- fsckboy 3y agoi think you can skip to even deeper https://youtu.be/4PwDFddpo4c?t=137 https://youtu.be/4PwDFddpo4c?t=137
- dang 3y agoIt's borderline I suppose, but the article text does contain enough background information to maybe keep it
- somid3 3y agoHow is this related to tech and hacking or anything with innovation?
- Heronymus_Anon 3y agoIt's a great inspiration for linux wallpapers and memes. ; )
- lolinder 3y agoFrom the guidelines: > On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- _a_a_a_ 3y agoIt's a metaphor.
- sbarre 3y agoThe innovative use of drones to capture a never-before-seen moment in nature? Nature/science meets technology/science. I found this fascinating.
- robador 3y agoI'd add to the other responses that this footage was the result of technical progress and wouldn't have been possible to achieve otherwise.
- cypherpunks01 3y agoBecause eventually it becomes your turn to jump first.
- solardev 3y agoYou never had to YOLO code into production? Pretty much the same thing.
- jajko 3y agoIts interesting how unskilled nature can be and still get away with it (here I guess to the thick fur/skin/fat below). If humans would jump from such height so badly, many injuries and possibly few deaths would be happening. I've done my fair of jumps in Swiss swimming pools / beaches where 10m jumping board is standard equipment, and even slightly incorrect landing can be quite brutal on the body. Falling ie on the back badly orientated could easily move vertebrae with corresponding consequences.
- wakeupcall 3y agoIndeed. Not to mention, aside from a few "jumps", most of the falls in the video seem unwanted/slips due to pushing. Uncoordinated, and hitting the water pretty much randomly.
- the__alchemist 3y agoIt's mainly due to the square/cube law. Small things, including animals, can fall from great heights with little damage.
- marcosdumay 3y agoAdd feathers to that, and those heights become really great.
- Someone 3y agoOr, as Haldane wrote in “On being the right size” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Being_the_Right_Size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Being_the_Right_Size: “You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes. For the resistance presented to movement by the air is proportional to the surface of the moving object. Divide an animal’s length, breadth, and height each by ten; its weight is reduced to a thousandth, but its surface only to a hundredth. So the resistance to falling in the case of the small animal is relatively ten times greater than the driving force”
- brutus1213 3y agoIt kind of bothers me that animals probably do this stuff because they are so freakin hungry. Nature is beautiful but harsh.
- tchbnl 3y agoFear not, no penguins were harmed in the making of this film.
- jncfhnb 3y agoSeems very difficult to explain this as food motivated
- NullPrefix 3y agoThere's edible fish in the water. What other food is there on the ice?
- jncfhnb 3y agoPenguins enter the water all the time to hunt fish. Not off cliffs.
- NullPrefix 3y ago>Every January, when the chicks are around five months old, they undergo a process known as fledging. During this process, the chicks lose their baby feathers and leave their colony for the first time — jumping from an enormous cliff into the ocean to take their first swim. It was their first swim. Maybe the cliff was the closest shore
- NovemberWhiskey 3y agoFor those who might be worried to click: the penguin chicks are fledging and going off to swim for the first time; they are not jumping to their doom.
- CoastalCoder 3y agoThanks, that exactly was why I didn't want to click.
- asystole 3y agoWow. Phrasing!
- dang 3y agoThanks, we've put that word in the title above, in place of the 'baby' bit which is baity anyhow.
- trebligdivad 3y ago'We can do this, we're birds, just flap...'
- smusamashah 3y agoGiven this video is taken by a drone, and drones are very noisy, are the splashing sounds and sounds of penguins chirping added later?
- gnomesteel 3y agoYes
- Waterluvian 3y agoSounds in almost all nature documentary videos are added later from separate sources.
- odyssey7 3y agoThat makes sense. I'd never thought about it. You've saved me the disappointment of visiting Antarctica to realize that David Attenborough's voice doesn't just chime in whenever you look at something.
