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They weren't "missing": GPS-tagged red-footed falcons revealed that they migrate to a tiny communal roost in central Angola (“Falcopolis”) each February–March.
by ghgr 22d ago
They weren't "missing": GPS-tagged red-footed falcons revealed that they migrate to a tiny communal roost in central Angola (“Falcopolis”) each February–March.
There, saved you a click (disappointed on National Geographic for that clickbaity headline).
- throwup238 22d agoThey were missing. Then they used GPS tags to locate them. That’s why the article is titled “ A Million Falcons Went Missing. Here’s How They Were Found”. Something was unknown, then we used sensors to solve the mystery. Wild, isn’t it?
- antonvs 22d agoAccording to the dictionary definition of "missing", they were not missing. At best, our assumptions about where we expected to find them were wrong.
- markdown 22d agoSo my keys have never truly been missing, eh?
- jstanley 22d agoSo everyone else's keys are missing materially all of the time?
- antonvs 22d agoYou have a valid reason to expect that your keys are in the place you remember leaving them. That’s not the case with large flocks of living animals. In that case, you’re simply making a category error in imagining that those living animals behave much like your keys.
- throwup238 22d agoWhat dictionary are you using? I just looked it up and MW’s definition of “missing” is “absent” or “lost” or “needed or expected but not included”. Dictionary.com says “absent, not found, or lost” and “lacking”. Wiktionary says “Not able to be located; gone, misplaced”, “Not present when it (they) should be”, and “Of an internal combustion engine: running roughly due to an occasional lack of a spark or other irregular fault.”
- antonvs 22d agoWhy do you think any of those definitions fit the case of the falcons? I took a look at “MW’s” web definition and it seems singularly lacking. Perhaps you should consider purchasing a real dictionary. Cambridge is a bit better: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/missing https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/missi... A common theme is that for something to be “missing,” it should not be where you expect it to be. But if your expectation is invalid, then it’s not “missing,” you simply have wrong expectations, which is the case with these falcons. For example, I could say that there are a million falcons missing from my front yard right now. Do you think that’s a valid way to describe it?
- deleted 22d ago[deleted]
- toast0 22d agoI wish I could put gps tags on things after they go missing...
- superb_dev 21d agoWell you can if those things first come back for a time
- ripe 22d agoThank you for summarizing! TIL about the Falcopolis in Angola.
- antonvs 22d ago> disappointed on National Geographic for that clickbaity headline I don't think there's a single name brand from "before internet" that has survived without turning into a clickbait chaser of ad revenue above all else. The term for this is "late stage capitalism".
- brianpan 22d agoIs this actually clickbait? The title is in the form of many clickbait title, but I'd argue it delivers; the article is more interesting than the title. I suggest readers spend the click and the five minutes.
- rsingel 22d agoIt's written by Ed Yong, who is a national treasure. Hell yes, you should read it.