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Scientists Solve Mystery of Sharp Falcon Eye

A man displays a falcon which was sold for $173,000 during Saudi Falcons Club Auction in King Abdulaziz Festival in Mulham, north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 13, 2020. (Media Center Saudi Falcons Club Auction via Reuters)
A man displays a falcon which was sold for $173,000 during Saudi Falcons Club Auction in King Abdulaziz Festival in Mulham, north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 13, 2020. (Media Center Saudi Falcons Club Auction via Reuters)
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Scientists Solve Mystery of Sharp Falcon Eye

A man displays a falcon which was sold for $173,000 during Saudi Falcons Club Auction in King Abdulaziz Festival in Mulham, north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 13, 2020. (Media Center Saudi Falcons Club Auction via Reuters)
A man displays a falcon which was sold for $173,000 during Saudi Falcons Club Auction in King Abdulaziz Festival in Mulham, north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 13, 2020. (Media Center Saudi Falcons Club Auction via Reuters)

The eye of falcon has always been an example on the sharpness of sight, for its role in helping the bird target its prey. This power confused scientists who speculated that the dark 'eyeliner' feathers of peregrine falcons act as sun shields to improve the birds' hunting ability. This hypothesis has been lately proved in a new scientific study led by researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

The distinctive dark stripes directly beneath the peregrine falcon's eyes, called the malar stripe, likely reduce sunlight glare and confer a competitive advantage during high-speed chases. It's an evolutionary trait mimicked by some top athletes who smear dark makeup below their eyes to help them spot fast-moving balls in competitive sports.

In the new study, published in the journal Biology Letters, the scientists determined the role of this eyeliner in improving the sharpness of the falcon's eye. They found these markings have evolved according to the climate; the sunnier the bird's habitat, the larger and darker are the dark 'sun-shade' feathers.

The scientists used photos of peregrine falcons from around the world posted on the web by bird watchers and scored the size of the malar stripe for each bird. They then explored how these malar stripes varied in relation to aspects of the local climate, such as temperature, rainfall, and strength of sunlight. They examined samples from 94 different regions or countries. Results showed that peregrine falcon malar stripes were larger and darker in regions of the world where sunlight is stronger.

"The solar glare hypothesis has become ingrained in popular literature, but has never been tested empirically before. Our results suggest that the function of the malar stripe in peregrines is best explained by this solar glare hypothesis," said senior author Michelle Vrettos in a report posted on the UCT website.

Co-author Arjun Amar said: "The peregrine falcon represents the ideal species to explore this long-standing hypothesis, because it has one of the most widespread distributions of all bird species, being present on every continent except Antarctica. We are grateful to all the photographers around the world that have deposited their photos onto websites. Without their efforts this research would not have been possible."

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Scientist Bottles Smell of Bones to Help Solve Cold Cases

Belgian research scientist Clement Martin, who works with Belgium's federal police to create a "perfume" that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains, looks at human bones in his laboratory in Gembloux, Belgium January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Belgian research scientist Clement Martin, who works with Belgium's federal police to create a "perfume" that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains, looks at human bones in his laboratory in Gembloux, Belgium January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman
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Scientist Bottles Smell of Bones to Help Solve Cold Cases

Belgian research scientist Clement Martin, who works with Belgium's federal police to create a "perfume" that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains, looks at human bones in his laboratory in Gembloux, Belgium January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Belgian research scientist Clement Martin, who works with Belgium's federal police to create a "perfume" that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains, looks at human bones in his laboratory in Gembloux, Belgium January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman

A Belgian research scientist is working with the federal police to create a scent that mimics the smell of dried human bones to help sniffer dogs find long lost remains.

Clement Martin has already isolated the smell of decomposing human flesh and that is now used to train Belgium's cadaver dogs.

But once the soft tissue has disappeared, the scent molecules of the remaining bones become significantly fewer, scientific researcher Martin told Reuters.

"Bones smell different over the years too. A 3-year-old bone will smell different to a 10-year-old one and even 20 years," he said.

Skeletal remains are porous too and absorb smells from the surrounding environment, from the soil to pine trees.

"In the situation of cold cases, there was a gap. Our dogs were not able to find dried bones," Kris Cardoen, head of federal police dog training, told Reuters.

At a police training centre outside Brussels, inspector Kristof Van Langenhove and his springer spaniel Bones demonstrated part of the training with Martin's corpse scent.

Cardoen hid some tissues between cinder blocks and only contaminated a few. The dog then barked when he found the smell.

"The scent of death is one of the three tools we use during the basic training of our human remains dog," Cardoen said.

Cadaver dogs require 1,000 hours of training and the country only ever has four at any one time.

Martin is using different samples of dried bones to develop the smell, including those of an unidentified man found in a suitcase, which are kept in a glass cylinder to allow the molecules to permeate an enclosed space ready for extraction.

"It's a bit like a perfumer developing his perfume, he's going to mix different aromas," Martin said.