Newsgroups: sci.physics,sci.physics.relativity,rec.arts.sf.written,alt.astronomy Path: csiph.com!feeder.erje.net!2.us.feeder.erje.net!news.glorb.com!border1.nntp.dca1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!kithrup.com!djheydt From: djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) Subject: Re: speaking of dinosaurs.. Message-ID: Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2017 04:55:58 GMT References: <592C82BA.14FA@ix.netcom.com> <1914979.Mh6RI2rZIc@PointedEars.de> Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ld. X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test77 (Sep 1, 2010) Lines: 46 Xref: csiph.com sci.physics:634954 sci.physics.relativity:421291 rec.arts.sf.written:472539 alt.astronomy:291164 In article , Ned Latham wrote: >Thomas 'PointyHead' Lahn wrote: >> >> [Your readers are _not_ hyper-intelligent bats used to reading from bottom >> to top. Also, in English, punctuation is seldom preceded by space. >> Learn to post.] >> >> "Hägar" amok-crossposted across 4 newsgroups: >> >> > The physics of an organic creature that big ( e.g. - Brontasaurus ) >> >> There is no "Brontasaurus". Perhaps you were thinking of _Brontosaurus_, >> but nobody has claimed that Brontosaurus could fly. >> >> > flying are prohibitive ! >> >> Why? > >As organsisms increase in size, the cross-section, and thus the >load-bearing capacity, of body parts increases with the square >of the size increase, whereas the mass increases with its cube. >A physicist should know that, Pointy Head. > >> > Much smaller Taradactiles >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> Pardon? > >Pterodactyl, dummy. > >> > were really stretching the envelope ! >> >> Why? > >'Coz they were big, dummy. Wide wingspans, but not very heavy. They had hollow bones, as their descendants the birds do. The largest whose remains have been discovered thus far was _Quetzalcoatlus,_ whose wingspan was about 11 meters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus -- Dorothy J. Heydt Vallejo, California djheydt at gmail dot com