Simone Conti

Today we know a little more about ostriches 🦤 (dodo as placeholder waiting for the proper one). Check how the bones of these amazing animals are adapted to run in the new paper published today in the journal Biomimetics: mdpi.com/2313-7673/8/1/…

Work by @engineer_dino et al. @Terra_FCT_NOVA @AerospacePoliMI analyses the dynamics of motion of a 3D model of a sauropod dinosaur tail, and propose that the actual speed that diplodocid tails could reach was lower than the speed of sound.🦕 nature.com/articles/s4159…

In the #openaccess article in Scientific Reports by S. Conti, A. Zanoni, P. Masarati, G. Sala, #engineering meets #paleontology, showing how long-neck dinosaurs could not have supersonic tails. 👉 more at aero.polimi.it/it/storage-fol… @engineer_dino Study with @Terra_FCT_NOVA @polimi

@raptordanny @skeletaldrawing In theory we may wave our arm so that the fingers reach the speed of sound, and even test it in a multibody computer simulation. Yet nobody is questioning the capability of our arms of not being able to achieve such speeds. Simulations can give any output, but must be interpreted

Sauropods cracking their tails like (literal) whips appear less likely now: nature.com/articles/s4159…

@raptordanny @skeletaldrawing We can even knot a single fiberglass, while if we bend a glass of a window it definitely breaks. Yet both are made of the exact same material. The dimensions of the objects is the difference between the two behaviours. (3/4)

@raptordanny @skeletaldrawing Even if the simulation would allow it, the soft tissues would not. Then someone may say that whips are made of soft tissues as well. Correct. But the dimensions of the sauropod tail and a whip are different. In a certain way we can take fiberglass as a example. (2/4)

@raptordanny @skeletaldrawing Great! Being skeptical is always good to make science progres. Though the multibody simulation is one part of the paper, it may be the visual part of it, but the stress resistance of the soft tissues is what broke the hypothesis. (1/4)

@DoubleBeam Thank you @DoubleBeam ! Your work as a reviewer has been really appreciated, and your suggestions greatly refined the manuscript

I personally don't buy the 'tactile communication' hypothesis, but for defense, display (intra/interspecific), or even passive movement (tail moving/wiggling from walking or the counter movement from the sweeping neck), it all =s a big moving thing that's going to get attention.

So, a new sauropod paper is out that challenges the "supersonic sauropod" tail hypothesis. 1st & foremost a huge congrats to @engineer_dino & co! Simone (a student) not only did such a thorough study, but getting it into a high impact journal is such a great accomplishment! 🧵

Out today and #OpenAccess the new paper, Multibody analysis and soft tissue strength refute supersonic dinosaur tail, by Scientific Report. It is the fruit of the collaboration between my two institutions: @AerospacePoliMI and @Terra_FCT_NOVA. Check here: nature.com/articles/s4159…

Out today the paper from my MSc thesis, the oldest lambeosaurine dinosaur from Europe: insights into the arrival of Tsintaosaurini, check it out: sciencedirect.com/science/articl… #paleontology #dinosaur #hadrosaur

Supersaurus (ex Dinheirosaurus) lourinhanensis, one long neck dinosaur related to Diplodocus. It is known from a partial vertebral column and few other remains found in Porto Dinheiro back in the late '80s. #phd… instagram.com/p/B4NKdQ7iJde/…

Lecture in the field today with students of Miragaia village. Speaking in front of people is always an opportunity to learn new stuff! Don't you already know Miragaia? Then go and dig out the internet the amazing… instagram.com/p/B3UnHXnIlb3/…

Não atirar foguetes antes da festa Don't throw fireworks before the party (First Portuguese sentence achieved)

Today a new chapter begins: soon I'll start my PhD, about biomechanics of diplodocid sauropods 🦕 within polimi and Universidade Nova de Lisboa, with the aim to use their evolutionary features to develop models… instagram.com/p/B3G9dRzoHXN/…