shadron
Philosopher
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2005
- Messages
- 5,918
The latest full episode posting at the NOVA TV program website is "The Four Winged Dinosaur" (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/microraptor/), which concerns the controversy surrounding a late "missing link" between dinosaurs and birds uncovered in China. The "microraptor" is a small dinosaur with feathers, and long feathers which constitute proto-wings on both front and hind limbs. That's the first strike in the show against creationism; another missing link found.
The second is that the show amply demonstrates how science works to come to a theory, in this case concerning the exact ancestry of birds. Most of the investigators assume that the Microraptor is a descendant of therapod "raptor" dinosaurs, and even makes the case that this discovery implies that the deinonychi should have been depicted as covered with feathers in Jurassic Park. However, a dissident group at the University of Kansas (an fortuitous inside joke, perhaps?) disagrees, thinking that birds split off from the tree at about the same time as dinosaurs and crocodilians did. The show goes into detail on their arguments, and how they attempt to forge an understanding, and *still* don't get agreement, for lack of enough physical evidence as yet.
A great show, and really, very interesting on both technical and psychological/sociological levels. Check it out, I say.
The second is that the show amply demonstrates how science works to come to a theory, in this case concerning the exact ancestry of birds. Most of the investigators assume that the Microraptor is a descendant of therapod "raptor" dinosaurs, and even makes the case that this discovery implies that the deinonychi should have been depicted as covered with feathers in Jurassic Park. However, a dissident group at the University of Kansas (an fortuitous inside joke, perhaps?) disagrees, thinking that birds split off from the tree at about the same time as dinosaurs and crocodilians did. The show goes into detail on their arguments, and how they attempt to forge an understanding, and *still* don't get agreement, for lack of enough physical evidence as yet.
A great show, and really, very interesting on both technical and psychological/sociological levels. Check it out, I say.
