Come on, let’s all get happy
Updated 2/10/06: now with a better illustration of the new dinosaur, courtesy Jyllands-Posten.
Isn’t this a gorgeous animal? Sometimes, when the world is too much with us — late and soon, getting and spending, hating cartoons — it’s a relief to plunge one’s head back into the Happy World of Science. This beautiful creature, as I’m sure you’ve read in the news, is the 160-million-year-old crested dinosaur discovered in northwest China. It’s thought to be an early relative of T. Rex.
It’s a little known fact, but back when Dr. Socks was a young footlet, she considered a career in paleontology. Alas, that career option was dropped along with archaeology when she discovered that she didn’t really want to spend 15 hours a day squatting in the dust under a blazing sun. But thank heavens for those who do!
Back when the dinosaur/bird controversy was raging, I was firmly on the side of the angels and Bob Bakker. I loved the idea of renaming the whole class Dino-Aves. That hasn’t caught on, but at least the Class Aves (birds) is now commonly included in the Super-order Dinosauria. Taxonomy in this area remains contentious and kind of head-splittingly complex.
Of course, Bob Bakker is most famous for his argument that dinosaurs were actually warm-blooded. It took years for that idea to get traction, but consensus has come around to seeing at least the therapods as warm-blooded — especially feather-covered little guys like this new one.
I’m just waiting for some fundamentalist Bible thumper to announce that these fossils were planted by the devil to lead the faithful astray. Then maybe someone will draw a cartoon of the dinosaur with Mohammed’s head on it, and we’ll have nuclear war.
36 Responses to “Come on, let’s all get happy”
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Dr Marco says:
Evidence is growing that the link between reptile and bird goes through the dinosaur. Or maybe the dinosaur is an evolutionary dead end, descending from the real ancestors of birds which, at the same time evolved from reptiles.
February 9th, 2006 at 9:00 pm EST -
Violet Socks says:
Oh yeah — I think pretty much everybody agrees that birds are descended from therapod dinosaurs. But therapods were a huge group spanning a couple of hundred million years, and it looks like one of the later groups of therapod dinosaurs was itself actually descended from birds (which had in turn descended from earlier therapods). Deliciously complex and fascinating.
Really, birds are just a class of dinosaurs. That makes me indescribably happy for some reason.
(Bracket all of the above with “I think” — this isn’t my subject, just something I follow as a layperson.)
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will says:
Everyone knows that God made them.
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will says:
By the way, if you want to attack me, I am making enemies at HappyFeminist.
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Violet Socks says:
What are you doing??? What are you saying??? Have you become an anti-feminist???? No yeast for you, young man!!!!!
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will says:
I made the mistake of saying that men and women shouldnt walk alone at night. Apparently, that makes me a woman hater. hahaha
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Violet Socks says:
I just went over and read the thread. I agree with you, actually, and didn’t have a problem with your remarks. But I do know the immense frustration of being blamed for male violence just by the act of trying live my life. My solution is to work for social change AND stay out of dangerous places at night.
What’s this about you being fat and having bad teeth?
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will says:
Slander!! I drink diet coke so they tell me I wil be fat and have bad teeth.
For the record, my teeth are good. But, my belly is larger than it was when I swam in college.
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Violet Socks says:
But, my belly is larger than it was when I swam in college.
Interesting. That’s very atypical, you know. Most people get fitter and leaner as they age.
I’m so tempted to photoshop this dinosaur into something that will make people’s heads explode over in the other thread.
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will says:
hahahha I would have thought you would have enough of the crazy people.
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Violet Socks says:
We passed Enough about 200 miles ago, somewhere between “bomb all thes ignorrent muthfucker to HELL hahahah” and “evil jews make this happen, allah reveall all soon.”
Alas, I’ve received a number of very nice e-mails from people thanking me for keeping up the cartoons and allowing the discussion, so…eh. Maybe it will help. I just try to mentally filter out the insane comments. At this point it would be more work to moderate the comments.
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Alon Levy says:
Think about it this way: now that you’ve posted those threads, you have more traffic than before… or do you?
Isn’t consensus that dinosaurs were warm-blooded, and in particular much more active than modern lizards?
