good doctor W, did you hear they found a fossil of a dino that wasnt much bigger than a pheasant, feathered but flightless...
Didn’t hear about it, but it’s no surprise. The boundary between Theropods and Birds is hot territory in paleontology these days. They keep coming up with new things, and reinterpreting old ones. I think the reconfiguration of the Dinosaur myth, from one of death and disappearance, to one of transformation and survival (as birds), is a very hopeful sign; an aspect of the rebirth of the Goddess, so to speak. Bird as Dino is currently in fashion, hopefully because it’s good science, but also because we want it to be true. The passion that drives today’s paleontologists is often the sheer love of Dinosaurs that they experienced as children. It’s a big contrast to the earlier scientists, who thought they were discovering primitive giants that had been bypassed by rational history. Today, we no longer sneer at the Dinosaurs, we want to bring them back to life. This should remind us that science is never truly objective, and we have a way of finding the truths we look for. Under the circumstances, we might as well believe in things wonderful and strange. Three hundred years ago, no one had ever heard of a Dinosaur; now they are a familiar part of our lives, even if they still don’t exist. If this trend continues, they should be alive again any time now.
Couldn’t find a link for your story, but Honeyguide points to this piece about the first Giant Squids seen alive. Babies. We killed them.
here
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- Skinny 3-10-2002 1:38 am
Didn’t hear about it, but it’s no surprise. The boundary between Theropods and Birds is hot territory in paleontology these days. They keep coming up with new things, and reinterpreting old ones. I think the reconfiguration of the Dinosaur myth, from one of death and disappearance, to one of transformation and survival (as birds), is a very hopeful sign; an aspect of the rebirth of the Goddess, so to speak. Bird as Dino is currently in fashion, hopefully because it’s good science, but also because we want it to be true. The passion that drives today’s paleontologists is often the sheer love of Dinosaurs that they experienced as children. It’s a big contrast to the earlier scientists, who thought they were discovering primitive giants that had been bypassed by rational history. Today, we no longer sneer at the Dinosaurs, we want to bring them back to life. This should remind us that science is never truly objective, and we have a way of finding the truths we look for. Under the circumstances, we might as well believe in things wonderful and strange. Three hundred years ago, no one had ever heard of a Dinosaur; now they are a familiar part of our lives, even if they still don’t exist. If this trend continues, they should be alive again any time now.
- alex 3-10-2002 6:18 pm [add a comment]
Couldn’t find a link for your story, but Honeyguide points to this piece about the first Giant Squids seen alive. Babies. We killed them.
- alex 3-10-2002 6:23 pm [add a comment]
here
- Skinny 3-11-2002 2:15 am [add a comment]