Dinosaurs- this is an excellent illustration of how the press will keep scientific “conflicts” alive for decades- after complete resolution. I vass dere, Sharlie.
One of my teacher/mentor/friends was a major “contender” in the original discussion; featured in the first NOVA special – around 1976 or so? Upshot- the really big dinosaurs HAD to be essentially warm blooded- via pure physics. A bit of heat generated by muscle movement in the center of the animal – may take hours to make its way to the skin, and out. The problem for any animal as large as an elephant is not how to keep heat in, but how to get rid of it fast enough to avoid cooking oneself to death.
Surviving the arctic environment is not a problem of keeping warm- but a problem of dealing with dark and greatly decreased plant growth. We have known the heat dynamics, conclusively, for decades; but every time some sophomore (or plain incompetent breathes “this proves it!” – it’s instant reruns.
Another “Why the other intelligences in the Universe won’t talk to us.” “They don’t progress; they just watch reruns- in all aspects; government, science- all just old Gilligan’s Island reruns.”
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