The recent Game of Thrones episodes have been fiery, scandalous, action-packed, and explosive - all but dull. Even the last scene in the most recent episode was never short of what we would expect (and not expect) from its creators - Daenerys on the back of one of her dragons.
Taking a breather from the stunning CGI effects, you have to admit that at least once - even not while watching the HBO series - you have imagined what it's like riding on a giant, mythical character. Fantasies aside and if dragons from GOT or birds from The Lord of the Rings existed, would you be able to actually do it?
"The 'Lord of the Ring' eagles would have more of a problem than the dragons," said Michael Habib, a paleontologist at the University of Southern California who specializes in prehistoric flight dynamics, to NBC News.
This is because Eagles are ranked as the most powerful modern-day fliers, however, "a lot of their musculature goes into the legs and talons as well as the wings," according to the NBC article.
"The physics does not actually prevent a rideable flying animal from existing, but it has to be a specific type of flying animal. The physics does prevent a 20-ton dragon from existing," the palaeontologist clarified.
So could you ride a dragon or a giant flying bird?
"You'd have to be really strapped in," Habib said.
Another flying creature from the movies added to the question is the pterosaur from Jurassic Park. Existing 65 million years ago, this kind of dinosaur of more than 35 feet vs. 8 feet for real-life eagles and could lift a maximum of 500 pounds, or even more. However, like the Eagle, its wings are also made of lightweight membranes. Hence, if its anatomical design was built more efficiently, this dinosaur could possibly carry a 100-pound human.
