When 7-year-old Sophie wrote to Australia's leading science agency and asked for a dragon, we knew it was time to step up our dragon R&D program.
A mythical generator: Could the fire in Smaug’s belly power a small city?
We’ve been doing science since 1926 and we’re quite proud of what we have achieved. We’ve put polymer banknotes in your wallet, insect repellent on your limbs and Wi-Fi in your devices. But we’ve missed something.
There are no dragons.
Over the past 87 odd years we have not been able to create a dragon or dragon eggs. We have sighted an eastern bearded dragon at one of our telescopes, observed dragonflies and even measured body temperatures of the mallee dragon. But our work has never ventured into dragons of the mythical, fire breathing variety.
And for this Australia, we are sorry.
This came to our attention today when we received the following letter:
Hello Lovely Scientist
My name is Sophie and I am 7 years old. My dad told me about the scientists at the CSIRO. Would it be possible if you can make a dragon for me. I would like it if you could but if you can’t thats fine.
I would call it toothless if it was a girl and if it is a boy I would name it Stuart.
I would keep it in my special green grass area where there are lots of space. I would feed it raw fish and I would put a collar on it. If it got hurt I would bandage it if it hurt himself. I would play with it every weekend when there is no school.
Love from Sophie
Fanmail, with a call for dragon R&D.
Last week the Scientific American hypothesised whether dragon fire would be produced by flint, gas, or rocket fuel. We already do some research in alternative fuels, so perhaps dragon fuel is a good area for us to start accelerating our dragon R&D program. Hobbit fans would have observed the amount of fire in Smaug’s belly. But how much energy could it produce? Would dragon fuel be a low emissions option?
Thanks for the fuel for thought, Sophie. We’re looking into it. In the meantime, you can always admire the brood of Daenerys Targaryen.
Sophie’s dragon.
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UPDATE: We made Sophie a dragon. Really. Check it out in our latest post, Here be 3D printed dragons.
11th January 2014 at 5:48 pm
Umm, my eight year old wants a Pegasus and if it were a girl she would name it princess and she would want it to be a brilliant white with shimmering pink wings can u make one for her ! she believes that they hold the key to peace in the world!
11th January 2014 at 6:36 pm
Sorry, Sophie’s dragon was a limited edition 🙂
11th January 2014 at 3:38 pm
Stuart the dragon! I love it!
11th January 2014 at 9:41 am
I would have thought it would have been nicer for the CSIRO to have replied in the language of a seven year old instead of the somewhat stuffy reply she got. One of the Scientists children should have written the reply.
11th January 2014 at 7:41 am
We had a lovely dragon when we were kids, back in the 1960s.
Here are The Seekers to remind us of Puff:
I’m sure that he is still around.
11th January 2014 at 3:45 am
Dragon fire as an alternative fuel is a terrible idea. It is extremely carcinogenic, which is what led to the demise of the wild dragon population.