Mgellis

Various people have said it would be possible for people to fly with strapped-on wings if they were in a low gravity environment like the Moon (and assuming the air pressure was about the same as on Earth). Okay, I'm certainly willing to believe that, but I want to know how this would work. Is it simply a matter that people could produce enough thrust with the wings to lift themselves into the air once they reached a certain low weight? (For the sake of argument, let us assume a 4-meter wingspan and about 4 square meters of wing surface.) I'm not sure I could flap my arms fast enough to lift myself off the ground even if I did only weigh 30 lbs. I know some birds can do that, but their bodies (musculature, etc.) are optimized for flight. Would a person be able to just slip on a pair of wings in 1/6th gravity, flap away, and rise into the air? Would they be able to do it on a moon with lower gravity, like Triton, where I believe the gravity is only 1/12th Earth normal? Anyone have any ideas what the math says about this--how much thrust can a person actually produce by flapping their arms and how much lift would you get if you had some wings strapped on? I suspect mechanical wings, with their own motors, and some kind of battery would be more feasible. The wings could then flap independent of how much strength a person had in their arms (this way, they also would not get tired), although I'm not sure how long the battery would last. I suppose if it's anything like my electric leaf blower, 30 minutes or an hour. And probably longer since we're assuming this would be in the future when we have colonies on the moon and battery technology should get at least a little better than what it is now. Any thoughts on all this?

I'm inclined to buy into the idea that artificial consciousness is not going to happen. I am interested in a related issue... Assuming it was possible to create a synthetic model of the brain, using the same kind of architecture, modeling what cells do with electronics in terms of forming connections and exchanging signals, and letting it learn simply by experiencing data, could that be conscious? Or, does consciousness depend on something first being alive? (This might actually be part of the "solution"--perhaps the same kind of physical complexity that is required for something to be alive is a prerequisite for something to be complex enough to be conscious...the first is one of the parts you have to have to have the other and even if you could isolate the "consciousness" part, it won't work without the "alive" part. I hope that makes sense.) What are your thoughts on this? Thanks.

I know that the term "subspecies" does not really have a precise definition, but I was wondering if there was a kind of consensus used by biologists. I imagine there is a kind of "critical mass" of difference where most people look at two animals and say, "yeah, that's not just two different animals anymore; those are actually different subspecies." But where is the line? Yes, obviously, it must vary from case to case, but are there any guidelines that biologists use? Also, I know that "breed" implies human intervention. But why are breeds not subspecies? Why, for example, are Shiba Inus and Beagles not separate subspecies? Is it simply that they don't occur without human intervention? Thanks.

I'm coming to this discussion late, but I would add that you don't need to worry too much about "spoiling" the book (or having your stuff stolen). Beta readers represent only a small part of your potential audience. And, while people do get plagiarized every once in a while, it really doesn't happen that often. Good luck with the story.

As I understand it, Jack Horner has been doing experiments reactivating dormant genes in chickens with the hope of creating a kind of neodinosaur. I guess this has been going on for several years. I had heard he had some early successes (e.g., getting the chicken to grow teeth, etc.) but there were also some hurdles. I haven't been able to find anything about this work recently. Has anyone heard or read anything about this research? Will chickensaurus stalk the land anytime soon? Thanks in advance.

Hi, I'm Mark. I'm a retired English professor who has always loved both science and science fiction. I'm doing a bit of writing these days (it keeps me from hovering around my wife and annoying her) and because I try to get the science right in my science fiction I sometimes have questions. It occurred to me that asking real scientists is probably a good way to get some of them answered. Anyway, hello. It's great to meet you all and I look forward to some interesting conversations.