Words from an expert

[Richard Ellis <rellis@idt.net>]

Curiously, in the latest Scientific American (the one with the
T.rexes on the cover), there are words from an expert on this very
subject; the anality of such a gigantic creature to stop or even change
course easily. George Gaylord Simpson wrote a little story called
"The Dechronization of Sam Magruder," which was published
posthumously in 1996. Sam Magruder, having found himself back in time
some 80 mya, has to contend with marauding dinosaurs, including T.
rex. Simpson (writing as Magruder) wrote, "Only as it loomed
directly over me, its whistling resounding in my ears like the trumpet of
doom. did I recover volition enough to leap to one side. Unable to throw
so much momentum into a swerve, the tyrannosaur lumbered by, knocking
down the small trees as if they were herbs, and finally skidding to a
stop twenty yards beyond me."

On 9/1, Daniel Saravia wrote:

I have 2 questions:

1) How does he stop?
2) what if he falls while running at 45-50 Km/h (31miles/h)?

Given the mass of a T-rex (6.4 metric tons per "Dinosaur Data
Book" by David
Lambert and the Diagram Group), the 50 Km/h speed + the acceleration due
to
gravity -- a fall while running would seem to be a very dangerous
thing
indeed.  Something akin to a fully loaded bus hitting a thick brick
wall.

Stopping or turning this much mass at that kind of speed would be a
daunting
task also.  Just some thoughts from a non-expert.

Richard Swigart