Now You See It, Now You Don't

Overview

Wind turbines are currently being used as environmentally friendly source of energy and research continues as to how to make the wind turbines more efficient. However there has been an increased amount of concern for the effect of the increased use of wind turbines on the bird population. Research indicates that wind turbine blades have caused a number of deaths to birds. While the number of bird deaths due to windows, animals and diseases were responsible for more deaths, there is an outcry to find ways to reduce the number of bird deaths. Birds see in colors via UV Rays. Thus the experiment was developed to see if different colors or patterns deterred birds from approaching the blades of the model wind turbine. The observations supported that birds were more deterred by colored and patterned blades. Furthermore the blades with patterns had a greater effect on the reaction of the birds. Based on the data and observation from this experiment, blades of wind turbines should be painted with a swirl pattern which had the greatest impact on the reaction of the birds.

Awards (2)

Arizona State University: For the project that applies computer science to further inquiry in a field other than computer science
Google CS Connect Award