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One of the most frustrating hobbies I ever took up was archery, but not because it’s hard to hit a target on the wall (it is, but I got pretty good at that). My problem was that one of the popular ways to go out and have fun with archery was to do “3D shoots,” where you would have to shoot at a series of statues of animals, each positioned at an unknown distance.
Estimating distance turned out to be my downfall. If you don’t have a good sense of how far away the fake deer is, you’ll end up shooting way over its back or burying your arrow under the ground beneath its feet. At the time, I assumed that estimating distance was less a learnable skill and more a gut feeling. Hence my surprise when I recently came across a quick eyeball-and-mental-math trick that allows anyone to estimate distance pretty accurately.
The technique involves some gut-level estimation, but a much easier type. You just have to guess—or know—the size of an object in the distance. (If you find yourself estimating distances often, you may want to look up the typical sizes of objects like cars. We'll use a car in our example below.)
You just need that guess, your thumb, and the ability to multiply by 10. Here’s how it works:
Hold your thumb in front of you (with your arm fully outstretched), and close one eye. Line up your thumb with an object whose size you have some sense of (for example, a car).
Without moving your thumb, close your open eye, and open the other one. Your thumb will appear to be in a different place.
Estimate how far your thumb “moved” relative to the object you’re looking at. For example, a car is about 15 feet long, so if your thumb moved half a car length, that’s about 7.5 feet.
Multiply by 10. In this example, you’d calculate that the car is about 75 feet away from you.
Too good to be true? I walked around and tried it out. I also carried a laser distance-finder and a tape measure with me to verify. One thing I noticed right away is that I was tempted to measure the space in between my two thumb images; instead, you need to measure from, say, the left side of the first thumb image to the left side of the second thumb image.
Standing in the kitchen, eyeballing the TV in the other room, I figured the TV was somewhere between 3 and 4 feet wide, and that my thumb moved a little more than half its distance, so about 2 feet. Calculation: TV must be 20 feet away. Laser level says: 25 feet. OK, not bad.
From my desk to a nearby bookshelf, my thumb moved 6 inches, maybe a little more. Calculation: 60ish inches. Actual measurement: 59 inches.
From a spot in my driveway to a garden shed: I turned my head sideways to measure against the height of the door. Thumb distance should be about 6 feet (most of the height of the door), thus the shed must be 60 feet away. Actual measurement: around 70 feet. Not perfect, but once again, not too far off.
The reason this trick is supposed to work is that the distance from your eye to your thumb is about 10 times the distance from one eye to the other. I measured this, too. Looking into the mirror with a measuring tape in front of my face, my pupils are 2 and 5/16" apart, or 2.3 inches. The distance from the spot between my eyebrows to my outstretched thumb is 23.5 inches. That’s a factor of 10.2, impressively close to the 10 I was promised.
Bottom line: This trick isn’t going to give you a precise distance, but as a tool for estimating, it actually kind of works! And by the way, if you ever need to estimate how far away a deer-shaped statue is: a deer’s body length is roughly 5 feet.
Despite what Bruce Springsteen says in his hit song "Blinded By the Light," it's no fun looking into the "eyes of the sun." According to Prevent Blindness, exposing your peepers to the sun's rays during a solar eclipse without proper eye protection can cause "eclipse blindness" or retinal burns, also known as solar retinopathy, and the damage to your sight can be permanent.
With the next occurrence of the Moon passing between the Earth and the sun not expected for another 20 years after the upcoming solar eclipse on April 8, you might be tempted to gaze at the heavens without proper eye protection. However, even a brief glimpse of the sun during a solar eclipse can cause irreversible damage to your eyes. I'm not your parent, but I strongly advise you to take charge of your eye safety by investing in a pair of solar eclipse glasses.
However, some unscrupulous third-party sellers sell fake pairs of glasses through Amazon and other online vendors, which can put your vision at risk. (Just ask the man in California who suffered significant vision loss thanks to a pair of counterfeit glasses, according to the Indianapolis Star.) To help keep your eyes safe to see another day, here are some tips to help you know that the pair you picked up will do their one job.
To determine whether your solar eclipse glasses will block ultraviolet and infrared radiation, check the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) number on the frames. According to the American Astronomical Society (AAS), compliant glasses will bear the label ISO 12312-2 (sometimes written as ISO 12312-2:2015) to show they reduce sunlight to safe levels.
They sure can! To ensure you are buying solar eclipse glasses from a reputable source, the AAS has created a list of manufacturers, vendors, dealers, and importers they have vetted to help you with your purchase.
While the AAS points out they are unable to investigate all sellers, they do offer this sage piece of advice:
We do not recommend searching for eclipse glasses on Amazon, eBay, Temu, or any other online marketplace and buying from whichever vendor offers the lowest price. Before you buy a solar viewer or filter online, we recommend that you make sure that (1) the seller is identified on the site and (2) the seller is listed on this page.
According to the AAS, you can use sunlight reflected off a mirror or a metal object to test if your solar eclipse glasses work. If the light reflected seems very dim through the lenses, you should be safe. However, if you can see any light through a lamp, light bulb, or other household light fixture, you may have a pair of counterfeit glasses.
Additionally, check your glasses to see if the lenses are torn, scratched, punctured, or coming loose from their frames. If so, discard them.
The annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) conducted by the Audubon Society has been an annual event since the beginning of the 20th century. As an answer to declining bird populations, the tradition began in 1900 by early proponents of conservation to record what they feared were shrinking bird populations and promote bird watching as a hobby. Joining your local bird count can be a holiday tradition to treasure, connecting to the outdoors and helping to gather information on birds and habitat at the same time.
As a participant in the count, you will get connected with your local circle and contact the organizer for details. Each count occurs on one calendar day between December 14th and January 5th within the boundaries of a 15-mile circle on the map, recording not just each species that is seen or heard, but each individual bird. Participants will tally their counts and turn in their data to their count compiler, who is then tasked with turning in the data to the Audubon Society.
To find your circle, you can start on the map page that lists the existing circle for the Audubon CBC. Each circle has the location and contact information for the compiler listed if you click on it so that you can arrange to participate in your local count. There are locations all over North and South America, so it’s likely that there’s a circle near you.
If you don’t see a count near you, you can either choose to participate in the National Backyard Bird Count (NBBC) as an alternative, or you can apply to start your own circle if you’re a skilled and ambitious bird watcher. Keep in mind that organizing your own count requires that you have at least a few other participants willing to pitch in and that you have a solid area in mind where the count can be conducted.
The CBC is open to anyone who wants to participate through a circle, and is conducted much the same way a census would be. It’s free to participate and is open to all skill levels. If you’re new, you will be paired up with a more experienced birder so you can learn the ropes. This can be a great family activity, but I wouldn’t bring younger kids, who might have shorter attention spans and be more vulnerable to inclement weather.
You should be prepared to stay outdoors for the whole time the count goes on unless you’re lucky enough to live within the boundaries of a circle. You are responsible for bringing your own binoculars and weather-appropriate clothing to the count. If you reside inside of one of the circles, you can participate from home simply by recording all of the birds that visit your feeder and then turning in your results to the compiler.
The data that’s collected during the Christmas Bird Count is used as a resource for science-based publications, studies, and as a resource for those studying wildlife and ecology. Summaries of the data collected every year are also published for the public and can be found online through the Audubon Society website.
To follow the data as it comes in and stay informed on community science events from the Audubon Society, you can sign up for American Birds and check out the CBC Live Tracker for photos and updates from Christmas Bird Count participants. If you choose to participate in the count, you can also upload your photos for others to see how your count is going.
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