geekosystem

Remember when Harry Potter fans all wanted pet owls, but then realized that they are vicious winged harbingers of death? Turns out they're also silent harbingers of death, and new research is examining how owls stay so quiet in flight. The goal of the study is to make modern aircraft more silent and owl-like. We suggest building an aircraft made from feathers and that runs on mice.

With the public's attention span for Harry Potter waning after the release of the final film, so too has the public's love of domesticated owls apparently. In the United Kingdom, hundreds of the birds are being abandoned by erstwhile fans while sanctuaries are filling up fast. Given that they have a habit of taking over from the local birds when released into the wild, it seems they might have a real owl-pidemic on their hands. Please forgive me for that joke.

Everything looks excellent in slow motion, especially animals. They are regal, proud warriors, even if they're domesticated cats and dogs catching a treat. When shot on high-speed film then played back to dramatic instrumental music, they are just the finest examples of their kind that ever existed. Behold! Animals in majestic slow motion!

Jairam Ramesh, Indian Environment Minister, feels the degrading wild owl population in India is because of Harry Potter fans who attempt to capture the birds as pets in order to be more like the wizardly hero. Yep.

Today in highly focused Tumblrs: There's now a site called Hungover Owls which consists of ... well, pictures of owls that look hungover. Which apparently describes a lot of owls.