Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Named for local businessman Alfred
G. Witte, the Witte
Museum South Texas heritage, as well as some natural history and
science. One of the temporary exhibits
(called “Dinosaurs Unearthed”) was all dealing with dinosaurs, and that was the
main thing I wanted to check out. I
school group had just arrived right before I did, and was glad all these
elementary-grade kids went to other areas first.
“Dinosaurs Unearthed” had some animatronic
critters that could be controlled by pushing some buttons on a panel. It consisted of making tails wag, limbs move,
and jaws snap. There were lots of
fossils, and a few skeletons, but the most interesting part of the exhibit was
some life-sized model of feather-covered dinosaurs.
Recent paleontological evidence
showed the dinosaurs weren’t the scaly bastards they first appeared to be. Being warm-blooded and very active,
information suggests these creatures were covered with a coat of feathers (much
like the modern birds which descended from them). These feathers were fine narrow structures,
like the hair that mammals have. As
we’ve seen hair doesn’t fossilize very well, that would also show why we’ve
never found this before. I guess we
won’t really know for sure until we either warm up the time machine or finally
succeed in cloning them like (like in Jurassic
Park).
Now no matter where I go, I usually
encounter some interesting people. Here
was no different. After I’d had some fun
making the animatronic dinos move, and had stepped aside to allow some young
people to do so, an older gentlemen standing next to me and commented “You know
these things are fakes.” No, I thought
these were real live critters. I knew
what he meant, so I took the bait because I wanted to hear his opinion.
The man went on the standard
argument of how carbon dating is flawed and not very accurate, ignoring how
it’s a scientific method which was proven to be accurate on items of known
dates. He also mentioned the way the
tectonic plates have moved, and been thrown upward, so there’s no way to be
able to tell actual dates of things.
Well, basic geology has also answered question by looking at the
sedimentary rocks in the area or on the global level.
I didn’t give a lot of answers, but
asked him more questions to get him to support his point. As he was talking, I noticed one of the
security guards had started to step closer to the man, so I got the impression
this man was a regular fixture that accosted other patrons. The guard noticed that I saw him, and then
backed off a bit, as it was clear that I wasn’t being bothered. The gentleman spoke cleanly in a calm manner,
but he continued to make a circular argument that science was “wrong” because
he’d found other information which disapproved it. Okay, not everyone can remember specific
facts, but give me a bone that I research myself.
The gentleman commented the best
evidence was on his friend’s ranch there were dinosaur tracks in hard
fossilized mud with human footprints next to it. Great, where is it? Can I see them? His response it because it’s private land, no
one’s allowed on there, but he assured me some “scientists” had confirmed the
information. I’ll give him that maybe
someone doesn’t want people to tromp around on his land, but what city is it
near? I told the man that I’d enjoy
reading the studies about this, and knowing at least the township this is in
would allow me locate the studies. Other
than “out in west Texas
somewhere” was all the location he could give me. That pretty much confirmed this was just a
crack-pot.
Now it was my turn. I asked him if he’d seen the dinosaur tracks
near Cedar Park
I let him know he could park near a
bridge, and walk upstream (westward) about a mile, and where the river starts
to make a turn, there were a half-dozen prints which were about 12-18 inches in
length. Each print was about three feet
apart, and staggered side-to-side, similar to a normal walking pattern. The tracks go from the river bed to the cliff
face, which was clearly a bunch of sedimentary rocks. I’m sure if we could crack more of that layer
open, we’d see more tracks.
I also let him know that if you’d
go down stream form the bridge about a half-mile or so, there were a couple
other similar tracks. From the analysis
the geologists did, they can approximate the time period when the prints were
made, and the weight of the critter (based on the size, and how deep the
impression was in the mud), but there’s no way to tell what specific species it
was.
The gentleman was sure these were “planted”
by someone. I assured them he could go
and look at these tracks for himself, as it wasn’t restricted access land, and
geologic report was available online. At
that point, he seemed to get annoyed, and then wandered off. The security guard then rolled up and
mentioned that whenever they’ve had a dinosaur exhibit, they always get people
like him wandering in and bothering people, but this was the first time he’d
seen someone get the better of him. The
security guard was also interested in the tracks I’d visited in Cedar Park
That was a great experience just
taking the time to chat with the security guard. I’d seen everything in the dinosaur area, and
absorbed all the great stuff there. Even
more, I timed it right, as the school group was now filtering into that
wing. I then ventured on to see more of
the artifacts the Witte had within.
There were some exhibits on Native Americans and early Mexican
culture. The Witte is more than just a
single building, and there was more to see out back.
The area
behind the Witte has walking paths marked with petrified wood, and the San Antonio River
Also in
the back was the Science Treehouse, which was four floors on hands-on science
exhibits, dealing with things like sound waves, air power, and water
wheels. A working Archimedes’ screw was
also there to show how water could be transferred from one place to another.
As the
school group had also made their way out to the treehouse area, I wasn’t able
to play with many of the exhibits. That
wasn’t a bit deal, as it was more interesting to see the younger generation
having an interest in science (although I’m sure many were just enjoying the
opportunity to play).
It was getting
near the rush hour time, and there wasn’t anything I could’ve easily gotten to
before it closed, or would have the sufficient time to explore. I hoped on Interstate 35 and headed back
north. Near San Marcos , in the vicinity of the outlet
malls is Centerpoint Station. This is
just a little country store filled with antiques, but also has really good
hamburgers and Blue Bell ice cream. It
was a good place to stop to get a snack before fighting my way back to Austin .
More information about these places
can be found at:
Centerpoint
Station: www.centerpointstation.com
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