So, scientists glued this miniature computer data logger onto a frigate’s head in order to track its brain waves during flight. They want to know if they sleep when they fly and migrate. Their first attempt to create a breathable and waterproof housing for the loggers worked well in the laboratory but failed under field conditions; seawater penetrated into the zinc batteries and they are trying again with a different housing.
The report is a beautiful example of how challenging scientific research can be and how unpredictable and “messy” the trajectory from questions-to-data-to-more-questions often is. The challenges don’t represent failures but learning experiences requiring intuition and problem-solving. That is science for you.
The scientists are keeping a blog here: http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/sleep-loggers-take-two/?ref=science
