tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post5181552076749277592..comments2024-03-25T09:31:36.926+01:00Comments on Furahan Biology and Allied Matters: "Into the universe" and right off a cliffSigmund Nastrazzurrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16449461215427527447noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-39718888014588737202010-06-04T12:52:01.300+02:002010-06-04T12:52:01.300+02:00Hi Brynn,
Nice to see you here. You are not the o...Hi Brynn,<br /><br />Nice to see you here. You are not the only one to not like them; nobody seems to...Sigmund Nastrazzurrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16449461215427527447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-4870174708360128612010-06-03T19:40:14.113+02:002010-06-03T19:40:14.113+02:00I don't like it...I don't like it...Brynn Metheneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15003422610294001307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-46652841514881569152010-05-31T01:33:10.053+02:002010-05-31T01:33:10.053+02:00Ever since the "second brain" fiasco reg...Ever since the "second brain" fiasco regarding the Discovery program "Clash of the Dinosaurs", Discovery Channel's been notorious for twisting the facts around to make more interesting television, as well as showing they have a very low opinion of their audience.<br /><br />In the aforementioned case with Clash of the Dinosaurs, the Discovery Channel had tried to nix the true identity of the glycogen body by claiming it was "too complicated" for viewers, even when the interviewed scientist basically summed the concept up as "The most likely object in the cavity of the hips of large dinosaurs is a glycogen body, which birds have today. However, we don't know what it does."<br /><br />In addition, they had been pushing the scientist to try and advocate the inaccurate claim that sauropods and stegosaurs had a second brain, and when that failed they resorted to good old manipulation of the film to get what they wanted. It seems likely that the reason for the choice of these creatures habitat is about the same as that of the glycogen body, the execs thought it would make better television. This is truly a sad case of misrepresentation of science.<br /><br />Why not simply put more suckers on the rocksucking cliffhanger? I mean, most animals in the world today have more than two limbs, and it would make sense for the cliffhanger to devote more than just its mouth to retaining its suction on the wall, especially given its height. The cliffhangers in the clip do have arms, but these seem vestigial.<br /><br />What is interesting is the idea of a habitat dominated by sloping grounds or nearly sheer cliff-like surfaces. How would this kind of habitat evolve? Would it arise in a manner similar to the strange rock formations of Madagascar or the canyons of the Colorado Plateau, but on a large scale? And what kind of creatures would inhabit them? My guess would be that many of the species might be flying organisms, with a hummingbird-like wing to help them hover in place to help scrape lichen off walls, or else cling to the wall with claws while they are grazing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-66911875232537687602010-05-30T23:13:41.105+02:002010-05-30T23:13:41.105+02:00With it's tiny (relative to body size) lensed ...With it's tiny (relative to body size) lensed eyes, and rapid rate of falling when the yellow, gliding predators attacked it gives every evidence of being a large, heavy creature on a world with gravity similar to ours.<br /><br />Eyes are a good way to judge scale, since they don't need to scale with the creature like limbs and bones.<br /><br />If gravity were low, and or it had gas bladders to make it significantly less heavy, it should have fallen more slowly.<br /><br /><br />Who knows, I would have guessed that the cliff-climbing was an afterthought, added in at the last minute to make the stolid herbivore more interesting, but the yellow glider seems to have been designed with cliff-climbing prey in mind.<br /><br />Even if they had just made it climb head down it would have made a lot more sense.<br /><br /><br />Re: Orb maps:<br />Thanks, Sigmund.<br /><br />My 3D skills are limited, but all i need right now is a way to see the Orb as a round globe so i can avoid polar distortions. This method: http://tinyurl.com/25ccypv works for that, but i may call on you at a later stage in production.j. w. bjerkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06800512284198234202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-89498766813687104202010-05-30T22:41:24.603+02:002010-05-30T22:41:24.603+02:00Hello Luciano,
Your arguments run similar to mine...Hello Luciano,<br /><br />Your arguments run similar to mine: if this animal is to be believable, then it has to be extremely light, either because it lives on a low-gravity world, or because its mass is tiny. Both cases ought to result in a similar build. I am preparing one or two posts on how limb thickness scales in relation to body mass and gravity. <br /><br />The problem is that right now the cliffhanger/grazer's limbs look like they are built to move a fairly large mass around. They do not look like an insect's limbs at all, which is why I opted for the unpleasant explanation that someone did not put enough thought into these creatures. I doubt that Hawking himself is to blame. Commercial television is the more likely culprit: beyond a certain superficial effort there is no -material- gain in getting things right.Sigmund Nastrazzurrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16449461215427527447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-88505690318673963842010-05-30T17:34:39.809+02:002010-05-30T17:34:39.809+02:00I noticed this problem too when I watched the show...I noticed this problem too when I watched the show and my first thought was that the cliffgrazer (that's what I'm calling it) must have a REALLY light body structure, with hidrogen bladders inside and everything...<br /><br />Or it could just be a really small animal, like an insect<br /><br />Either way Dr. Hawking should have adressed those issuesLuciano N. Ribeironoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-25264916993423005962010-05-28T23:23:52.093+02:002010-05-28T23:23:52.093+02:00That's a good thing to consider. Often produc...That's a good thing to consider. Often producers or others who are in charge of funding end up having more say in the final output than those they hire to make things plausible.Evan Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10493966209787828900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-43130760343963119602010-05-28T22:40:51.321+02:002010-05-28T22:40:51.321+02:00Those were largely my sentiments too. In this blog...Those were largely my sentiments too. In this blog, I try to be positive, not an easy thing for someone inclined to cynicism.<br /><br />I guess the vertical life style is a secondary invention by someone who though the original idea needed sprucing up. <br /><br />By the way, I like your 'Orb' maps. Contact me on 'nastrazzurro AT gmail.com' should you need or wish tips on 3D depictions.Sigmund Nastrazzurrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16449461215427527447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-9700336218574270582010-05-28T21:05:45.043+02:002010-05-28T21:05:45.043+02:00Wow...
I think that's the most obviously flaw...Wow...<br /><br />I think that's the most obviously flawed design of any purportedly serious attempt at alien life that i've ever seen. You don't even have to know anything about biology to see that it wouldn't work.<br /><br />Of course the biology is dubious too. Climbing vertical cliffs largely by suction has to be a high calorie life-style. Yet we have huge herds of apparently very large animals subsisting on some algae/lichen analog that is so sparse it doesn't even visibly discolor the rock face.j. w. bjerkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06800512284198234202noreply@blogger.com