The Cellar - View Single Post - 10/1/2004: Newly-hatched penguin

mmmmbacon · 10-02-2004, 02:08 AM

I have to say that despite you providing an official-enough source, I still can't believe it. Look at the physics of it. You know how much power is required to lift a 200 pound body? Considering most of that power would be supplied by the air, it would need enormous wings (with enormous muscles and bones to hold them), and a high enough airspeed to prevent 'stalling' (i.e., falling) - pilots know what I'm talking about.

An albatross weighs only 25 lbs (yeah, only), and it constantly cruises on the wing. I wasn't able to discover how fast they go when they're cruising. One clue however is that (according to
this encyclopedia ) "In the days of sail it often accompanied a ship for days, not merely following it, but wheeling in wide circles around it..." If it needed to maintain a high airspeed, it would have to wheel around in wide circles if it wanted to follow the ship for whatever reason.

A 25lb albatross is about 4 ft long, with a wingspan of 11.5 ft (ibid). To scale a hypothetical bird to be as heavy as 200 lbs, the body length would double to 8ft (close enough to 6ft tall), but the wingspan would also double to 23 ft long. Even if we're overshooting that a lot, you'd think they would mention in the encyclopedia article that a flying penguin that large had an enormous wingspan of, say, almost 20 ft long. You'd think those would be the easy bones to find, right? Is it me - am I the only one who hasn't heard about pre-historic penguins with the massive wings?

Also, you know the saying, "the bigger they are, the harder they fall"? It's hard to imagine how a 200lb bird could land without hurting itself due to the high airspeed the bird would *have* to achieve, even while landing. The article above describes albatross landings as "semi-controlled crashes"... and they're only 25 pounds. Finally, there's a reason turkeys and ostriches and large penguins don't fly. It's because flight doesn't scale well.

Anyway, here's a test: does the encyclopedia article mention the massive wings on these prehistoric penguins? If it doesn't, I gotta call bullshit on either you or the encyclopedia.

10-02-2004, 02:08 AM	#9
mmmmbacon biting my elbow Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 30	I have to say that despite you providing an official-enough source, I still can't believe it. Look at the physics of it. You know how much power is required to lift a 200 pound body? Considering most of that power would be supplied by the air, it would need enormous wings (with enormous muscles and bones to hold them), and a high enough airspeed to prevent 'stalling' (i.e., falling) - pilots know what I'm talking about. An albatross weighs only 25 lbs (yeah, only), and it constantly cruises on the wing. I wasn't able to discover how fast they go when they're cruising. One clue however is that (according to this encyclopedia ) "In the days of sail it often accompanied a ship for days, not merely following it, but wheeling in wide circles around it..." If it needed to maintain a high airspeed, it would have to wheel around in wide circles if it wanted to follow the ship for whatever reason. A 25lb albatross is about 4 ft long, with a wingspan of 11.5 ft (ibid). To scale a hypothetical bird to be as heavy as 200 lbs, the body length would double to 8ft (close enough to 6ft tall), but the wingspan would also double to 23 ft long. Even if we're overshooting that a lot, you'd think they would mention in the encyclopedia article that a flying penguin that large had an enormous wingspan of, say, almost 20 ft long. You'd think those would be the easy bones to find, right? Is it me - am I the only one who hasn't heard about pre-historic penguins with the massive wings? Also, you know the saying, "the bigger they are, the harder they fall"? It's hard to imagine how a 200lb bird could land without hurting itself due to the high airspeed the bird would have to achieve, even while landing. The article above describes albatross landings as "semi-controlled crashes"... and they're only 25 pounds. Finally, there's a reason turkeys and ostriches and large penguins don't fly. It's because flight doesn't scale well. Anyway, here's a test: does the encyclopedia article mention the massive wings on these prehistoric penguins? If it doesn't, I gotta call bullshit on either you or the encyclopedia.