The Impossible Dinosaurs - Megafauna and Attenuated Gravity

Kronia.com ^ | Ted Holden

[Dementon]

Oh, you are too, and you know it.

[Shryke]

I AINT NO HONKEY MONKEY.

There. I said it.

[samtheman]

Yes, I agree with your theory that these massive animals were supported by anti-gravitation devices developed by advanced extraterrestrials.

What?

[Truthsearcher]

And yet it’s still easier for me to believe that than the laws of physics being different.

[ShadowAce]

Diameter does not affect gravity--only the mass of the body. A smaller earth with the same mass as today's earth would have the same gravity.

The centripetal force of a faster rotating planet would be different, though, and thus affect any weight we would feel.

[bvw]

You mean that’s NOT your theory? Oh... you are right then, it is far far better to mock what you can ignore rather than try to explain it. So much easier!

[bvw]

The laws of physics are models of reality. Reality can vary.

Just like the depictions of beautiful savory meals on the tops of frozen dinners. Just a model. Reality can vary.

[ThePythonicCow]

Diameter does not affect gravity

Diameter does affect the gravitational force you feel at "sea level", because if the earth's diameter is smaller, then someone standing at "sea level" is closer to the center of the earth.

[ThePythonicCow]

The existence of the Blue Whale proves that this piece is nonsense in the very first sentence:

And the existence of that reply proves that you're just looking to find fault, not insight. Rather obviously, that first sentence should have been qualified to refer to land animals, which I'm sure you're smart enough to realize.

Sometimes, it pays to be a slightly more sympathetic reader.

[gondramB]

>>Muscle tissue is nearly identically the same for all vertebrate animals; there’s no way to think dinosaur muscle was better than ours.<<

“Better” may be a hard term to pin down.

I have no training here but as I understand it human muscles can be broadly categorized into types I, IIa and IIb - slow twitch and two types of fast twitch. If humans can have three types of muscles I don’t see dinosaurs could not have types of muscles that were better in some ways.

[Swordmaker]

Re: bluewhale

We’re not talking about sea creatures who’s weight is supported by bouyancy. We’re talking about land animals.

[Fred Nerks]

Neck Posture and Feeding Habits of Two Jurassic Sauropod Dinosaurs,

Dinosaur studies (neck mobility, posture, etc.)

Doesn't deal with the weight issue - but the graphics and images throughout are brilliant...lots of spines and necks!

[AFreeBird]

The real question: If those kinds of sizes were such a winning ticket for creatures which supposedly dominated the planet for tens of millions of years.... then why in the 70,000,000 years which supposedly has passed since they went away, has nothing else ever re-evolved to such sizes? Evolving to different sizes should be fairly easy.

Competition for resources. Scarce resources means you adapt to the supply by being smaller and consuming less, or you die.

[ShadowAce]

Diameter does affect the gravitational force you feel at "sea level"...

OK, I know that. I was thinking (at the time of my post) of "total" gravity of an object.

[Fred Nerks]

P.S. A computer program devised to re-articulate the skeleton to prove they could feed themselves?

[Fred Nerks]

Evolving to different sizes should be fairly easy.

Adaptation - limited only by existing conditions?

[gondramB]

Since the acceleration gravity is inversely proportion to the radius squared, the diamet actually makes quite a lot of distance.

[gondramB]

I didn’t see this reply before I post #77... sorry about that.

[Salamander]

I dunno.
With every passing year, it gets harder for me to get myself upright.

[either there’s more gravity now than when I was younger or it’s just me]....:-D

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Accretion. The Earth and all bodies with sufficent mass gain more, and as they gain, their mass increases, causing more accretion. The figure I’ve seen most is 0.1%/year(dust, meteors, and water), but even at a magnitude less(.01%), it adds up.