EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND UFOS 143
only a square of the distance, that is, by 10 x 10 = 100 times. In other
words, if Ring Rong were 10 times bigger, he would be only 100 times
stronger, but he would weigh 1,000 times more. Thus the ape's weight
increases much more rapidly than its strength as we increase its size.
He would be, relatively speaking, 10 times weaker than a normal ape.
And that is why his legs would break.
In elementary school I remember my teacher marveling at the
strength of an ant, which can lift a leaf many times its weight. My
teacher concluded that if an ant were the size of a house, it could pick
up that house. But this assumption is incorrect for the same reason
that we just saw with Ring Rong. If an ant were the size of a house, its
legs would also break. If you scale up an ant by a factor of 1,000, then
it would be 1,000 times weaker than a normal ant, and hence it would
collapse of its own weight. (It would also suffocate. An ant breathes
through holes in the sides of its body. The area of these holes grows as
per the square of the radius, but the volume of the ant increases as per
the cube of the radius. Thus an ant 1,000 times bigger than an ordinary
ant would have 1,000 times less air than necessary to supply oxygen for
its muscles and body tissue. This is also the reason that champion figure skaters and gymnasts tend to be much shorter than average, although they have the same proportions as anyone else. Pound for
pound, they have greater proportionate muscle strength than taller
people.)
Using the scale law, we can also calculate the rough shape of animals on Earth, and possibly aliens in space. The heat emitted by an animal increases as its surface area increases. Hence increasing its size
by 10 increases its heat loss by 10 x 10 = 100. But the heat content
within its body is proportional to its volume, or 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000.
Hence, large animals lose heat more slowly than small animals. (This
is the reason that in wintertime our fingers and ears freeze first, since
they have the most relative surface area, and why small people get
colder faster than large people. It explains why newspapers burn very
quickly, because of their large relative surface area, while logs burn
very slowly, because of their relatively small surface area.) It also explains why whales in the Arctic are round in shape-because a sphere
only a square of the distance, that is, by 10 x 10 = 100 times. In other
words, if Ring Rong were 10 times bigger, he would be only 100 times
stronger, but he would weigh 1,000 times more. Thus the ape's weight
increases much more rapidly than its strength as we increase its size.
He would be, relatively speaking, 10 times weaker than a normal ape.
And that is why his legs would break.
In elementary school I remember my teacher marveling at the
strength of an ant, which can lift a leaf many times its weight. My
teacher concluded that if an ant were the size of a house, it could pick
up that house. But this assumption is incorrect for the same reason
that we just saw with Ring Rong. If an ant were the size of a house, its
legs would also break. If you scale up an ant by a factor of 1,000, then
it would be 1,000 times weaker than a normal ant, and hence it would
collapse of its own weight. (It would also suffocate. An ant breathes
through holes in the sides of its body. The area of these holes grows as
per the square of the radius, but the volume of the ant increases as per
the cube of the radius. Thus an ant 1,000 times bigger than an ordinary
ant would have 1,000 times less air than necessary to supply oxygen for
its muscles and body tissue. This is also the reason that champion figure skaters and gymnasts tend to be much shorter than average, although they have the same proportions as anyone else. Pound for
pound, they have greater proportionate muscle strength than taller
people.)
Using the scale law, we can also calculate the rough shape of animals on Earth, and possibly aliens in space. The heat emitted by an animal increases as its surface area increases. Hence increasing its size
by 10 increases its heat loss by 10 x 10 = 100. But the heat content
within its body is proportional to its volume, or 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000.
Hence, large animals lose heat more slowly than small animals. (This
is the reason that in wintertime our fingers and ears freeze first, since
they have the most relative surface area, and why small people get
colder faster than large people. It explains why newspapers burn very
quickly, because of their large relative surface area, while logs burn
very slowly, because of their relatively small surface area.) It also explains why whales in the Arctic are round in shape-because a sphere