Audublog

To the moon!

It's been great to read all the wonderful bird-related articles Wired has been publishing lately. We are particularly taken with this recent article by Matt Simon, and it's not just because he references Mighty Ducks. Simon explores 17th century scientist Charles Morton, who believed birds migrated to the moon:

To the moon and back. And Morton was even aware of how epic this journey would be. He estimated the one-way trip to be 179,712 miles (he wasn’t so far off—the moon varies between 226,000 miles and 252,000 miles away, on account of its elliptical orbit), and reckoned it would take the birds 60 days to reach our satellite flying a dizzying 125 mph. Still, Morton reasoned, they pulled it off. And, really, because some species seem to disappear entirely, the only logical conclusion is that they set off into space. “Now, whither should these creatures go, unless it were to the moon?” he asked.

Enjoy the rest of the article here.

(Via Wired)

Moon by Kenneth Spencer

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