Pondering the dinosaurs

[Fishteacher73]

parrots can speak and there is scientific evidence that despite the small cranial capacity they are highly intelligent (simply put they evolved over time to their environment).

I have seen a friend of mine's parrot actually learn specific phrases by overhearing them, and the use them in unique combinations for a different prupose. The parrot learned to call the dog into the room where its cage was. Once the dog arived, the bird would say, "BAD DOG!" and watch the dog cower and slink off. The parrot (an African Grey) thought this was loads of fun, and my friend had to keep the door closed to keep the bird from tormenting the dog.

[Fishteacher73]

It has also been discovered that the large birds can also suffer from psychological disorders (Usually from prolonged isolation).

[alxian]

yeah they go nuts..

 

bird brained then should apply to peeps who are kept too long in isolation. *tweet*

[TeleMad]

TeleMad: Actually, bacteria have faired better than all other life. They've existed longer than plants and animals and they also far outnumber both plants and animals.

 

Fishteacher73: By sheer individual numbers of organisms, bacteria may edge out the competition, …

 

Uhm, there’s no “may” or mere "edge out" about it.

 

Fishteacher: … but there's no denying the diversity and biomass of arthropods.

 

Which I didn’t do.

 

And I guess I should point out there’s no denying the diversity and vast biomass of bacteria…

 

“The greatest biomass on earth is microorganisms -- bacteria and single-celled algae in the ocean. There's huge diversity, huge numbers, and huge ecological import.”

(http://nrs.ucop.edu/publications/transect-feature/TR20.3/feature.html)

 

So:

 

1) Bacteria have existed billions of years longer than plants and animals have

2) Bacteria can far out-reproduce any plant or animal

3) Bacteria far outnumber both plants and animals

4) Bacteria can survive under conditions that plants and animals cannot

5) Bacteria are required for life to persist on Earth, but neither plants nor animals are

[alxian]

bacteria may persist in space

some bacteria are able to use magnetite for orientation (at least thats the most popular theory, given this harnessing of magnetite creatures who digest these bacteria could digest this biomagnetite and use it for a natural wifi like induction based telepathy)

bacteria can stay dormant for extended periods

bacteria may be amoung the only life forms to adapt to UV environments easily efficiently and quickly

bacteria are responsible as was already mentioned for much more erosion than we give them credit for (by processing otherwise toxic gases and compounds directly from cracks in the earths crust, at positively deadly temperatures)

 

 

but even if bacteria are such amazing creatures they are the foundation of life and not by any means adequate envoys for life here on earth or in space. evolution will make of the the messengers but given all the evolution that has to come after and the energy potential requirements for environments to spur bacteria to evolve (not that bacteria are likely to evolve)(its more like the compounds they produce become the building blocks of life)(they leech out chemicals and create compounds conducive to the evolution of more complex creatures). all they seem to require to survive is a solvent and potential chemical energy from the rocks around them to produce gases and acids.

[frostbitte]

i am dying to know what other forms of life may look like.

the movies portray aliens as creatures with 4 limbs and a head on a shoulder, almost the same size of us.

that is extremely unrealistic. i mean, even though we have no idea what they look like, what are the chances that they look almost like us? i still love those cheezy movies though. :o

 

I totally agree. While our design is a fairly successfuly one I'm sure they're more out there suited for individual needs.

 

the fact that most of the dinosaurs were such big creatures is amazing too.

why do you think that the species today are much smaller? :o

well not all of course, elephants are big for example, and whales as well.

 

I'm not sure why. But I did read somewhere though I forget that this was related somehow to the atmosphere being much thicker in the past. I'm just speculating at this point. Perhaps evolution just guided them that way.

 

if we develop the technology to spread our civilizations throughout space, we could live until the end of time. or at least until the universe isn't so close together when it nears the end of it's contraction, if it does that at all.

we would evolve.

every colony we set up, on a different planet or moon, would evolve over time.

we would slowly see ourselves change.

 

Perhaps, especially if the atmosphere is slightly different or the gravity is greater or lesser.

[Fishteacher73]

the fact that most of the dinosaurs were such big creatures is amazing too.

why do you think that the species today are much smaller? :hihi:

well not all of course, elephants are big for example, and whales as well.

 

It is theorizes that large sized was a narural adaptation to predation. The only problem with large size is that it requires large amounts of fuel. This makes them less adaptable when environmental stresses occur and threaten food supply. A moderate size has now come into "fashion". (Although the largest animal, the blue whate, is still around. It has a great food source, as long as the food chain holds up in the ocean).