TheSouthSandwich Islands lie3,677km
from theSouthPoleandbelong to the
BritishOverseasTerritories in theSouth
AtlanticOcean. Themountainous, craggy
landscape ishome tomillionsof penguins
–suchas theChinstrappenguinsshown
here. They liveonadiet consistingmainly
of schoolingfish, small squidandshrimp-
like crustaceans,whichare commonly
found inAntarcticwaters.
Oneof themost dangerousmoments in
the lifeof apenguin iswhen itfirst ventures
into the icy coldwatersof thepolar sea.
This iswhere itsbiggest predators–orcas,
sea lionsand leopardseals–areoften
Thepenguineffect
found. Toplay it safewhen theremaybe
danger lurkingunder thesurfaceof the
water, theseflightlessbirdshavedeveloped
what isknownas the“penguineffect”.
Theystand insmall groupsat theedgeof
icecliffsandwaituntil onepenguinmusters
upenough courage to take the initiative
anddive into thewater. If nopredators
appear, thegroupknows that it issafeand
theyall enter thewater together. This
waitinganddelayingprocessoften lasts
up tohalf anhour. Inscience,we call this
behaviour the“networkeffect”. According
to this theory, thebenefits for earlyusers
of anetworkare limitedas thereare
insufficientother users.
Issue26
trends inautomation
Panorama
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