Fantasy Creatures

[Anthony]

Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
Hmmm... Assuming a civilization of dinosaurs (or whatever) has existed 65 million years ago on Earth, would we find relics from that civilization today, or would they be totally (or mostly) eroded away?

We'd find evidence, but most of it would be in the form of anomalous concentrations of elements, rather than physical artifacts. Still, some things would get fossilized; given the sheer number of artifacts a technological society produces, we'd know if a high tech society had been there 65 million years ago. A preindustrial society might be missed, though.

 

[Space Cadet]

That would be an interesting premise.

Dinosapiens

Suppose a race of intelligent dinosaurs evolved 65 million years ago, they build an industrialized society, and even traveled into space and then became extinct, and then 65 million years later another intelligent species rose to prominence, us. How might human history have gone differently if there was a vanished civilization 65 million years ago.

The first question is what would have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? Would the Asteroid have been enough?

Second is, if that civilization was more advanced than our own, would we have been able to learn anything technologically useful from studying its artifacts?

What if there was a Dinosaur Moonbase, or a Dinosaur L5 O'Neill type colony, would they have survived 65 million years in some form?

 

[Anthony]

Originally posted by Space Cadet:
How might human history have gone differently if there was a vanished civilization 65 million years ago.

The near complete depletion of easily accessible fossil fuels would have a rather drastic effect. It would also have some odd effects on mining.

Second is, if that civilization was more advanced than our own, would we have been able to learn anything technologically useful from studying its artifacts?

Unlikely. High tech tends to include small parts, and small parts don't last very well.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by Anthony:
The near complete depletion of easily accessible fossil fuels would have a rather drastic effect.

Umm, I thought fossil fuels were the result of laying down of plant material during the age of the dinosaurs and took a long time to actually form into crude oil? At least that's our best guess. I don't think this ancient civilization would have had access to the same fossil fuels we do today, if any.

 

[veltyen]

The idea of a mothballed raptorsapien base somewhere in system might be an interesting one-off game.

Fun and excitement when the cryotubes inevitably open.

Alien meets Jurrasic Park.

 

[TheEngineer]

Perhaps the raptosapien is just interested in an intellectual discussion ... Zzzzzzzzz

 

[Space Cadet]

I believe Troodons were considered the most intelligent of the dinosaur species. if given a little more time, they may have developed into intelligent tool using creatures. One might postulate what would happen if instead of an asteroid, there was a nuclear war 65 million years ago. Twilight 65 million.

 

[Anthony]

Originally posted by far-trader:
Umm, I thought fossil fuels were the result of laying down of plant material during the age of the dinosaurs and took a long time to actually form into crude oil?

Most crude oil is vastly older than that. There would be some regeneration over 65 MYr, but petroleum reserves built up over more than a billion years.

 

[Space Cadet]

petroleum reserves that were used up would never be missed by the humans that came 65 million years later. Economics is all about relative scarcity. If oil is scarce and hard to find, it wouldn't make sense for the industrialists to invest in plants to distill gasoline from it, they would still produce a liquid automobile fuel, but it might be derived from something else. Coal is a likely source. The dinosaurs would be highly unlikely to exhaust the world's supply of coal. The coal age did not end for lack of coal, just as the iron age didn't end for lack of iron, far from it. It is a caricature to suggest that a technological civilization will completely use up one source of energy before moving on to the next.

 

[Anthony]

Coal would not be expended, but it might be harder to find. In order for mining to start, there needs to be a fair amount of deposits which can be located with low tech methods.

 

[Space Cadet]

If coal is not underground, its in the air in the form of carbon dioxide. If the CO2 is not to stay in the air, then the carbon must go back underground in some form. The trees would grow back and be compressed back into coal over the next 65 million years.