Dinos on the moon

[alkemical]

http://sciencefictionbiology.blogspot.com/2008/02/stenonychosaurus-on-moon.html

It may sound like science fiction, but NASA scientist Chris McKay (http://spacescience.arc.nasa.gov/people/mckay/) did suggest that we dig for dinosaur relics on the moon at a SETI conference last week. Robin Hansen reports (http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/02/dinos-on-the-mo.html) on what he heard and quotes McKay's 1996 paper, "Time for intelligence on other planets":

It is now considered probable that the dinosaurs were not the lumbering clods of urban myth but that they were biochemically and behaviorally as sophisticated as present mammals. Evidence continues to point to parentling and social behavior that is on a par wit small mammals and birds. ... [Considero] the small carnivorous dinosaur Stenonychosaurus, which stood about 120cm, weighed about 40 kg, and had [a brain size ratio] about equal to that of a possum or an octopus, and lived over 12 million years before the end of the dinosaurs. ...

One might speculate that perhaps Stenonychosaurus or her progeny did build radio telescopes, but their civilization was destroyed by some internal or external catastrophe. Perhaps the lifetime of their civilization was so short compared with the resolution of the geological record (typically millions of years) that it is simply lost without a trace in the depths of time. It is difficult to say what evidence would survive of human civilization - if it was terminated now - after 65 million years of tectonic activity, erosion, and sea level change. It is interesting to note that there is one place where the record of human technology will be preserved for times much longer than 100 million years. ... The Apollo landing sites on the Moon would bear mute testimony to technological humans.

Of course, the dinosaurs might have have even more optimistic goals (and a well-funded space program). Maybe, just maybe, they are still out there somewhere - and you can read about them:

* The first story I read that suggested that dinos evolved into smarter creatures than we realized was Barry B. Longyear's (http://www.barryblongyear.com/) The Homecoming (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/059521309X?ie=UTF8&tag=sciencefictionbiology-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=059521309X), in which intelligent descendants of the dinosaurs return to Earth.
* Then, of course there is Robert J. Sawyer (http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm)'s Quintaglio Ascension trilogy (http://www.sfwriter.com/quintag.htm) features an intelligent race evolved from dinosaurs living on the planet Quintaglio. Be sure to read his essay (http://www.sfwriter.com/rmquinta.htm) about the evolution of the Quintaglios from Nanotyrannus.

[Bronco Bob]

[I]One might speculate that perhaps Stenonychosaurus or her progeny did build radio telescopes, but their civilization was destroyed by some internal or external catastrophe. Perhaps the lifetime of their civilization was so short compared with the resolution of the geological record (typically millions of years) that it is simply lost without a trace in the depths of time. It is difficult to say what evidence would survive of human civilization - if it was terminated now - after 65 million years of tectonic activity, erosion, and sea level change. It is interesting to note that there is one place where the record of human technology will be preserved for times much longer than 100 million years. ... The Apollo landing sites on the Moon would bear mute testimony to technological humans.


The History Channel had a show on recently that speculated what would happen
if humans were to suddenly vanish off the face of the earth.
They broke it down to what would happen in a day, a week, a month,
a year, 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years. The upshot is that within
10,000 years all traces of human civilization would have vanished.
Even the pyramids would have been buried under the desert sands
by then.
So it is indeed plausible that in 65 million years all traces of a dinosaur
civilization would have vanished without a trace.

[alkemical]

The History Channel had a show on recently that speculated what would happen
if humans were to suddenly vanish off the face of the earth.
They broke it down to what would happen in a day, a week, a month,
a year, 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years. The upshot is that within
10,000 years all traces of human civilization would have vanished.
Even the pyramids would have been buried under the desert sands
by then.
So it is indeed plausible that in 65 million years all traces of a dinosaur
civilization would have vanished without a trace.


I have this weird suspicion that all that comes from imagination, MIGHT, MIGHT actually exist somewhere. (I can't say if "you" give it birth or whatnot, only that... it's just a thought).

[Spider]

OIL ON THE MOON ........ Haliburton is already on their way there ;D

[cutthemdown]

OIL ON THE MOON ........ Haliburton is already on their way there ;D

It's all the helium-3 not oil.

[Spider]

It's all the helium-3 not oil.

Look everyone knows Oil comes from Dinosaurs , and everyone Knows god Created the earth in 6 days used the 7 day to put oil on the moon .Dont argue with me ;D

[The Lone Bolt]

I know for a fact there were dinosaurs on the moon! They were killed off by mini-nukes!Yikes!

[Hotrod]

The History Channel had a show on recently that speculated what would happen
if humans were to suddenly vanish off the face of the earth.
They broke it down to what would happen in a day, a week, a month,
a year, 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years. The upshot is that within
10,000 years all traces of human civilization would have vanished.
Even the pyramids would have been buried under the desert sands
by then.
So it is indeed plausible that in 65 million years all traces of a dinosaur
civilization would have vanished without a trace.

That was a good show. I actually caught myself wanting to live here about 1000 years after the rest of you eggheads were gone :)

The planet really cleaned up nice without us

[Bronco Bob]

I know for a fact there were dinosaurs on the moon! They were killed off by mini-nukes!Yikes!

That's what caused all the craters on the moon, mini-nuke bomb craters.

[Old Dude]

C'mon guys. Let's get serious.

http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/display/8c9a59b4-9f86-41c9-b712-fa8cff26a3a8.jpg

http://pbskids.kids.us/images/sub-square-barney.gif

http://homerderby.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/dinger-193.jpg

How many of these guys do you think could even drive a car?

