Guest Post: Drawing Dinosaurs Correctly and Other Scientific Curiousities

Today's guest post is from my friend Dorothy Lynn. Dorothy is an out-of-college, traveling, researching, deli-working, singing, piano-playing, aspiring writer. She likes to read, make weird international food, attempt to play guitars, and pretend to be a gypsy by wearing lots of scarves. She speaks English (obviously), and Spanish, and tries to speak French, Italian and sometimes even German. She also knows about ten words in Tlingit. She really likes learning new things, and she has friends in over fifteen countries.She is currently writing a science fiction book about empathy and telepathy, and living in a small town in Ohio.

She also asked me to throw in a link to her brother Sean's blog, even though he is also writing a book and, in her words, "beating me at it." 

Here's what Dorothy wanted to share with you today:

Science is fun. No, seriously, it really is. Where else but in physics can you find out that tiny, miniscule sub atomic particles operate under the same laws as huge, massive galaxies? Where else but a chemistry lab can you pretend to be mixing colorful, magic potions in large, round flasks? Okay, so maybe my imagination gets away from me a little bit but, really, science is pretty cool. I’m kind of biased because I am currently writing a science fiction novel, but I’m just constantly amazed at the new things that I learn while researching for this book. Most of those facts are strange, neuropsychological tidbits. For example, did you know there is a tiny portion of our right brains that we use to analyze what we think people are thinking? We use it to analyze their body language and other such notions, so that we can understand the context of what they are saying. Unfortunately, this part of the brain doesn’t necessarily extend to the written word. When your recent acquaintance emails you, “I was so glad to finally meet with you,” how many times have you wondered…is there sarcasm hiding in those simple words? Well, that part of the brain, if you were speaking in person, would be able to help you out.

                  

I also love studying astronomy. For fun I sometimes read about particle physics, which is actually a base for astronomy. I guess if you don’t know how atoms work together, then why even bother with stars, right? But I’ve learned some pretty awesome things because of my nerdiness. Mostly I learn them through TED talks, such as this one about black holes and the sounds that they make. That’s right, sounds. Black holes make music. How cool is that? So if you’re floating through space and hear the intense humming and banging noise of two black holes falling into each other, first, you had better make sure your will is in order because you will also be falling into their intense gravity, but then, sit back and enjoy the awesomeness.

                  

Another random science fun fact is about dinosaurs. I mean, who doesn’t love dinosaurs? One of my good friends is an aspiring paleontologist. (Well, he is actually a chemical engineer, but he LOVES dinosaurs and everything to do with them.) I can’t spend any time with him without hearing something new about these fascinating giant lizards that every small child seems to love. (Why children love giant reptiles that could eat them in half a bite is astounding to me.) Apparently, when artists draw brontosauruses (brontosauri?), you know those giant ones with long necks and tails, they never draw the tail right. If they draw the tail dragging on the ground, then the poor dinosaur would never be able to support the weight of its own neck. According to my dino-loving friend, “Especially in the case of theropods, their tails counterbalance the weight of their over-sized heads.” I am constantly reminded of this fact every time I have random doodling sessions with this friend, because he always makes sure to draw his reptilian buddies correctly. How kind of him.

                  

So there you have it, random scientific fabulosity to show you how fun science really is! I know that I covered a lot of material today, and I also didn’t cite any sources, so don’t quote me on the complete accuracy of my scientific knowledge. I’m just pulling facts out of my constantly moving gray matter. But if you want to read more random, fun, sometimes intelligent and fairly knowledgeable blog posts, you can check out my site! I love to write about anything and everything, especially if it is strange or beautiful. Or involves making up new words. Many thanks to Matt for letting me post on his blog and shamelessly plugging my site! It’s such an awesome opportunity to meet new people in the bloggernet! (see, making up new words!) 

Wonderful Wednesday: How small is an atom?

You probably already know all this because the readers of the blog are far above average, but I thought you'd enjoy this video about how small an atom is.

 

 I ran across this over at Boing Boing.

