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Today I took another Science Study Break where they show media clips and discuss the science portrayed. Today I learned a little about the science (and lack thereof) behind "Jurassic Park."
When that movie first came out I was working in a zoology department, and the first reviews I (over)heard were from faculty members talking about how it was shockingly realistic for a movie.
Today's speaker was a geologist who studies dinosaurs, so he might have a slightly different viewpoint.
Guess whether the following implications from "Jurassic Park" are true or false. Answers, based on how I heard what I think Dr. Rowe said, will be in the comments section.
1. Archaeologists mostly use brushes (like paintbrushes) to dig bones out of the sand once they can see them.
2. You can use machines to send soundwaves through the ground to help you find skeletons.
3. There are strong similarities between dinosaurs and birds such as how the pelvis is tilted, something in the tail, something about the neck, etc.
4. DNA is a blueprint.
5. One could get dinosaur DNA by extracting dinosaur blood from a mosquito trapped in amber.
6. Velociraptor eggs are a more oblong shape than chicken eggs and larger, about six inches long. They are laid out in a semicircle in a nest.
7. One could fill any gaps in the DNA with frog DNA and get a viable specimen.
The next questions are based on "Jurassic Park III."
8. Things can be scanned to make a 3D reproduction of them.
9. The velociraptors in the movie had lifelike movement, given what we know about how skeletons, etc. work.
10. Velociraptors are almost as tall as an adult human movie star.
When that movie first came out I was working in a zoology department, and the first reviews I (over)heard were from faculty members talking about how it was shockingly realistic for a movie.
Today's speaker was a geologist who studies dinosaurs, so he might have a slightly different viewpoint.
Guess whether the following implications from "Jurassic Park" are true or false. Answers, based on how I heard what I think Dr. Rowe said, will be in the comments section.
1. Archaeologists mostly use brushes (like paintbrushes) to dig bones out of the sand once they can see them.
2. You can use machines to send soundwaves through the ground to help you find skeletons.
3. There are strong similarities between dinosaurs and birds such as how the pelvis is tilted, something in the tail, something about the neck, etc.
4. DNA is a blueprint.
5. One could get dinosaur DNA by extracting dinosaur blood from a mosquito trapped in amber.
6. Velociraptor eggs are a more oblong shape than chicken eggs and larger, about six inches long. They are laid out in a semicircle in a nest.
7. One could fill any gaps in the DNA with frog DNA and get a viable specimen.
The next questions are based on "Jurassic Park III."
8. Things can be scanned to make a 3D reproduction of them.
9. The velociraptors in the movie had lifelike movement, given what we know about how skeletons, etc. work.
10. Velociraptors are almost as tall as an adult human movie star.