From: "Jim Henley" <jlhenley@erols.com>
Subject: (urth) Aw Hell (Giants)
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 23:29:38 

I was talking giants and the Square-Cube Law last night with my Amber (RPG)
group and offered the oh-so-clever observation that one could get around it
by living, giant-sized in the water, oh yes I did. But one of my pals said
the real problem with the SCL is in the lungs - you pass a point where the
surface area of your enlarged lungs can't absorb enough oxygen for all the
cells in your enlarged body.

Well darn! But I wonder; we didn't get into the math - I mean, Bill's from
art school - but can anyone put a number on the size where lung limitations
come into play?

I can't help remembering the old Ben Bova science columns that ran in Boy's
Life back in my scouting days. (This was more than, oh, ten years ago. And
I do mean "more.") One month, by way of teaching the SCL, he set out to
design a giant crab. By the end of the article, after all the compromises
and efficiencies were accounted for, the "giant crab" turned out to be -
Tyrannosaurous Rex!

Best,


Jim
 *****************************************
 "Took my pistol and a hundred dollar bill
  I had everything I needed to get me killed"
              -- Steve Earle


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