[BABronco]

The History Channel had a show on recently that speculated what would happen
if humans were to suddenly vanish off the face of the earth.
They broke it down to what would happen in a day, a week, a month,
a year, 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years. The upshot is that within
10,000 years all traces of human civilization would have vanished.
Even the pyramids would have been buried under the desert sands
by then.
So it is indeed plausible that in 65 million years all traces of a dinosaur
civilization would have vanished without a trace.

sounds interesting. Whats was it called?

[alkemical]

http://c.myspace.com/Groups/00005/90/97/5677909_l.jpg

http://www.urbanhonking.com/universe/Reptoid.jpg

C'mon guys. Let's get serious.

http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/display/8c9a59b4-9f86-41c9-b712-fa8cff26a3a8.jpg

http://pbskids.kids.us/images/sub-square-barney.gif

http://homerderby.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/dinger-193.jpg

How many of these guys do you think could even drive a car?

[Bronco Bob]

sounds interesting. Whats was it called?

Life After People.

http://www.history.com/minisites/life_after_people/

[That One Guy]

So.... if we're still able to find dinosaur remains in tact, where'd their houses go? I'd think the elements could do away with a living body much easier than it could a car or spaceship. This is crazyness...

[alkemical]

So.... if we're still able to find dinosaur remains in tact, where'd their houses go? I'd think the elements could do away with a living body much easier than it could a car or spaceship. This is crazyness...

I dunno - but i like crazy.

[Bronco Bob]

So.... if we're still able to find dinosaur remains in tact, where'd their houses go? I'd think the elements could do away with a living body much easier than it could a car or spaceship. This is crazyness...

The only reason we find bones is that there were so many dinosaurs alive
in a given year, probably millions alive at any one time, and each one
eventually died or was killed. And dinosuars were on earth for 120 million years.
So say 10 million dinosaurs died each year. That means perhaps
1200 trillion dinosaurs died over the time they were on earth. Lots
of chances for a few here and there to get preserved long enough to
find their fossilized bones. And still these are very rare. So say
an intelligent dinosaur race did have cars, airplanes, etc. How many
would they have? A few thousand? What's the odds of finding
a car made of some metal after 65 million years.

[ElwayMD]

Well there was a cartoon called dinosaucers, where space travelling dinosaurs came to help humans, and we all know that children's cartoons are based on fact. So they must be out there...somewhere. We should have NASA build a dinosaur detecting dish and put it out there with the Hubble telescope.

[alkemical]

AND that's saying that they used the same types of technology we use/have.

Maybe they didn't need cars, etc. Maybe they could teleport using crystal power or something we don't know of/about.

[alkemical]

Well there was a cartoon called dinosaucers, where space travelling dinosaurs came to help humans, and we all know that children's cartoons are based on fact. So they must be out there...somewhere. We should have NASA build a dinosaur detecting dish and put it out there with the Hubble telescope.

Maybe it was a subversive reptilian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilian_humanoid) programming show?

[Spider]

One theory is that the moon was once part of earth , some crack pot came up with a asteriod crashed into the earth back in the day , and the moon was a large rock that broke away

[Bronco Bob]

One theory is that the moon was once part of earth , some crack pot came up with a asteriod crashed into the earth back in the day , and the moon was a large rock that broke away

The moon was formed when a planet named Theia, which was the size of Mars,
crashed into the earth 4.5 billion years ago. The resulting debris that got
ejected into space eventually coalesced together to form the moon.
This accounts for the fact that the moon has no iron core, (The heavy
iron core of Theia sank to the center of the earth.) And that the moon
is so much larger that the moons around any other planet in relation
to the size of the host planet. Also the moon rocks gathered during
the Apollo missions are nearly identical to earth rocks in relation
to oxygen isotopes. This is the currently accepted theory for the
origin of the moon. So in that regard, the moon was once part of
the earth, and also a part of Theia, as the present day earth and moon
are the result of Theia colliding with the earth 4.5 billion year ago.

[alkemical]

No way, the 5th element's theory of the moon is much better. :)

[Bronco Bob]

No way, the 5th element's theory of the moon is much better. :)

But do the moon rocks back up that theory?

[alkemical]

But do the moon rocks back up that theory?

Of course, they are from the moon.

[Bronco Bob]

Of course, they are from the moon.

I mean is the ratio of oxygen isotopes in the moon rocks compatible with the 5th element theory.

[alkemical]

I mean is the ratio of oxygen isotopes in the moon rocks compatible with the 5th element theory.

I guess we'll have to wait for the "second" moon. ;)

[Spider]

The moon was formed when a planet named Theia, which was the size of Mars,
crashed into the earth 4.5 billion years ago. The resulting debris that got
ejected into space eventually coalesced together to form the moon.
This accounts for the fact that the moon has no iron core, (The heavy
iron core of Theia sank to the center of the earth.) And that the moon
is so much larger that the moons around any other planet in relation
to the size of the host planet. Also the moon rocks gathered during
the Apollo missions are nearly identical to earth rocks in relation
to oxygen isotopes. This is the currently accepted theory for the
origin of the moon. So in that regard, the moon was once part of
the earth, and also a part of Theia, as the present day earth and moon
are the result of Theia colliding with the earth 4.5 billion year ago.
Yeah I kinda figured it was the Clintons fault