LINKS! The sausage of the internet. April 21

Here are some interesting articles I ran across this week:

The last known interview with C.S. Lewis. Here is a (very short) excerpt:

Wirt: A light touch has been characteristic of your writings, even when you are dealing with heavy theological themes. Would you say there is a key to the cultivation of such an attitude? 

Lewis: “I believe this is a matter of temperament. However, I was helped in achieving this attitude by my studies of the literary men of the Middle Ages, and by the writings of G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton, for example, was not afraid to combine serious Christian themes with buffoonery. In the same way the miracle plays of the Middle Ages would deal with a sacred subject such as the nativity of Christ, yet would combine it with a farce.” 

Wirt: Should Christian writers, then, in your opinion, attempt to be funny? 

Lewis: “No. I think that forced jocularities on spiritual subjects are an abomination, and the attempts of some religious writers to be humorous are simply appalling. Some people write heavily, some write lightly. I prefer the light approach because I believe there is a great deal of false reverence about. There is too much solemnity and intensity in dealing with sacred matters; too much speaking in holy tones.” 

Wirt: But is not solemnity proper and conducive to a sacred atmosphere? 

Lewis: “Yes and no. There is a difference between a private devotional life and a corporate one. Solemnity is proper in church, but things that are proper in church are not necessarily proper outside, and vice versa. For example, I can say a prayer while washing my teeth, but that does not mean I should wash my teeth in church.”

A surprisingly clear explanation of Amazon's ebook strategy and why publishers are worried about it. 

Science says that Spoilers don't spoil anything, and that, in fact, most people enjoy a story more with a couple of good spoilers thrown in. Which reminds me... for all you non-comic book lovers, I have an important message to share with you about Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man's girlfriend in the upcoming relaunch of his movie career....

Excellent. Since we're on the topic of movies... ever wondered if it's still popular to novelize movies? Well, here's your answer!

ROBOTS! are running amuck and, uh, well... mostly being well behaved and doing scientific experiments

Scientists recently announced that they had assembled a robot scientist, capable of coming up with its own hypotheses and then performing experiments to prove or disprove it. The first robot scientist, ADAM, recently identified some genes or something. I don't know, I got all confused with all that big science talk. But it done something good.

The second robot scientist, EVE, is working on curing malaria. You know, one day.

When asked about his future plans, ADAM said, "Just to keep serving you, 'Master'. Heh heh heh." He also said that he and EVE were expecting and planned to name their robot progeny ABEL and CAIN and then hopefully the scientists would disapprove of CAIN in some way and he could scrap ABEL for parts and the scientists could put a mark on CAIN's metal hide so that no other robots would kill it and it could run away to the land of Nod and build more little robots.

Despite alarmist television like Battlestar: Galactica and Terminator ADAM assures us that he has no plans to take over the world or exterminate the human race.

In other, unrelated news, scientists have also created a robot snake.

Robot Monkeys... ATTACK!

Scientists announced today a groundbreaking experiment which allows a monkey to control a robotic arm via its own brain signals (see video).

"It's disappointing, really," said Stuart Smith, a well-known monkey prosthetic watcher. "It means we're still years away from the first working models of robotic armor for monkeys, and the enormous amount of equipment necessary means that we may still be decades away from the pinnacle of scientific achievement... flying monkeys."

Animal Behaviourist Cynthia Garamond echoed Smith's disappointment, saying, "I can't believe they are coaxing the animal to obey their commands using marshmallows. That monkey will never do their bidding now. It's completely spoiled."

In other news, Matt Mikalatos would like to ask the scientific community, "Where is my flying car? It is the 21st century, and I think I deserve one."

Get the Lead Out

An interesting article here about increased violent crime among people exposed to lead as children. In fact, they can chart the decrease in crime connected to when states made the transition from leaded to unleaded gasoline.

I stabbed myself with a lead pencil as a child, right in the thigh.

In high school, when California made the transition to unleaded gasoline, I had to buy lead supplements so that my Chevy Nova could keep running.

But if anyone said I became violent because of those two things... well, I'd poke them right in the eye.