Godzilla pops up in the Big Apple after viciously handling some ships and leaving a few imposing footprints on tropical islands. It stops by Madison Square Garden, stops to visit the Chrysler Building, goes on a walk through Central Park, and takes the subway. Watching how it knocks over a few buildings and steps on countless cabs, movie critic James Berardinelli said ‘Godzilla’ lives and dies on special effects alone.
Nature too has a long history of special effects, including legendary flops. Including those gigantic reptiles, too? Could, first of all, Godzilla have been possible? In the movie, on hand to stop it was Nick Tatopoulos, a biologist accompanied by an elite US army unit. He says the terrific guy is actually a lizard grown to massive proportions as a result of the radiation given off by atomic bomb tests in the South Pacific — a one of a kind “mutated aberration”. A lizard!
Unlikely, but the mentioning of the word Pacific has an authentic ring. Horrifying sea monsters hunted the Pacific Ocean between 250 and 65 million years ago. Make it 135 million, and you spot one with a dinosaur’s head, a crocodile’s body and the fins of a fish in the deep. Following the discovery of a long-necked plesiosaur and gigantic ichthyosaurs from fossil beds in Argentina, researchers have now unearthed a complete skull of Dakosaurus andiniensis. They readily dubbed it ‘Godzilla’. It’s an ancient crocodile – but one with a startling difference. Chances are that it fed on large sea creatures, including other reptiles, instead of fish.
The signs are there. Modern crocodiles have evolved to sport elongated snouts housing small pointed teeth, which are just right for catching small fish and mollusks, but this ancient monster had blood-curling snappers. Its large serrated teeth—dentition is more suggestive of predatory dinosaurs. A second difference is that Godzilla probably “jabbed its powerful teeth into large prey”, bobbing its head up and down, whereas crocodiles swing their heads sideways to catch fish in their tube-shape snouts.
And, Godzilla was ferocious enough to earn its Hollywoodish nickname. There is a suggestion that the legendary T-rex would not have stepped into the ocean that readily when it was around. But the shape of its nostrils, eye sockets and a telltale groove in its jaw prove its crocodilian lineage. And, surprisingly, this enormous specimen was closer to the smallest of its relatives than any of the big guys you find toward the end of the Jurassic period.
SNEAK PREVIEW
MAN, WOMAN, AND NOISE
People exposed to excessive noise regularly may have an increased risk of heart attack, if they are pre-disposed to it. Males and females react to noise differently. Environmental sounds from traffic, barking dogs, and construction work increase heart attack risk for both sexes, but workplace noise increases a man’s heart attack risk by three times. Women are usually unaffected by workplace noise, possibly because they are kind of pre-disposed to have a higher tolerance for the din of children and domestic life. However, women living in loud houses are three times more likely than other women to suffer a heart attack.
VENICE ONE FOOT DOWN
Venice has lost about a foot in height over the last 300 years. Experts plan to elevate the ill-fated city that much over ten years. It would cost US$117 million and involve digging 12 holes, 30 centimeters in diameter placed within a 10-kilometre radius of the city. The pipes would pump seawater 700 meters below sea levels that would expand the sand, which combined with a topping of waterproof clay, would push up the ground. But it calls for much more money and time for research before the plan goes beyond pure science fiction.
QUIZ No.209
1. Which color is a product of worms according to the Sanskrit origin of its name?
– Crimson
– Deep purple
– Emerald green
– Indigo (or similar)
1. Crimson (from ‘krmija’ — born of a ‘Krmi’ or worm).
2. A passage from ‘The Waves’ by Virginia Woolf inspired this Nobelist’s personal vision.
– Marie Curie
– Selma Lagerlof
– S. Chandrasekhar
– Mikhail Gorbachev
2. S. Chandrasekhar (Mentioned in his Nobel lecture)
3. Who hoped for an American awakening that would make Italy’s Renaissance look like a small event?
– Ezra Pound
– Charlie Chaplin
– Henry D. Thoureu
– George Washington
3. Ezra Pound (“American Risorgimento” was his term)
4. Who used Einstein’s equation and Stephen Hawking’s name to create a singer and a song?
– Paris Hilton
– Richard Feynman
– K. Leavitt-Lawrence
– Hawking himself
4. K. Leavitt-Lawrence (who created the singer MC Hawking and the song “E = MC Hawking”).
5. What did Martin Luther King precisely take from Gandhi for his organisation?
– Main ideals
– Style of slogans
– Operational techniques
– Religious attitude
5. Operational techniques