- Terretta 3y agoTwo dimensions to this question: first, drone noise; second, audio track. On the noise: > "Given this video is taken by a drone, and drones are very noisy..." Here's from National Geographic's press release on this video: “Through the harnessing of new technology and pushing the boundaries of polar filming, Bertie utilized a newly released camera drone equipped with a telephoto lens allowing him to capture animal behavior from the air like never before without disrupting or impacting the penguins.” https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240411040454/en/National-Geographic-and-Bertie-Gregory-Release-Unprecedented-Footage-of-Emperor-Penguin-Behavior-Filmed-for-the-First-Time-on-the-Coast-of-Antarctica https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240411040454/en/Nat... So they were aware of the noise and other disturbance to the penguins, and were far enough away its unlikely these sounds are recorded from the drone itself. On the audio track: Mics and recorders could have been placed in advance. Given the level of preparation described, this is a possibility. Audio of a given action or situation could have been captured separately elsewhere and dubbed. This seems most likely, and if natural sounds were captured on location from the same flocks, wouldn't generally carry a disclaimer. In either of these cases, the drone doesn't need a mic, or can carry one just for sound sync purposes, but the sound is done in foley with or without a field recording. To use drone audio without it audible to the viewer, shotgun mics with a sound pattern that picks up far point noise (imagine a teleaudio mic to go with the telephoto lens) could be used. Drone noise is distinct, and can be removed, firms and software specialize in this: https://www.sound2design.com/online-sound-restoration-and-drone-noise-removal https://www.sound2design.com/online-sound-restoration-and-dr... One way is to point the shotguns at silence, record drone noise alone, then invert it, something like "speech transparency" mode in noise cancelling headphones. Today's audio processing is relatively magical when it doesn't have to fit in an earbud. I haven't researched this case, but it sounded like foley.
- delichon 3y ago[flagged]
- jhdias 3y agoPerplexity.ai: calculate the terminal velocity of an average sized penguin falling head first - Sources omnicalculator.com favicon wikihow.com favicon View 2 more Answer The terminal velocity of an average-sized penguin falling head-first can be calculated as follows: Assuming an average penguin weight of 5 kg and a cross-sectional area of 0.1 m^2, with a drag coefficient of 0.8 for a streamlined, head-first orientation: Terminal velocity, v_t = √((2 × m × g) / (ρ × A × C_d)) Where: m = mass of penguin = 5 kg g = acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s^2 ρ = density of air = 1.225 kg/m^3 A = cross-sectional area = 0.1 m^2 C_d = drag coefficient = 0.8 Plugging in the values: v_t = √((2 × 5 kg × 9.8 m/s^2) / (1.225 kg/m^3 × 0.1 m^2 × 0.8)) v_t = √(98 / 0.98) v_t = √100 v_t = 10 m/s Therefore, the terminal velocity of an average-sized penguin falling head-first is approximately 10 m/s or 36 km/h.1345 Wolframalpha: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i2d=true&i=Subscript%5Bv%2Ct%5D+%3D+%E2%88%9A%5C%2840%29Divide%5B%5C%2840%292+%C3%97+5+kg+%C3%97+9.8+Divide%5Bm%2CPower%5Bs%2C2%5D%5D%5C%2841%29%2C%5C%2840%291.225+Divide%5Bkg%2CPower%5Bm%2C3%5D%5D+%C3%97+0.1+Power%5Bm%2C2%5D+%C3%97+0.8%5C%2841%29%5D%5C%2841%29 https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i2d=true&i=Subscript%5Bv%...
- neglesaks 3y agoHow about an unladen African Swallow, though?
