SCIENCE

Blog Carnival #23: Vintage Dinosaur Art, Funding Cuts, Pteranodons and More…

Digital Editorial Director

September 1, 2010

How Many Dinosaurs Could Live in Central Park? Finally, Bob’s Dinosaur Blog has the answer.

When Humans and Dinosaurs Walked the Earth: ART Evolved presents an illustrated guide to the various categories of “paleo-fiction” plot devices that bring humans and dinosaurs together: Lost Worlds, Cryptozoologic, Time Travel, Scientific Resurrection, Radioactive Resurrection, Fantasy, Hyper-Evolved Dinosaurs, Anthropomorphized and Cave People. (In my opinion, the list overlooked three other fictional genres: Extraterrestrial Dinosaurs, Robotic Dinosaurs and Intelligent Design.)

Put a Sauropod in Your Tank: Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs presents a gallery of vintage dinosaur art, courtesy of Sinclair Oil: “It's not technically accurate to use a dinosaur as an oil company's logo. But a logo of a plant probably wouldn't scream ‘fossil fuel’ to most people, so it’s understandable why the company would draw inspiration from the most iconic fossils of all.”

Back to Nature: At Whirlpool of Life, Scott Sampson argues that—far more than innovative “green” technologies—we need a new mindset that reinserts humanity inside nature. Sampson believes natural history museums are crucial to achieving that goal: “Imagine for a moment natural history museums becoming agents of social change. Imagine if they fostered a new, more sustainable worldview by connecting people with local (nonhuman) nature. Imagine if the information flow went two ways instead of one, with museums acting as centers for convocation, catalysts for conversation about the current state of our community, our country, our world…. Such a vision would not only include advocacy, but embrace it.”

Paleo-Politics: Budget-cutting senators have expressed their disapproval of a National Science Foundation-sponsored trip that sent Montana State students to study dinosaur eggs in China. Dinochick gives Washington, D.C. a piece of her mind.

The Taxonomy of SpongeBob SquarePants: In an act born of brilliance or too much free time (likely, both), T. Michael Keesey, who blogs at Three-Pound Monkey Brain, has created a phylogenetic tree of cartoon animals.

Defying Gravity: Mark Witton presents a cool new Pteranodon sketch—depicting it in the moments before take-off, using its arms, not its legs, as the main launch propulsor. Why its arms? Witton explains it all for you.

Superarchaeologist: At Palaeoblog, the Man of Steel reveals yet another superpower: fossil-hunting.