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.
12th January 2014 at 7:16 am
Way to go CSIRO! Brilliant! The imagination is the most powerful learning tool!
12th January 2014 at 7:09 am
Dear CSIRO please export a little of that humanity and understanding to the scientific community in the US. Please! Nurturing the next generation of scientists and dreamers will benefit your country. I’m jealous
11th January 2014 at 10:47 pm
Well done. What a beautiful thing you have done, encouraging one’s imagination. Our children need more of that. “How to Train Your Dragon” is one of my family’s favorite movies and dragons are the embodiment of mythical. So, from the United States of America, “there be dragons.” Thank you for putting a smile on my heart and a bright spot in my day.
11th January 2014 at 8:53 pm
Thanks for putting a big smile on my face!
I am an Aircraft technician and at age 43 I still look for dragons…..But I assume the cold climate here in Norway is the reason I haven’t found one yet….
Kudos to you guys for doing this, wonderful story!
11th January 2014 at 7:20 pm
Kudos! I certainly hope she becomes a scientist! I certainly try to encourage my niece to be more curious about science and math so I’m going to show her this 🙂