I don’t think social change will do much to reduce the rape rate anywhere. It will increase the reporting and conviction rates, but that’s it.
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Violet Socks says:
Think about it this way: now that you’ve posted those threads, you have more traffic than before… or do you?
Jesus God. In two days I used up all my bandwidth for the month. I’m just wondering what tiny percentage of this will carry over into normal operations.
I’m happy to have more company, of course. Just a little worn down by some of the crazy stuff.
Isn’t consensus that dinosaurs were warm-blooded, and in particular much more active than modern lizards?
Well, endothermy is sort of the default assumption now, but there’s still debate on different animals. The whole thermal question is very complex, and it’s really hard to know for sure. There’s more agreement on the therapods (two-legged carnivores, mostly) than on the sauropods. But it seems like every few months another fossil is published with the argument that maybe this one was only partially endothermic, or maybe it was exothermic, or maybe it was a different kind of endothermy than in modern animals…
I don’t think social change will do much to reduce the rape rate anywhere. It will increase the reporting and conviction rates, but that’s it.
Are you serious? So you really fall into the rape-is-inevitable camp?
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Michael Bains says:
I think Alon is saying rape occurs because of individual motivations. Societal responses will be more effective in the short-term because they can encourage women to avoid being in Statistically More Dangerous situations with sexually irrational and violent men (or women of course.) Either that or more women will learn how to be better able to physically handle those situations. The latter option really can’t change a whole hekk-of-a-lot though.
How you instill respect for others over addiction-quality misogyny in men and women is a much tougher proposition. That one starts in childhood and Society needs to work on demonstrating to people how to parent for it be have any efficacy. We’re still aways away from that being an especially good idea.
I’m just waiting for some fundamentalist Bible thumper to announce that these fossils were planted by the devil to lead the faithful astray. Then maybe someone will draw a cartoon of the dinosaur with Mohammed’s head on it, and we’ll have nuclear war.
As an atheist, I can assure you that the Devil® had nothing to do with it. (shhh… It was the EAC. And the DinoMo Bobble-heads are in production as we speak.)
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The metaphorical frame of the bird in the Pic is Gorgeous! Apt as well. I’m a gonna link to it L8r this morning.
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Txfeminist says:
It’s only safe for women to walk around at night if they are accompanied by a large, flying dinosaur with a turban on it’s head. The crucifix is optional.
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will says:
TXFeminist! Where have you been?
I was waiting for you to come bash me!>!!>!?!??!
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Txfeminist says:
HAhahaa! At Happy Feminist you were waiting? Aw, that’s so sweet.
Actually, I totally agree w/ what you were saying over there. Call me nuts, but I have lived all over the place, and have always walked wherever/whenever I wanted to. Never had a problem.
I took a self defense class at one time, and learned a lot, so I guess I never really worried about it.
But if you are in NEED of some bashing, Will, I’m sure I could oblige. Go on, make an offensive statement…. I need an opportunity to flex my debating skills, preparing for law school and all.
;-)
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will says:
Walking through a bad neighborhood alone at night wearing a short skirt and a push up bra is the same as leaving your purse, full of cash, on the subway.
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Txfeminist says:
Now that’s offensive. i mean, that’s exactly what I do: short skirt, push-up bra, and purse-full-o-cash, and what’s wrong with that? I have a right to do as I please!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
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will says:
So be it!
Oh wait. That is a bad tone. How about “I respect your right to be a dumbass TxFeminist.”?
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Txfeminist says:
Am I going to get into law school? Am I?
…should I have used the Chewbacca Defense?
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Txfeminist says:
I now invoke the Dumbass Defense…..
I have a right to do whatever I want! because I’m MEEEEE!
So be it!
ROTFL
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will says:
Perfect. You get into law school.
My very first law school professor was a raging pissed off Feminist. Wow. She was 4’10″ inches of spitfire. (she was my advisor.)
I did well in a negotiation competition. My partner was a woman who was the same age I was (21). I said, “We did well because of my partner. She carried me. What a fabulous girl!”
Remember: we were 21, just out of college. She ripped me a new one for demeaning my partner so. How could I show her so little respect!??!?!!!?!?! She was hot.
