US Airways Flight

Back on January 15th, US Airways Flight 1549 made that amazing water [landing:stranding] in the Hudson after both engines were taken out by Canada geese, which can weigh eight [pounds:rounds] each. Now scientists have used forensic [techniques:information] to clear local geese - the perpetrators were out-of-towners. The study appears June 8th in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Crash [investigators:informers] sent feather samples from the plane's engines to the Smithsonian, which has a dedicated Feather Identification Lab. The researchers examined the feather's [hydrogen:nitrogen] isotopes, which include regular hydrogen atoms and [hydrogens:krypton] with additional neutrons. The isotope ratios tell you about the bird's diet. And that tells you where they dined.