Average Dinosaurs #haiku #sciku #dinosaurs

Boring dinosaurs
Grazing Mesozoic fields
Have the most to teach

A perfectly dull Hadrosaurus that could still get as big as an elephant, so a herd would have been something to see.

Beyond the flashy teeth and horns, the most plentiful dino herds give us something special: numbers.

Less hyped, more common species are where learning happens. These were the dinosaurs that altered ecosystems depending on what plants they ate and even where they walked, trampling some areas and letting others grow. They often were the food our favorite carnivores relied on. And these dinosaurs were so abundant that they’re more useful for paleontologists who want to know how dinosaurs varied, how they grew and other basic facts. Thanks to Smithsonian

There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills, and We Don’t Know Why #poetry #astronomy

Neutron stars merging (artist concept, University of Warwick/Mark Garlick)

“Neutron star collisions
Release showers of gold,”
But such cosmic events
Are rare to behold.

They make all the strontium
That is observed,
But our planet’s bright gilding
Is hardly deserved.

Carbon makes sense,
Uranium’s explained,
Europium was tricky
But now ascertained.

So why so much gold?
Why all the bling?
That’s still a mystery
You wear as a ring.

Thanks to Live Science for their article and the phrase quoted above that launched this poem.

Can You Hear Me Now? #sciku and #aliens #haiku

Fermi Paradox
Physics the limit or our
Imagination?

Scientific American’s article tells me why hearing an intelligent alien signal is unlikely, and our self-centered notions about communications don’t help.