Scientists are increasingly using birds as research assistants. “Birds’ “perpetual movement and proclivity for remote locations” meant they used to pose many mysteries to science, Audubon reported, but growth in animal-tracking technology lets researchers not only learn about their movements and behaviors, but also use them to study other phenomena: High-flying frigate birds with GPS trackers uncover details about the upper atmosphere, cormorants are used to map the seabed, and seagulls reveal the movements of whales, which they follow to catch krill. Scientists are launching several small satellites to help track the movements of thousands of animals, and plan to use the data to create an “internet of animals” that can reveal the “living pulse of the planet,” one scientist said.”