A Million Falcons Went Missing. Here’s How They Were Found

(nationalgeographic.com)

50 points | by bryanrasmussen 3 days ago

5 comments

  • BlackRabbit1 0 minutes ago
    What kind of frequencies do these falcon trackers use? Any datasheets available?

    This sounds like an interesting project for a SDRs like Satnogs.

  • bogzz 34 minutes ago
    The falcons were found congregating on an obscure German forum from the early 2000's.
  • EngCanMan 4 hours ago
    • patall 3 hours ago
      The article seems to be free for me (with adblock?). Also, the link does not work.
      • ericpruitt 45 minutes ago
        I have uBlock installed, and I got an overlay wanting me to enter my email address to read the article.
    • shellerik 3 hours ago
      I can't get past the captcha
      • forbiddenlake 2 hours ago
        You're using Cloudflare DNS, so archive.is refuses you. If you switch to a DNS server that forwards ECS it will work.
  • antonvs 53 minutes ago
    Do falcons have no right to privacy?
    • cj 45 minutes ago
      But what do they have to hide?
  • ghgr 2 hours 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).

    • brianpan 16 minutes ago
      Is 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.

    • throwup238 1 hour ago
      They 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?

      • toast0 21 minutes ago
        I wish I could put gps tags on things after they go missing...
      • antonvs 52 minutes ago
        According to the dictionary definition of "missing", they were not missing.

        At best, our assumptions about where we expected to find them were wrong.

        • throwup238 24 minutes ago
          What 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.”

        • markdown 34 minutes ago
          So my keys have never truly been missing, eh?
          • jstanley 25 minutes ago
            So everyone else's keys are missing materially all of the time?
    • ripe 1 hour ago
      Thank you for summarizing! TIL about the Falcopolis in Angola.
    • antonvs 50 minutes 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".