Of course it didnt matter that my partner refered to herself as a girl or that I had just finished saying how much smarter she was than I.
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Txfeminist says:
Yay, I have my first letter of recommendation!
*Prints Will’s post*
Goodness. From my aged vantage point, I’m not entirely sure a 21 year old *isn’t* still a girl. I certainly won’t be willing to cede womanhood to my daughters with such casuality of word.
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Violet Socks says:
Dr. Marco, Alon, and I are going to form a singing trio. Our first single will be, “We’re the only ones in this thread who give a shit about paleontology!” It’s going to be a HUGE hit. I’m still working on the dance moves.
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Violet Socks says:
Oh and Tx — yes, wonderful to see you again!
Michael Bains, welcome and thank you!
I disagree that social change will not diminish rape frequency. Rape happens because of individual motivations, yes, but also because of social conditioning. Or put it this way: I suspect there is an animalistic psychosexual component to rape that may be ineradicable, but culture encourages those impulses and allows them to flourish. Compare, for example, the incidence of rape by invading American soliders versus the incidence of rape by invading Russians in WWII.
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will says:
Violet dancing. This I have to see!
I agree TX. 21 is still mighty young.
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will says:
Why didnt you make larger genitalia?!?!? What are you implying? Racist!
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Violet Socks says:
Will, that isn’t genitalia. It’s a crucifix. Geez!
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Txfeminist says:
Hi, Violet! Thank you!
You’re right. I don’t give a shit about paleontology…That’s not true. I like to read what everyone else has to say about it. I, however, have nothing intelligent to add to that particular part of the conversation, having no experience in that field. So, silent on that I remain. Just happily reading.(Can you believe I just admitted that, Will? How self-degrading! I should scold myself some more.)
Interesting thought, regarding rape being an individual motivation. Clearly, it’s a choice; but how much of that choice is determined by conditioning and how much by some kind of impulse-control problem probably varies from incident to incident.
In general, I tend to think of the rapist as an individual completely lacking in empathy. Otherwise, the pain of empathy would prohibit the behavior.
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Alon Levy says:
Are you serious? So you really fall into the rape-is-inevitable camp?
Let me rephrase it: there are some social and cultural changes that can affect the rape rate (evidently Australia has 200 rapes per 100,000 women per year, whereas Sweden has 20, and Canada has 2, if its “aggravated sexual assault” is what every other country calls rape). However, mere increase in women’s level of empowerment, which I’ve seen many feminists claim will necessarily reduce the rape rate, won’t – after all, Australia is one of the most gender-egalitarian countries in the world. As such, I don’t think rape is any different from other crimes: some murders, thefts, and assaults are inevitable, the question being how to make them less common.
Of course now I’m hoping I won’t get flamed for saying this the way I was on Majikthise (“you’re exercising your male privilege!”)…
Dr. Marco, Alon, and I are going to form a singing trio. Our first single will be, “We’re the only ones in this thread who give a shit about paleontology!” It’s going to be a HUGE hit. I’m still working on the dance moves.
I can’t wait to see Simon Cowell’s response to the song.
Now, what do you mean by, “a different kind of endothermy”? Do you mean that e.g. their body temperatures fluctuated but not as strongly as ambient temperatures, or their bodies regulated their temperature only when ambient temperature dropped below a certain level, or they were endothermic during the day but ectothermic during the night?
Maybe it’s a question I should ask on Pharyngula, but do you know how endothermy evolved? It exists in and only in birds and mammals, so it must have evolved twice; do you know how and why?
Goodness. From my aged vantage point, I’m not entirely sure a 21 year old isn’t still a girl. I certainly won’t be willing to cede womanhood to my daughters with such casuality of word.
Here every female student of normal age is a girl, including the 24-year-old master’s students.
The problem, I think, stems from the fact that there’s no distinction between “guy” and “boy” in women. The proper female form of “guy” is “gal,” but hardly anyone ever uses it, so “girl” gets double-booked.
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Michael Bains says:
I suspect there is an animalistic psychosexual component to rape that may be ineradicable, but culture encourages those impulses and allows them to flourish.
I think that likely goes for the vast majority of neuroses as well as psychoses, so Touche!