- episteme 3y agoClaude assumes a much more streamlined penguin: To calculate the terminal velocity of an average-sized penguin falling head first, we need to consider the balance between the force of gravity and the air resistance acting on the penguin. The terminal velocity is reached when these two forces are equal. Given: - The average mass of an adult penguin is around 5 kg. - The average height of an adult penguin is about 70 cm. - The penguin is falling head first, so we will assume a streamlined shape with a low drag coefficient (Cd) of around 0.05. - The density of air at sea level is approximately 1.225 kg/m³. - The acceleration due to gravity (g) is 9.81 m/s². Step 1: Determine the cross-sectional area (A) of the penguin. Assuming the penguin has a circular cross-section when falling head first, we can estimate the area using the average height. Diameter (d) ≈ 70 cm ÷ 5 = 0.14 m A = π × (d/2)² ≈ 0.0154 m² Step 2: Use the terminal velocity formula. v_terminal = √((2 × m × g) ÷ (ρ × Cd × A)) Where: - v_terminal = terminal velocity (m/s) - m = mass of the penguin (kg) - g = acceleration due to gravity (m/s²) - ρ = density of air (kg/m³) - Cd = drag coefficient - A = cross-sectional area (m²) Plugging in the values: v_terminal = √((2 × 5 kg × 9.81 m/s²) ÷ (1.225 kg/m³ × 0.05 × 0.0154 m²)) v_terminal ≈ 55.8 m/s or 201 km/h Therefore, the estimated terminal velocity of an average-sized penguin falling head first is approximately 56 m/s or 201 km/h. Keep in mind that this is a simplified calculation based on several assumptions about the penguin's shape and the environmental conditions.
- mikhailfranco 3y agoFirst drone footage of x is becoming a little rarefied, not to say boring and predictable for some values of x. So I expect this to be the peak of consumers buying little mavics to film their trips to Mont Blanc or the Amalfi Coast. Honestly, their friends are not interested. It was sad and ridiculous while it lasted, and now I hope it's over.
- ryukoposting 3y agoWhy should they care what their friends think? Can we not take pictures and videos of things for our own enjoyment of that act? FWIW I don't own a drone nor have I ever considered buying one. I do have a horde of 35mm film cameras though.
- mikhailfranco 3y agoIf it was really enjoyable, you will remember it. The human memory is designed to fix emotional experiences. No need for celluloid or pixels. If you were with a loved one, your future conversations about that time will keep the memory alive. There is a certain value and excitement in showing personal photos or videos to grand-children. But their children will not even know your name. The vanity and self-importance of youthful experiences will wane with age, reflection, wisdom, and a certain acceptance of our transient existence. Yes, I left many meaningless 35mm negatives, in a long forgotten attic, of a distant house, which I used to inhabit. Nobody will miss them. Not even me. If they are, perchance, discovered by a future owner of the house, they will be excited, for about 10 minutes, then throw them away.
- ryukoposting 3y ago> If it was really enjoyable, you will remember it. The human memory is designed to fix emotional experiences. No need for celluloid or pixels. If you were with a loved one, your future conversations about that time will keep the memory alive. Words to live by. My point is this: the act of capturing photo and/or video is itself the draw for some people. It's an art form - beauty isn't just captured in a photograph, it's created through composition. A great photo is never just a photo of a great thing. Why should the transience of my art deter me, if I myself am also transient?
- mannykannot 3y agoThese juveniles are lucky to not be in a place where the ice melts before they have their water-resistant feathers. This possibility is becoming an existential threat to some penguin colonies. https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-08-24/record-sea-ice-melt-in-antarctica-doomed-thousands-of-penguin-chicks-to-a-watery-grave https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-08-24/record-...
- Anotheroneagain 3y agoI wonder if this is how birds learned to fly.
- Jerrrry 3y agoThis is a (now 'deprecated') evolutionary artifact from that process, yes.
- jncfhnb 3y agoVery odd footage imo. * most of the birds are falling in because they’re pushed, not because they’re jumping * most of the birds are belly flopping hard rather than diving in with any sort of graceful entry * most birds don’t appear to ever jump. I refuse to believe the camera wouldn’t have shown the whole population in the water if they had
- MichaelZuo 3y agoMaybe it's some sort of weird social test like baby cowbirds.
- marcosdumay 3y ago> most of the birds are falling in because they’re pushed, not because they’re jumping It's the same as every other bird? It surprised me that it isn't their parents pushing them.
