And if so why, and if so why did it not evolve that way
The P38 lightning does not drive its tail fluke, it just drags it along, unlike the dolphin (and to a degree, my flexible foilboards) which propel themselves using the tail fluke.
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I don’t know anything about p38 lightning but I do know is that evolution is based on random mutations in a population . Random mutations. That’s key.
So anyways, the dolphin might not have ever mutated a second tail to ever get a chance to try it out.
Rio
PS: I wonder though what kind of mutated organisms live right off those nuclear plants in san diego. 'might be some dual tailed dolphin.
Random mutations, yes. But the ones that last are the ones that work best. Survival of the fittest.
~Rob
After the Lightning, they tried the Flying Boxcar. Two very similar designs out of how many???
What was the tail config of the LimeyMosquito?
c-119 flying boxcar wan a cargo aircraft - twin booms for a different reason - it just facilated the rear-door loading. The RAFs Moquito was not twin boom.
on a related subj - hydrodynamics (marine) - a two-bladed or three-bladed prop is actually the more efficient prop (gets you little mo speed with same hp) - four and five bladed props however have less vibration. would think the same for air props.
Why havn’t animals evolved a propeller?
Racers now use the dual reverse prop config to take advantage of the power in the prop wash.
I have a link for here from a few weeks ago that I never bothered to post. Let me go find it.
Here it is. Cut and paste style.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8382&feedId=online-news_rss20
Quote:
I don’t know anything about p38 lightning but I do know is that evolution is based on random mutations in a population .
More correctly stated as: “the Darwinian theory of evolution is based on the theory of random mutations”. .
:0
So why DID they design the P-38 with that wierd tail?
It was great diving from above, slow to manuever, slow in top speed, had great range, the fuel tanks split so you always can get by with one shot out, had a huge radar signature, was expensive to build and needed lots of runway to land and takeoff, who the heck decided it was any good anyways?
that bee thing’s sick… they’re like skulling through the air
twin tail/twin boom/twin engine design on the P38 lightning allowed the center pod to have all the firepower be concentrated right in front of the pilot, allowing for a much deadlier weapon (after all that’s what it was!)… oddly enough one of the drawbacks of that design was that, because the pilot was not sitting behind a combustion engine, the pilot was usually COLD when flying at high altitude.
haha true of course tom bloke, the subject was worded poorly. the p38 analogy is more an attempt at visual communication as to just how it would look. i was just thinking that the driving point being centered that the tips must bend and bleed off a little thrust (??) convex style; what if with both endpoints attached being more rigid than the fluke it self where in a kick it would resemble a perfect rocker single concave channelling water ( a la bio fins swimfins??)
How is a mantas body foiled? Does it channel water as it flies underwater? Just some ponderings yes i could probably find the answer in a library or on the net but I like the discussion and thoughts of swaylockers
Hey NWG,
yeah I agree. I wanted to see who was paying attention 
It’s more on who can pass on their genes before dying than anything else.
Darwin’s theory is a way to describe evolution and how it happens: natural selection.
-I wish I’d mutate some webbed hands…
Rio
Some say Darwin plagerized the theory.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i2/brainchild.asp
And mutations have been observed within a generation seeming to indicate that they aren’t just random, but specific adaptations. Not unlike the growth known as surfers ear developed after long term exposure to cold water.
But why the dolphin hasn’t evolved a dual tail? Pure speculation, but probably because it’s not better.
Human ideas are not always an improvement over nature’s.
The initial question proposed in this thread pre-supposes the opposite, thus rendering the question totally irrevalent and the discussion moot.
…and then, there’s “Intelligent Design”!!!
A P-38 is a military issue hand operated can opener.
Mine seems to work best opening cans of tuna, especially the stuff with the dophin in it.
Also I thought there was no religion to be discussed on this site.
The religion of evolution is the the strongest evidence against intelligent design I know.
May God save us all.
The P38 design would only work on guns.
Ah the Walther P38. Beautiful piece of kit, a good handgun that held it’s own against the Colt M1911A1 and the Webley, not to mention the Browning SLP. I reckon it would give the current issue Beretta a run for its money as well. Isn’t this meant to be a surfboard forum? So far we’ve discussed aircraft and handguns!!
The P38 is a multi-mode data modem that gives you top performance operation using RTTY, AMTOR, P-Mode, and CLOVER-II waveforms.
It evoloved from the the single chip P-1 all by itself to the P38 of today.
If dolphins could only grow an opposing thumb on its flipper they could possibly save the world.
yep make a twin extended tail.
the dead dolphin I saw at the beach was aground a full 100 feet further ashore than all the others,it obviously was going much faster.
to have coasted to a stop so far inland
…ambrose…
I didn’t check if it was a male or a female.