Re: New Theory!

["Allan " <EDELS@msn.com>]

I had a touch of deja vu when I read this 'new' theory.  You see I read this 
theory in a science fiction/time travel novel called "End of an Era" by Robert 
J. Sawyer  (whose bio mentions that he lives in Ontario, Canada with his with, 
and hundreds of plastic dinosaur models).  The book was published in 1994.  

The main thrust of the novel was that Martian invaders were found on Earth in 
the Cretaceous by time-traveling Canadian paleontologists.  These invaders 
were a virus with a hive-mind.  They hated all other intelligent species and 
were at war with another planet (see its remains - the asteroid belt - the 
Martians were winning).  As part of their war effort, they came to Earth and 
set up satellites which enabled them to lower the gravitational pull on 
Earth-bound creatures.  They did this during the end of the Triassic.  (The 
lower gravity enabled them to maintain the minimum mass of viral particles 
required to maintain an intelligence - remember, they're from Mars with a 
lower gravity).  This lower gravity allowed the Jurassic and Cretaceous 
dinosaurs to grow to tremendous size - and some were specifically bred to 
special purposes.  For example, Triceratops was intended to be used like a 
tank.  Of course, our heroes, once they discovered the Martians true purposes, 
were able to thwart them by sending a signal to all the satellites, causing 
them to self-destruct  (probably overloaded).  When the satellites went boom, 
the gravity suddenly increased, all the big dinosaurs collapsed of their own 
weight, and all sorts of major geological activity was triggered, killing off 
almost all the other animals - except for those we know survived.

This book therefore explains: 
1)  Why dinosaurs grew so large, and had some strange looking body designs.
2)  Why the dinosaurs became extinct.
3)  Why we had other extinctions and geological changes at the end of the 
Mesozoic.
4)  Why there is an asteroid belt.
5)  AND - Why we have viruses here on Earth  (They couldn't maintain their 
hive intelligence, but their underlying nasty character survived - the common 
cold, Aids, some cancers, etc. show that)

A nice bit of fluff.  I met Bob at a panel on Time Travel here (at the Phila. 
Science Fiction Convention  ['PhilCon']  (I moderated the panel).  HE IN NO 
WAY ACTUALLY BELIEVES THE THEORY!!!!!   After all, he made this version up.

Hope you enjoyed this

Allan Edels
Edels@MSN.COM