Here is a scientific study that uses the demise of steam locomotives as a model for what happens in biological extinction. Since no one was around when the dinosaurs disappeared, they use a historical event to shed light on what processes might have led to their extinction.
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-extinction-steam-locomotives-derails-assumptions.html
There's quite a discussion going on over on RyPN about this paper, and its methodology and some of its assumptions. My recommendation is to read that (for better or worse) before starting the same discussion here.
Where on rypn.org? Can't find a likely titled thread in "Interchange" on recent posts.
I have not forgotten -- my ICD ran away with the 36.3-joule shocks yesterday and I can't get to the office computer running RyPN.
The thread is "Academic Analysis of Steamloco.com's Database". I had to look carefully; I thought it might have been deleted as 'not preservationist enough' -- which to be honest it wasn't.
Note that the point of the paper was to discuss technological extinction, not biological...
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