https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-day-the-dinosaurs-died
Great Article, though long.
TLDR: Paleontologist discovers what appears to be immediate victims of the Extinction level event that killed off the Dinosaurs.
PacifistAg said:
Thanks for sharing. My son will love this. We're actually going on a dino road trip this summer for my son's 13th. Going up through Colorado (Dinosaur Resource Center & Dinosaur Ridge), then to an actual dig site in the Hell Creek formation in South Dakota. It's going to be so fun.
You should check out the book A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. In addition to giving a fascinating (and fun) survey of many scientific fields, he also looks at the scientists involved in many of the key scientific breakthroughs and discoveries. Many of the men (and women) involved were incredibly petty and flawed, actively seeking to not only sabotage the reputations of those who backed competing theories but also attempting to sabotage their work as well. Some of the stories make Game of Thrones look like a kindergarten playground fight by comparison.JJMt said:
It's interesting to read accounts describing how Alvarez worked to destroy the careers of every scientist who disagreed with his thesis that the impact caused the dinosaur extinction. Those accounts shed a lot of light about what we supposedly "know" about science, and how effective science is at self-correcting.
Truth.Quote:
What I've never seen anybody discuss, at least in the articles that have come across my screen, is whether the extinction event could have been due to multiple causes, such as the impacts and the volcanoes in India. Why does it have to be one or the other?
That's what I was thinking when I read about Horner's reaction to De Palma's discovery of a hadrosaur's fused vertebrae with a t-rex tooth inside, which went against Horner's theory that the tyrannosaurus was a scavenger. He came across very petty with his comment about not really knowing him because they don't really know "students".Quote:
You should check out the book A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. In addition to giving a fascinating (and fun) survey of many scientific fields, he also looks at the scientists involved in many of the key scientific breakthroughs and discoveries. Many of the men (and women) involved were incredibly petty and flawed, actively seeking to not only sabotage the reputations of those who backed competing theories but also attempting to sabotage their work as well. Some of the stories make Game of Thrones look like a kindergarten playground fight by comparison.
Quote:
Bakker and his 1986 book are mentioned in the original Jurassic Park. The bearded paleontologist Dr. Robert Burke, who is eaten by a Tyrannosaurus rex in Steven Spielberg's film The Lost World: Jurassic Park, is an affectionate caricature of Bakker. In real life, Bakker has argued for a predatory T. rex, while Bakker's rival paleontologist Jack Horner views it as primarily a scavenger. According to Horner, Spielberg wrote the character of Burke and had him killed by the T. rex as a favor for Horner. After the film came out, Bakker recognized himself in Burke, loved the caricature, and actually sent Horner a message saying, "See, I told you T. rexwas a hunter!".
Yes, he does. Burke, by comparison, comes across as very gracious and self-aware.PacifistAg said:That's what I was thinking when I read about Horner's reaction to De Palma's discovery of a hadrosaur's fused vertebrae with a t-rex tooth inside, which went against Horner's theory that the tyrannosaurus was a scavenger. He came across very petty with his comment about not really knowing him because they don't really know "students".Quote:
You should check out the book A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. In addition to giving a fascinating (and fun) survey of many scientific fields, he also looks at the scientists involved in many of the key scientific breakthroughs and discoveries. Many of the men (and women) involved were incredibly petty and flawed, actively seeking to not only sabotage the reputations of those who backed competing theories but also attempting to sabotage their work as well. Some of the stories make Game of Thrones look like a kindergarten playground fight by comparison.
I was reading up on Bakker and I know that he and Horner are considered rivals. This is from Bakker's wiki page:Quote:
Bakker and his 1986 book are mentioned in the original Jurassic Park. The bearded paleontologist Dr. Robert Burke, who is eaten by a Tyrannosaurus rex in Steven Spielberg's film The Lost World: Jurassic Park, is an affectionate caricature of Bakker. In real life, Bakker has argued for a predatory T. rex, while Bakker's rival paleontologist Jack Horner views it as primarily a scavenger. According to Horner, Spielberg wrote the character of Burke and had him killed by the T. rex as a favor for Horner. After the film came out, Bakker recognized himself in Burke, loved the caricature, and actually sent Horner a message saying, "See, I told you T. rexwas a hunter!".
Horner comes across as very petty.
amercer said:
In other Dino news, I read this last week:
http:///www.bbc.com/news/amp/science-environment-47684989
It would be awesome to spend a couple of days at a dig.
"So Bye, Bye, Tyrannosaurus RexFrok said:
Anyone else hum the title of this thread to "American Pie" by Don Mclean?