it *is* strange that none of the throwback lizards that are still around have the characteristic posture of the brontosaurus kind of dinosaur
it's enough to make you wonder if maybe the bones are being put together wrong (still).
why would only sea going beasties retain the shape? something that remained largely (ha!) the same for a solid 200m years has got to have some use. possibly its only valid in the sea, and the assembly of land based dinosaurs has been skewed by the earlier discovery of aquatic ones?
all the throwback lizards we've got hold pretty firmly to the low-and-musclebound alligator formation.
maybe it's more of a malthusian thing - the higher, physically, a beastie is, the easier it is to be seen, and therefore killed, by fast running, spear wielding little nasties.. ergo, more likely to be hunted to extinction.
perhaps the lower profile merely resulted in a lower likelihood of being seen (easier to hide in grass, swamps, etc).
much like this recently found mammal - it only comes out at night, and lives in a remote place, ergo, hard to see.
which I guess, does make me wonder - what happens when a) global satellite scanning is ubiquitous, b) with very high resolution (ie, mm), and c) you can run automatic identification software over it - get a bunch of computers to start auto-scanning the planet for new species? now -that's- gotta be a cool app to work on..
Ground penetrating radar especially. At high res, heat detecting to a fine degree (identifying critters by the *exact* temperature of their central nervous system).
meanwhile, i really like the following bits of the god thing:
"If that which we cannot fully explain must be the product of an intelligent designer.
AND
humans cannot fully explain God (see the Bible)
THEN
God must be the product of an intelligent designer.
THUS
There is more than one God/Intelligent Designer
AND THUS
The Bible is wrong."
and
"My God is not a jealous God, he is a pouty God who can be placated with pizza. The next time we don’t feel like cooking and order a pie for delivery, I’ll set a slice aside for Him.
well yeah, ground penetrating. Excellent. And maybe talking heat signatures of the spinal systems, etc. Could get some -really- sophisticated analysis going with -that- data. Now just to collect a couple of hundred thousand machines to do the number crunching.....
I always thought the U2 comment "The God I believe in isn't short of cash, Mister" was a nice succinct summary of the modern American approach to religion (televangelism, particularly).
but yes, hmm.. how about recursive designers? I'll design you, if you design me? something like this:
ack. I need serious power - not just humdrum random house machines.
also, once you start pulling down 100% cpu for days/weeks at a time, people start to notice.
the key trick is to get a semi-decent return from a few hundred machines, then easy to get people to invest in several thousand - and scale up from there. also, once you get serious hardware, operating costs (power to run, cooling, maintenance) start to dwarf the initial investment.. time for some clever spreadsheeting. I have some theories on this, but it's not time to apply them just yet..
(The comment has been removed)
but ok, just for you, here's a pic of a tiny brontosauraus..
( ... )
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it's enough to make you wonder if maybe the bones are being put together wrong (still).
why would only sea going beasties retain the shape? something that remained largely (ha!) the same for a solid 200m years has got to have some use. possibly its only valid in the sea, and the assembly of land based dinosaurs has been skewed by the earlier discovery of aquatic ones?
all the throwback lizards we've got hold pretty firmly to the low-and-musclebound alligator formation.
Reply
perhaps the lower profile merely resulted in a lower likelihood of being seen (easier to hide in grass, swamps, etc).
much like this recently found mammal - it only comes out at night, and lives in a remote place, ergo, hard to see.
which I guess, does make me wonder - what happens when a) global satellite scanning is ubiquitous, b) with very high resolution (ie, mm), and c) you can run automatic identification software over it - get a bunch of computers to start auto-scanning the planet for new species? now -that's- gotta be a cool app to work on..
Reply
At high res, heat detecting to a fine degree (identifying critters by the *exact* temperature of their central nervous system).
meanwhile, i really like the following bits of the god thing:
"If that which we cannot fully explain must be the product of an intelligent designer.
AND
humans cannot fully explain God (see the Bible)
THEN
God must be the product of an intelligent designer.
THUS
There is more than one God/Intelligent Designer
AND THUS
The Bible is wrong."
and
"My God is not a jealous God, he is a pouty God who can be placated with pizza. The next time we don’t feel like cooking and order a pie for delivery, I’ll set a slice aside for Him.
Hold the anchovies, world without end. Amen. "
Reply
I always thought the U2 comment "The God I believe in isn't short of cash, Mister" was a nice succinct summary of the modern American approach to religion (televangelism, particularly).
but yes, hmm.. how about recursive designers? I'll design you, if you design me? something like this:
( ... )
Reply
besides, once you get the info together, you'll only need a coupla tens of thousands of machines.
easy to do with a worm or two :P
Reply
also, once you start pulling down 100% cpu for days/weeks at a time, people start to notice.
the key trick is to get a semi-decent return from a few hundred machines, then easy to get people to invest in several thousand - and scale up from there. also, once you get serious hardware, operating costs (power to run, cooling, maintenance) start to dwarf the initial investment.. time for some clever spreadsheeting. I have some theories on this, but it's not time to apply them just yet..
Reply
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