- jncfhnb 3y agoLike out of the nest? That doesn’t really track with the mass movement towards the cliff edge as a precursor.
- Tempest1981 3y agoThe pushing starts when the ones a few rows back want a closer look... might not be deliberate or premeditated.
- bewaretheirs 3y agoYears ago I heard a possibly apocryphal story -- that's at least halfway consistent with what's seen in this video -- about how a mass of penguins decide if they're in a safe place to go for a swim: They gather near the edge of the ice and jostle each other until one bird falls in. Then they watch to see if it gets eaten by a predator. If not, the rest of them dive in and go for a swim...
- Larrikin 3y agoI don't think there is any reason to think a belly flop would have the same effect on a penguin as it would on a human.
- VoodooJuJu 3y agoFor something so interesting, the title is extremely inappropriate clickbait.
- BurningFrog 3y agoJumping in is the easy part. How do they get back up on land?
- RichardCA 3y agoThey are capable of fast swimming, enough to gain momentum so they can pop back up onto land or an ice floe. https://youtu.be/_OHDYS8qTzQ?t=935s https://youtu.be/_OHDYS8qTzQ?t=935s
- christophilus 3y agoYeah, but that cliff was around 40ft, according to the narrator. They aren’t swimming fast enough to hop back up that.
- dredmorbius 3y agoClearly, they beach elsewhere. Penguins migrate 100s to 1,000s of km, and can swim great distances. They need not beach near their entry point, and are in the water to feed. That said, where these penguin fledglings beach would be interesting to see. <https://animalatlantes.com/how-do-penguins-migrate/ https://animalatlantes.com/how-do-penguins-migrate/>
- OJFord 3y agoClearly I've spent too much time on Reddit, I just assumed they were joking and had reversed the video...
- neglesaks 3y agoOverheard in the flock: "nee nah, I bet you dare not to jump!"
- CyberDildonics 3y agoSounds like they dropped rocks into a swimming pool for their sound effects.
- UberFly 3y agoInteresting how they know not to jump off onto an ice sheet below.
- steve_adams_86 3y agoIf you consider how adept they are at fishing for example, it doesn't seem like a leap that they've have the spatial awareness and wherewithal to recognize that falling onto something far below is scary. I suspect the human understanding of these types of dangers becomes cerebral, but it originate in much more instinctual parts of us which we share with countless other animals. The part where it becomes cerebral might trick us into thinking it's entirely based upon knowledge, intricate abstractions of the world around us, and the intelligence required to use those properly. I'm not sure of course, it's all conjecture. It doesn't surprise me that penguins know not to fall far onto hard things though.
- seydor 3y agoCould be a parody video clip for "I believe I can fly"
- anotherevan 3y ago♬ I believe I can fly. ♬ Oh, shit! No I can't.
- notatoad 3y agoskip to 3:00 if you just want to see them jump...
- maxlin 3y agoSomething tells me it's just bird genes trying to fly from high. Swimming is a different type of traversal so might even kind of work as a reward mechanic
- rdtsc 3y agoHa! I like that take. And they do “fly”, just under water.
- redder23 3y agoPretty cool, but what is "the secret". First, the heading wording feels like intentional clickbait to make at least a portion of people think they might be jumping to their death, they don't! They build something up like there is something coming, some actual reason WHY they do it from that high. But they totally failed on delivering any reveal, at least in the video, did not read the entire article. They made up to be some giant mystery, and I was expecting there is some kind of great reveal thing that has some kind of benefit, something evolutionary or whatever something, - nothing - absolutely nothing. Basically because they did not want to walk down a long way I guess, if there even was a way to an easier jump.
- Kinrany 3y agoSeems common for documentaries about nature. A few seconds of good footage surrounded by minutes of filler and clickbait.
- up2isomorphism 3y agoIt is interesting to ask how such events are organized. It did not look like they are led by an adult. What triggered such gatherings?
- morgango 3y agoAnd that penguin's name ... Johnathan Livingston Seagull.