A team of volunteers, international scientists and center staff have attached GPS tracking devices to the backs of small birds known as kuriri, or Pacific golden plovers,with the hopes of obtaining answers to questions about why these little creatures coming to New Zealand are declining.
The Miranda shores, in the Firth of Thames, are the kuriri’s part-time home. Several decades ago, each year they’d arrive in thousands, escaping the winter of the Northern Hemisphere. Now there is fewer than 200 that visit.
It’s a mystery why the numbers of these birds visiting New Zealand have declined so much. Most of the birds’ life is also a mystery.
Every year, the small birds voyage in locations close to the Arctic Ocean for nesting. Whether this is Alaska or Sibera is not known. It’s also not known which route the birds take and where they may stop during their journey. There’s theory there may be a degraded habitat they could be using as a stop-off point.
Identifying the answers could be a great first step in learning more about the birds’ decline.
As with any illness, early detection is critical for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia patients to enjoy greater overall quality of life longer. Along with early detection and treatment, comes the need to begin habits, such as GPS tracking for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, so family can remain apprised of their safety at all times.
What is Early Alzheimer’s and Dementia?
During the early stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia most patients are just beginning to show symptoms of the disease’s development. They still live independent lives only showing occasional instances of forgetfulness, confusion, and choosing words.
While it may sound like something of a Nancy Drew caper, the theft of a 10 foot by 10-foot inflatable intestine, weighing in at 150 pounds is big news for Kansas City, MO residents.
The month of March represents National Colorectal Cancer Awareness month, and the intestine serves as a walking tour for a colonoscopy, according to the New York Times, and its thefts left more questions than answers.
The mystery remains even after the colon was recovered, thanks to a tip received by Kansas City Police who were then able to recover the inflatable intestine from a vacant house. The organization does not plan to press charges feeling that the theft of the colon did more to raise awareness of their cause, raising awareness about colon cancer, than the inflatable by itself could ever accomplish.
