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Eighth Grader's Invention Protects Birds from Unfortunate Demise
It's not every day an eighth grader comes up with an invention that is innovative and saves lives - in this case, the lives of our feathery friends. Just about anyone with windows has a story about their clear panes and a bird collision; it is never a pretty incident.
Charlie Sobcov has come up with a way to to take preventive measures against such unpleasant accidents and help birds travel a little easier. He is considering marketing his invention after completing his experiment.
For his latest school science fair project he has invented painted, plastic decals that can be placed — discreetly — right in the middle of a window pane."This paint is a colour that birds can see but humans can't," he said Wednesday on CBC Radio's All in a Day. "It's like putting a big stop sign in the middle of the window."
The colour is ultraviolet, beyond the range of colours visible to humans. That means the "stop sign" lets birds know the window is solid, but is nearly invisible to humans.
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OliBac62
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Art by Elizabeth Bauman
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HBPhotography2008
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mrluilou
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (8)
at 11:40 on January 22nd, 2009
Indigo kids are amazing. Why did not I think of that for my Grade 8 science project?
at 11:49 on January 22nd, 2009
This should be promoted. Indigo Kids sounds like a great idea as well as the Bird colours do to.
at 13:21 on January 22nd, 2009
Wow, this is amazing - so smart!
at 14:17 on January 22nd, 2009
I certainly need something like this. We often have a problem with birds hitting a large picture window near where they feed.
Art by Elizabeth Bauman has contributed a photo to this story.
at 21:28 on January 22nd, 2009
Genius.
Chicago saves the birds...
at 16:42 on January 25th, 2009
I don't want to be mean, but he can't claim to have invented something that already exists.
http://www.nixalite.com/windowalertdecal.aspx
at 20:29 on January 26th, 2009
Charlie - patent this asap!!!
at 20:31 on January 26th, 2009
Bruce - oh, wow! Well that's an interesting product that Charlie and the media don't know about. Oops.