A Vector-class refit with experimental subspace engines.

Definition/Summary:

• Mark made by imprinting
• To implant firmly in the mind or fix in the memory
• A copy

Expanded info:

• Known form of imprinting is filial imprinting, in which a young animal acquires several of its behavioral characteristics from its parent
• Most obvious in nidifugous birds, which imprint on their parents and then follow them around
• The hang-glider pilot Angelo d’Arrigo extended this technique
• He noted that the flight of a non-motorised hang-glider is very similar to the flight patterns of migratory birds: Both use updrafts of hot air (thermal currents) to gain altitude that then permits soaring flight over distance
• He used this fact to enable the re-introduction into the wild of threatened species of raptors

Add/Misc:

• Birds that are hatched in captivity have no mentor to teach them their migratory routes
• D’Arrigo created a solution to this problem
• By hatching the chicks under the wing of his glider, they imprinted on him. Once they became familial he taught the fledglings to fly and to hunt
• The young birds followed him not only on the ground (as with Lorenz) but also in the air as he took the path of various migratory routes