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Holes in T. rex's skull now thought to have regulated body temperature

sciencedaily.com

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Re: Holes in T. rex's skull now thought to have regulated body temperature

#21

Post by blacksmith_tb »

algaeontoast wrote: post #20

I love science and history, but there are times when I have to wonder why knowing what holes in a T Rex skull were for really benefits or forwards society? I'm posting this because I'd like to be proven wrong.

Obviously lots of science doesn't have practical applications (astrophysics anyone?) but I am skeptical "does X benefit society?" applies any better to much (maybe most) of what people actually do. I might turn it around and say that (nearly) all of what humans do doesn't benefit our societies, so much as it doesn't destroy them.

Re: Holes in T. rex's skull now thought to have regulated body temperature

#22

Post by algaeontoast »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #21
algaeontoast wrote: post #20

I love science and history, but there are times when I have to wonder why knowing what holes in a T Rex skull were for really benefits or forwards society? I'm posting this because I'd like to be proven wrong.

Obviously lots of science doesn't have practical applications (astrophysics anyone?) but I am skeptical "does X benefit society?" applies any better to much (maybe most) of what people actually do. I might turn it around and say that (nearly) all of what humans do doesn't benefit our societies, so much as it doesn't destroy them.

I agree, however, with so many pressing issues today I'd be a bit uneasy if tax payer dollars were being used for this kind of research. Private funding, do what you like, however federal grants should be used for research that benefits taxpayers in some way, even if it's indirect or decades away.

Re: Holes in T. rex's skull now thought to have regulated body temperature

#23

Post by angry_cactus »

algaeontoast wrote: post #22
blacksmith_tb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously lots of science doesn't have practical applications (astrophysics anyone?) but I am skeptical "does X benefit society?" applies any better to much (maybe most) of what people actually do. I might turn it around and say that (nearly) all of what humans do doesn't benefit our societies, so much as it doesn't destroy them.

I agree, however, with so many pressing issues today I'd be a bit uneasy if tax payer dollars were being used for this kind of research. Private funding, do what you like, however federal grants should be used for research that benefits taxpayers in some way, even if it's indirect or decades away.

Seemingly random studies in biology can have unexpected benefits. Studying gecko toes led to the invention of a super-adhesive. https://geckskin.umass.edu/

Re: Holes in T. rex's skull now thought to have regulated body temperature

#24

Post by jessaustin »

im3w1l wrote: post #12
jessaustin wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I understand what's being said, but taken literally it seems backwards? Body temperature probably was not regulated by dumping heat when the ambient temperature was cold. In those conditions heat should be conserved. Rather, heat is dumped (as much as possible) when the ambient temperature is warm. Also, alligators are not usually considered homeothermic.

If I understand correctly, the alligator can choose to either pump blood to quickly equalize with the surrounding temperature, or not pump blood to get more isolation. In the morning when it wanted to heat up after the night it pumped blood. In the afternoon when it was already warm enough and the ambient temperature was too warm, it stopped pumping blood.

Thanks, your way of stating it makes more sense to me. This sort of faculty would be used whenever the ambient temperature is closer to "optimal activity temperature" than the body is. Like you say, typically mid-morning when the environment has warmed up but the body hasn't. I suppose it could also work in the evening after a really hot day when it would be good to cool the body...

Re: Holes in T. rex's skull now thought to have regulated body temperature

#25

Post by SamReidHughes »

alexis_fr wrote: post #14
tehlike wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is life's way of doing it. Evolve, let natural selection take its course, rinse and repeat.

After a million years of testing software in prod, after collapsing banks, exploding spacecrafts, huge bugs and other software collapse, the systems that will have naturally survived might be those designed in TDD. Which begs the question: If that’s true, why didn’t nature use TDD? If it doesn’t, maybe it is not the right design?

TDD isn't the opposite of testing on production. TDD doesn't mean testing.

Re: Holes in T. rex's skull now thought to have regulated body temperature

#26

Post by HomeDeLaPot »

alexis_fr wrote: post #14
tehlike wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is life's way of doing it. Evolve, let natural selection take its course, rinse and repeat.

After a million years of testing software in prod, after collapsing banks, exploding spacecrafts, huge bugs and other software collapse, the systems that will have naturally survived might be those designed in TDD. Which begs the question: If that’s true, why didn’t nature use TDD? If it doesn’t, maybe it is not the right design?

Who says nature doesn't use TDD? Maybe we haven't actually reached prod yet.
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