Long Reads

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AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Long Reads

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Arthur Dent wrote:This, on the discovery of a fossil bed believed to have been formed from the cataclysm dinosaur extinction causing meteor impact is phenomenal.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019 ... saurs-died
That's incredibly interesting.

One thing that doesn't make much sense is how accurate of a map do they have of where bodies of water were and what the topography of the land looked like 66 million years ago. Obviously, you can't get on google earth and move the date button back to 9/1/-66,000,000. I'm sure they can see in soil conditions some evidence that there was a river, floodplain, etc. But, it seems like they would need to do a massive amount of digging and documenting to have even the slightest idea of where a river was.

The guy in the article says he calculated that a seiche could have reached the Tanis site in 6, 10, and 13 minutes. That seems incredibly precise. More concerning is the fact that they found the answer in search of an explanation. Not to say it's wrong.

Also, it seems the hypothesis is that the meteor hit, massive destruction, tons of fire, tons of water displaced causing tsunamis/waves/etc. Animals in north america died almost immediately likely due to the heat and or tons of other things. These dead animals and some fish that lived get swept up in one of these waves coming from somewhere, are deposited, the water recedes leaving the carcasses buried in a huge amount of sediment, and that's why they're so well preserved. With most living things now dead, nothing scavenges on them. Slowly they get buried further as the sediment settles.

But, even if no living things were around to scavenge, the hypothesis relies on this area being in low ground that even if it is not a river, would still act as a tributary to said river. Over the next, idk, million years, I'd venture a guess there was still rain that would wash this area pretty clean, not leave it prestine.

Can't wait for the paper to be published so those smarter than me have a chance to review it.

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MAGA
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Re: Long Reads

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heyzeus wrote:This story is amazing and devastating.

"My Family's Slave"

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... ry/524490/
Just read this.

Don’t know what to say. So many snippets of the human condition in there

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Long Reads

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

The article about the dinosaurs had other information too that I wasn't aware of but can't stop thinking about. The asteroid impact sent debris up into outerspace? Sheesh. iirc escape velocity is somewhere around 25,000 mph. How could even the most rudimentary of life survive that and make it to outer space, let alone other moons?

The impact which happened in Mexico started fires in Inda? I mean, how does that even happen. Sure it can throw [expletive] up in the air, but it's going to take about 10-12 hours for India to rotate underneath the debris. Wouldn't the on fire debris from the initial contact have fallen out of the sky in that time.

The heat generated by the entrance set ablaze to the forests in north america. Crazy.

Another interesting mental exercise is trying to figure out how mammals that were apparently hampered by the presence of dinosaurs came back while dinosaurs did not. And, the article brings up an interesting point that humans probably would not be around if dinosaurs continued to exist. But, what would have happened. Somehow mammals came back and evolved into humans. Sweet.

But, could that not have happened with dinosaurs? It's not like the beginning of the mammal class was a silverback gorilla. The little things certainly had predators in plenty, like birds/snakes/and any number of reptiles that didn't go extinct. And, it's not like the cradle of humanity in Africa was some oasis free from apex predators. Perhaps humans wouldn't have evolved, but perhaps something similar in intelligence but completely different in physical traits would have.

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MAGA
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Re: Long Reads

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thrill wrote: The wildest interview I've ever read: https://www.gq.com/story/quincy-jones-has-a-story
Quincy wasn't done: http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/quincy-j ... ation.html
Incredible

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Joe Shlabotnik
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Re: Long Reads

Post by Joe Shlabotnik »

Arthur Dent wrote:This, on the discovery of a fossil bed believed to have been formed from the cataclysm dinosaur extinction causing meteor impact is phenomenal.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019 ... saurs-died
I put this in the Sound False thread Saturday. Glad to see someone else had the same reaction. Its mind blowing to think we can now look at the very hour the dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago.

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Donnie Ebert
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BottenFieldofDreams
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Re: Long Reads

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Ooh. Thanks for posting. Fascinating story, and I was hoping to read more extensive reporting on all of it.

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mikechamp
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BottenFieldofDreams
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Re: Long Reads

Post by BottenFieldofDreams »

Sounds like a great kid with pure intentions. Shame his energies couldn't be channeled elsewhere. Sad, fascinating stuff.

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mikechamp
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