Hitting the Books: Sputnik's radio tech launched a revolution in bird migration research

"Birds fly South for the winter and North for the summer," has historically proven to be only slightly less reliable a maxim than the sun always rising in the East and setting in the West. Humanity has been fascinated by the comings and goings of our avian neighbors for millennia, but the why's and how's of their transitory travel habits have remained largely a mystery until recent years. In Flight Paths, science author Rebecca Heisman details the fascinating history of modern bird migration research and the pioneering ornithologists that helped the field take off. In the excerpt below, Heisman recalls the efforts of Dr. Bill Cochran, a trailblazer in radio-tagging techniques, to track his airborne, and actively-transmitting, quarry across the Canadian border.        HarperCollinsFrom Flight Paths, Copyright © 2023 By Rebecca Heisman. Reprinted here with permission of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins PublishersFollow That BeepSwainson’s thrush looks a bit like a small brown version of its familiar cousin the American robin. Its gray-brown back contrasts with a pale, spotted chest and pale “spectacle” markings around its eyes. These thrushes are shy birds that forage for insects in the leaf litter on the forest floor, where they blend in with the dappled light and deep shadows. Birders know them by their fluting, upward-spiraling song, which fills the woods of Canada and the northern United States with ethereal music in summer. But they don’t live there year-round;... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-04-02 14:30:53 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Critical Hits,’ edited by J. Robert Lennon and Carmen Maria Machado

In the anthology “Critical Hits,” gamers like Hanif Abdurraqib, Alexander Chee and Larissa Pham explain what the medium means to them. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-20 10:00:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #anthology #alexander chee #hanif abdurraqib #robert lennon #book review


Penguin Random House launches high schoolers’ award to combat book bans

The publisher’s $10,000 Freedom of Expression prize invites teens to write about a banned book that changed their life, against a backdrop of rising censorshipPublisher Penguin Random House has launched a new writing award in the US celebrating freedom of expression in response to a rise in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-10-24 12:34:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #random house #banned book #penguin random house #book bans #writing award


Hitting the Books: Voice-controlled AI copilots could lead to safer flights

Siri and Alexa were only the beginning. As voice recognition and speech synthesis technologies continue to mature, the days of typing on keyboards to interact with the digital world around us could be coming to an end — and sooner than many of us anticipated. Where... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-10-15 14:30:20 UTC ]
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NYPL Launches Nationwide Teen Banned Book Club

The New York Public Library's Teen Banned Book Club offers free nationwide digital access to banned and challenged YA books. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-03 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Michelle Tea Launches Dopamine Books

Michelle Tea always wanted to become a publisher. And after a decade of helming imprints at established presses, she’s finally in the driver’s seat of her own nonprofit press, Dopamine Books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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How to watch Christian Cooper discuss 'Better Living Through Birding' at L.A. Times Book Club

'Extraordinary Birder' host Christian Cooper brings his memoir 'Better Living Through Birding: Notes From a Black Man in the Natural World' to the L.A. Times Book Club. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-16 20:59:16 UTC ]
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EveryLibrary and Book Riot Partner to Launch Parent Perceptions Survey on Public Libraries and Current Issues

An upcoming national survey on the parental perceptions of public libraries will launch in early September. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-15 13:09:24 UTC ]
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Booksellers Launch New Translation Book Prize

Two Pacific Northwest–based book workers have cofounded the Cercador Prize for Translation. A committee of five booksellers will nominate titles and award a winning translator $1,000. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Crikey’s silence deafening as Guy Rundle launches new book | Weekly Beast

The site hasn’t published anything by its correspondent-at-large since he was roundly condemned for a piece about Brittany Higgins. Plus: News Corp at odds with the press councilFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-07 02:47:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #news corp #guardian australia #free app #latest updatesget #brittany higgins #free morning


Hitting the Books: Why AI won't be taking our cosmology jobs

The problem with studying the universe around us is that it is simply too big. The stars overhead remain too far away to interact with directly, so we are relegated to testing our theories on the formation of the galaxies based on observable data. Simulating these celestial bodies on computers... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-06-18 15:30:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #penguin random house #quantum mechanics #bear fruit #existing laws


Hitting the books: Why you shouldn't blog about asking a cop to go shopping for you

You get free stuff, you get free travel, you get the nifty cool title of "brand ambassador," what's not to love about being an internet influencer? There's the consequences, for one. Not even just the warranted consequences of your actual actions, mind you, but also those arriving unbidden based... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-06-11 14:30:57 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: Why we like bigger things better

We Americans love to have ourselves a big old time. It's not just our waistlines that have exploded outward since the post-WWII era. Our houses have grown larger, as have the appliances within them, the vehicles in their driveways, the income inequalities between ourselves and our neighbors, and... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-06-04 14:30:20 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: Renee Descartes had his best revelations while baked in an oven

Some of us do our best thinking in the shower, others do it while on the toilet. Renee Descartes, he pondered most deeply while ensconced in a baker's oven. The man simply needed to be convinced of the oven's existence before climbing in. Such are the quirks of the most monumental minds humanity... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-05-28 14:30:30 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: The abrupt and ignoble downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried

Seemingly overnight, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, went from cryptocurrency wunderkind to wanted for questioning by the FBI. After years of unfettered success, the walls of SBF's blockchain empire came crumbling down around him as his tricky financial feats failed and his generalized... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-05-14 14:30:33 UTC ]
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Illustrated children’s biography of King Charles hits No 1 on UK book chart

Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara’s book, illustrated by Matt Hunt, is the first of the Little People, Big Dreams series to top the standingsA children’s biography of King Charles III has topped the UK book chart before the coronation on 6 May.Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara’s King Charles is part of the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-05 09:57:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #uk book #michelle obama #stephen hawking #king charles #illustrated children


ComiXology Veterans David Steinberger and Chip Mosher Launch Comic Book Publishing Company

DSTLRY will focus on premium comics and collectibles with a resellable digital marketplace that "redefines" the creator-owned business structure. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Bank Street Launches Margaret Wise Brown Board Book Award

The Center for Children's Literature at Bank Street College held a virtual event for the inaugural Margaret Wise Brown Board Book Award on March 9. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: How 20th century science unmade Newton's universe

Science is the reason you aren't reading this by firelight nestled cozily under a rock somewhere however, its practice significantly predates its formalization by Galileo in the 16th century. Among its earliest adherents — even before pioneering efforts of Aristotle — was Animaxander, the Greek... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-03-12 14:30:52 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: Could we zap our brains into leading healthier lives?

Deep Brain Stimulation therapies have proven an invaluable treatment option for patients suffering from otherwise debilitating diseases like Parkinson's. However, it — and its sibling tech, brain computer interfaces — currently suffer a critical shortcoming: the electrodes that convert electron... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-03-04 15:30:03 UTC ]
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Stormzy’s #Merky Books launches literature festival to ‘inspire young creatives’

The grime star said he was ‘proud’ to offer the two-day event headlined by Wretch 32, John Agard and Malorie BlackmanA free festival from Stormzy’s #Merky Books imprint, headlined by musician Wretch 32, poet John Agard and former children’s laureate Malorie Blackman, will aim to demystify... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-27 11:15:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #literature festival ##merky books #demystify publishing #john agard