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The 2008 search season for Ivorybills is underway in a couple of locales with others due to start up after Christmas. Needless to say, and no matter what the outcome of debate on the Draft Recovery Plan, this is probably the last season for large-scale, organized searching if conclusive photographic evidence fails to materialize; funding and interest will wither (although no doubt smaller scale efforts and independent searchers will continue regardless for some time).
Hopefully, the desired photographic evidence will appear, but in a worst case scenario there could be increased credible sightings reported, and better, but stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill non-definitive, photographic evidence attained. One can only imagine the rancor of the debate should that scenario arise, between those whose patience has run out and those whose patience is unbounded so long as further and better evidence continues to trickle in (...but let's hope that scenario does not attain!).
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With Christmas fast-approaching I'll mention a few science-related books from the last year I'd recommend for the science-minded out there (even though probably few share my particular interests):
"The Varieties of Scientific Experience" -- Carl Sagan
"The Trouble With Physics" -- Lee Smolin
"How Mathematicians Think" -- William Byers
I'd mention a biology-related volume from the last year, except... I really haven't seen one I'm comfortable recommending! The field of 'epigenetics' though, is increasingly significant, and will probably transform many of our current ideas about genetics over time (before some other level of knowledge then supplants our ideas about epigenetics!), so a volume on that subject for the layman might be in order.
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