Yesterday, during one of my insonias (by insonias I mean: couldn’t fall asleep in 10 minutes, after 1 hour reading), I decided to call in sleep by turning on the TV. So I watched a program that intriged me. Not sure if it was from my “zombie” state of mind, but that doc was a mix of science & hollywood tendency to overact.
Dragons: myth or reality?
Where the original concept of a dragon came from is unknown, as there is no accepted scientific theory or any evidence to support that dragons actually exist or have existed. Some believe that the dragon may have had a real-life counterpart from which the legends around the world arose — typically dinosaurs are mentioned as a possibility — but there is no physical evidence to support this claim.
Dinosaur fossils were once thought of as “dragon bones” in China, it is unlikely, however, that these finds alone prompted the legends of flying monsters, but may have served to reinforce them.
It has also been suggested by proponents of catastrophism that comets or meteor showers gave rise to legends about fiery serpents in the sky. In Old English, comets were sometimes called fyrene dracan or fiery dragons.
Were Dragons scientifically feasible ?
1 – Dragons’ huge size would make it impossible for them to fly were it not for two large internal bladders. These have a combined volume of thirty cubic feet. The bladders fill with hydrogen, which is much lighter than air, to provide buoyancy.
2 – The hydrogen in the bladders doubles as fuel for the fire that dragons are famous for breathing. The hydrogen combines with methane and platinum, as a catalyst, to produce flames. The inside of its mouth appears to be armour-plated and it has a false palate in its throat, similar to a crocodile, to stop backdraft. Because of the double duty of the flight bladders, the more fire the dragon breathes the shorter the distance it can fly.
Now, do you remember the movie Reign of Fire ?
Here you find a link to an interesting review discussing dragon biology in that movie from the standpoint of real-world science
http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/RofFire.html
Guida comment:
Well of course I don’t belive in the existence of such creatures. Although I think theres some romantic idealism in the belief of some knight fighting an horde of mythical beast to save the realm!!
This girlish and romantic side of me wants to belive…. 
This dark, obscure and skeptical scientific side of me does not belive at all….Show me the evidences and I will bow before the truth!!! 
Afonso comment:
I think that Dragons are in the same field as the mythological creatures! In the middle earth with Hobbits, Trolls and Orcs all in the same ground I believe it’s possible.
I do like the scientific part of the Dragon anatomy, but I still believe in Dragons as legendary creatures!
If someone can prove that Dragons exist, well, I think that will be the ideal time to start looking for evidences of Hobbits and Trolls…
À la carte 