Culturally speakin’, much of the world is taking on a particularly exagerrated form of integration in the American Fashion; like a giant freakin’ melting pot! Cultural precepts/traditions that worked in these folks’ homogeneitous homelands simply don’t have the same effect when operated within vastly different cultural milieus. When such clashes evolve contiguously over generations, major social schisms inflate requiring seriously drastic re-evalutations on all sides.
And it all needs to be personally relevant to millions of individuals! That’s a damned tough challenge our species is facing, that is.
To the point of “the responsibility for rape” though; it’s always the rapist’s. That doesn’t mean the victims can afford to challenge the odds without falling prey though. TxFeminste(?) might like a nasty fight but any guy with the predatory sickness is likely to shy away from a strong and confident looking women. Predators know their prey. When dealing with violence, there’s no such thing as fair; just too far or not enough. That’s what Laws try to delineate, and science has the potential to obviate.
But the bigger issue is this: I still haven’t posted on this thread and THAT BEAUTIFUL GRAPHIC! DOH!!
lol
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Thor Longstaff says:
“Compare, for example, the incidence of rape by invading American soliders versus the incidence of rape by invading Russians in WWII.”
Remember, the Americans had other methods of persuasion unavailable to the Russians, like Nylons, Hershey bars, and the occasional shower and shave. Plus, they hadn’t had millions of their felllow countrypersons raped, killed and goosestepped over in Operation Barbarossa.
Back when I was a viking, in the days of the sagas, raping and pillage was all part of the fun, along with drawing naught caroons depicting all manor of religious incons having sex with cows, camels and each other. It was how we got through those long winter nights before the coming of oil lamps. I remember we Norsemen from the fjords used to chide our soft southern Danish kinsmen as being “Girlie men” for refusing to rape ugly women too.
Obviously economic and social conditions can go a long way to encouraging or discouraging all kinds of crimes. It’s no fun at all being a viking these days. -
Violet Socks says:
Thor, what in the fuck are you talking about? “Methods of persuasion”? Fun getting through the long winter nights?
There are some things that even brilliant humorists like myself find humorless. Rape is one of them.
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Violet Socks says:
Don’t mean to bite your nose off, but we women can get a little prickly about that stuff. And the comparison to nylons and candy bars strongly suggests that you think rape is about getting sex, not about imposing violence.
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Violet Socks says:
Alon, back to paleontology –
Now, what do you mean by, “a different kind of endothermy”?
The arguments for unusual dinosaur metabolism come from observations that dinos exhibit a collection of characteristics from both endotherms and ectotherms. When you examine all the evidence — growth rings, bone structure, nasal turbinates, chest capacity, body size, EQ ratios, feeding patterns, locomotion, and all the other stuff that’s used to guess at metabolism — it turns out that most dinos don’t exactly fit the profile for birds or mammals. Some actually are extremely close matches for modern birds, but others…not so much. The proponderance of evidence is for endothermy, but there are starling exceptions, such as the absence of nasal turbinates. So sometimes it’s posited that a particular animal wasn’t really a true endotherm (metabolic heat), or that it was a low-level endotherm like a monotreme, or that it used a combination of endothermic and ectothermic mechanisms not exactly paralleled in modern animals. From what I’ve read, these proposals are usually vague on the details of how such an intermediate metabolism might have worked. But the three possibilities you cited are pretty much the idea.
A very different hypothesis is that some dinos switched from endothermy to ectothermy over the course of their lives; e.g., hadrosaurs may have started out as fast-growing warm-blooded babies, but upon reaching adulthood became bulk homeotherms (maintaining temperature through body size). I don’t think there’s any creature alive today that shows that kind of pattern.
Maybe it’s a question I should ask on Pharyngula, but do you know how endothermy evolved? It exists in and only in birds and mammals, so it must have evolved twice; do you know how and why?
It may have evolved independently several times. And I don’t know how it evolved; I believe (could be wrong) that this is still a matter of debate. It seems to me that shivering thermoregulation (muscle shivers) is often cited as the initial mechanism in both birds and mammals, since there would have already been a capacity for muscle contractions. And once there was some kind of thermoregulation in place, the survival advantages of endothermy would have kept the ball rolling in terms of evolutionary adaptation. More than that I do not know.
