News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Model predicts we're the only advanced civilization in the observable universe. Parent comment

Re:Model predicts we're the only advanced civilization in th... by ghaff on Monday June 25, 2018 @09:26AM (#17392203)
It's hard to truly grok just how long the dinosaurs were around. It's easy to say that, had life not almost been wiped out by an asteroid things would have worked out differently, but the dinosaurs had something like 200 million years and there's no evidence they developed anything approaching human-like intelligence.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Model predicts we're the only advanced civilization in th... by jakelazaroff on Monday June 25, 2018 @02:24PM (#17394492)
> It's hard to truly grok just how long the dinosaurs were around.

One of the crazier things I've heard recently is that the time between the present and the Tyrannosaurus Rex [1] (68-66 million years) is less than the time between the T-Rex and the Brontosaurus [2] (156-147 million years ago, or 79 million years before the T-Rex).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannosaurus

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brontosaurus

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Model predicts we're the only advanced civilization in th... by zipwitch on Monday June 25, 2018 @10:24AM (#17392636)
What would such evidence look like? I don't think we can consider brain size definitive, since it's possible for humans with about ~10% of our normal brain volume to function normally. There seems to be no evidence for tool use, much less advanced technology, but again, what would these even look like after so many millions of years? I think about all we can say is that no prior species changed the planet in the same fashion we have.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Model predicts we're the only advanced civilization in th... by Keyframe on Monday June 25, 2018 @09:43AM (#17392334)
You're saying that like humans (well, evolutionary predescesors) weren't around and evolving over that period as well.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Model predicts we're the only advanced civilization in th... by magduf on Monday June 25, 2018 @10:05AM (#17392498)
They were, but mammals at that time were pretty simple and weren't doing that well against their dinosaur competitors. When the asteroid took out most of the dinosaurs, that's when mammalian life really took off, because they were able to survive the many years of lack of sunlight that ensued.
[ Parent | on HN ]