In the audio survey done to record the kiwi bird’s population on the North Island in New Zealand, several areas are now filled with the sounds of this bird. These areas were silent back in 2016. It is not the case anymore. The male bird has a high shriek while the female has a low growl. About 150 bird conservationists heard the sounds of these birds in December when the previous survey was done.

Rising Numbers

In order to keep a count of five of the nation’s kiwi species, the surveyors depend on the human ear and assess the status of their population in the same areas. This manual survey is called Kiwi Call Count. In 2021, there was a 50% rise in the sounds at these sites and not once were these sites silent. This survey was part of an action plan to save the kiwis in the ‘90s. Dogs, feral cats, stoats, fed on these kiwi birds as they were easy to catch as they were a species that had evolved without any native predatory mammals around.

A Successful Program

The trapping was highly successful considering that two of the kiwi species namely rowi and the northern brown had gone into the endangered zone back in 2017 as per the Red List by the IUCN. The biodiversity ranger at the Department of Conservation Ayla Wiles said to The Guardian in an interview that all these efforts put into saving the species seem worth it. She further added that it felt amazing to hear the birds again after years of silence. In fact, in a place named Whangerei Heads, there were only 80 kiwis and now there are over 1,000 of them. This is proof of the program’s success.

The Night Bird

The call of this nocturnal bird makes it easy to track animals. These calls are easily discernable in the dark. They also have some unique characteristics allowing conservationists to keep track of the same flock of birds each passing year.

Science and technology are advancing every single day, and there’s no doubt about the fact that these advancements are changing the way that we live our lives. While some ideas were once only specks in a thought process, many of them have since been developed and been produced to enhance the human existence – and this new bionic eye is one of those ideas. In fact, it could give sight back to millions of people across the globe.

Losing Their Sight

Over the years, millions of people have had to deal with the fact that they have lost their sight. For some, this could have been caused by age-related muscular degeneration, but for others, this could have been caused by accidents that have injured the eye completely. Up until now, attempts to mimic the human eye have been unsuccessful, but it seems as though this new creation could be the latest and greatest piece of technology this world has to offer.

A Visual Prosthetic

This new visual prosthetic has come to light thanks to engineers in the United States and Hong Kong, and they have called this bionic eye the EC-EYE (ElectroChemical EYE). The scientists behind this eye wanted to create something that would be exactly like the human retina, and even features the tell-tale dome shape of this sensitive tissue. To do this, they created high-density photoreceptors that were then put inside pores of aluminum oxide. To create the nerves, they then used electrical wires made from liquid metal within rubber tubes placed inside the silicon eyeball. While the eyeball itself looks real, the inside components look robotic – making them even more efficient. What’s amazing about this new discovery is that it could restore sight to over 285 million people across the world, allowing people to see 80% of their surroundings. Now that’s pretty impressive, right?

This new bionic eyeball is set to be available for use in five years.