As an expert on the birds of Texas, what is your take on the old Big Bird cryptozoon? Is there really a giant bird walking/flying around?
The species you are referring to, from my research, is a non linear ancestor or the modern day ostrich.
okay, I've been on about ostriches quite a bit lately, trying to get an explanation why they are so much faster than any other 2-legged creature. 40+ mph, nothing else is even close, even the other ostrich-like birds are quite a bit slower.
And they can be 9 feet tall, weigh over 230 pounds and they have all those feathers causing drag. Yet somehow they are the perfect bipedal speed machine. Would it be useful to try to figure out their secrets, copy their techniques?
I had to become completely fluent in latin in order to get my MS in ornithology. You see, my professor refused to speak any English to us. Binomial nomenclature is all latin, and obviously latin is the root of all language and the oldest along with Hebrew.
TBH this trollage seems more desperate than funny.
The species you are referring to, from my research, is a non linear ancestor or the modern day ostrich.
okay, I've been on about ostriches quite a bit lately, trying to get an explanation why they are so much faster than any other 2-legged creature. 40+ mph, nothing else is even close, even the other ostrich-like birds are quite a bit slower.
And they can be 9 feet tall, weigh over 230 pounds and they have all those feathers causing drag. Yet somehow they are the perfect bipedal speed machine. Would it be useful to try to figure out their secrets, copy their techniques?
I havent seen any quite that heavy, but you are correct that the majority of an ostrich weight is in his thorax and midsection. From a motion perspective, the ostrich moves very similar to a roadrunner. The skinny neck and legs, like a crane, definately help with aerodynamics. If it has long legs and a short mid section, that is optimal for sprinting (look at usain bolt). If it's big and heavy and just takes up volume (space) then that will be slow. I.e.- Shaquille oneill.
These concepts about weight and mass, you and I have both been debating with the uneducated on this site for nearly 19 years. There will always be a young, ignorant, arrogant, demographic on here who prefers purchasing heavy shoes to race in, heavy clothing to race in, etc, because they have always had deficiencies in math and science. They arent minimalists, they are maximalists. They dont understand the remedial or elementary concepts of math and science, and will even attempt to refute that dropping a quarter off the empire state building will hit the ground at the same time as dropping a birds feather or 50 pound dumbell. Even though the force of gravity is the same anywhere on earth, they dont understand that heavy things fall faster and hit with more force- kinetic energy and Centripetal force.
Overall, you and I are probably both way too old to be posting here anyways; as it seems that the board has been taken over by young kids who dont even address the questions asked. They just call names, say you are old and stupid and a bad coach, etc. Most of them have piss poor parents or no parents. It's just a very young and disrespectful generation now, which is why I chose to coach and teach adults at a catholic university in hopes of being around a much more mature, conservative, environment that is rooted in maturity and respect.
I have my own children now. All of the women I've been with were grandparents or great grandparents. My oldest partner was 74 years old. Lived with her for 4 years till she died at 78. Its just that I think you and I are way further down the road mentally that others on here except maybe the site owners. They are probably old enough and mature enough to understand some of these issues we discuss with hitting the offended button. Anytime I post a science related topic such as this, its meant to be taken seriously; although the incidences I occasionally describe with my university team that I coach should instill some laughter for those who have the cognition to understand dark humor.
I know you dont really know me or my educational background, but it may be more useful for you to understand the complexity of my relationships. I never went to prom in highschool. Was busy winning the state track championship. Never dated or mated with anyone under 40 due to maturity reasons. Even in my teens and 20s (and still today) my best friends are in their 70s and 80s, the john McDonnell types that have been coaching for 60 years. I'm not a young "hotrod" coach that's trying to build my resume. My resume has already been built and I only exist to carry on old traditions and old training methods, hoping that one day I can scientifically formulate a good old fashioned workhorse like jesse Owen's. I'm pretty set in my ways and I am really just here to SHARE my knowledge with others, not to go back and forth with a bunch of kids who have never been to oklahoma, never endured any of my life experiences that I endured in the 20th century, dont have their own children, havent had a lung transplant like me, the list goes on and on. I mean, it's ok every now then to go back and forth with one of the original posters on this site, but overall letsrun is now way to ripe and childish to enjoy, let alone gain any NEW knowledge from. When I administer exams to my upper 5000 level students here at the university, I always make the 1st question something to calm their nerves, ex- ketchup is a vegetable, true or false? Then they run to the dean and tell him that question wasnt in the syllabus. This is the worthless generation we are now dealing with.
I have to go teach my morning class and then coach cross country practice.
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