Brain size

Brain size
 

This El país article reports on the size of a brain "cerebro de solo ocho centímetros". I find this very irritating because "only 8 centimetres" is meaningless in English without specifying whether you mean a diameter of 8 cms or a volume of 8 cubic centimetres, the difference being obvious to anybody with a brain of the latter size.

My question is whether in Spanish when a volume is described by a linear measurement you automatically mean the cubic volume, i.e. "8 cms" actually means "8 cubic cms" (= 8 ccs) or whether it is as meaningless as in English, written by a journalist with an even smaller brain.

Thanks

Obviously he should have specified: "... sólo ocho centímetros [de diámetro/de anchura/de largo/etc...]"

Sometimes in the weather forecast on TV they say: "En Madrid cayeron 40 litros la pasada noche..." and I think hey, 40 liters is not too much for a big city... maybe they meant "40 litros por metro cuadrado".

Journalists... :D

But it also reads "Un dinosaurio de 15 metros de largo.... con solo 8 centimetros...etc" se subentiende que son 8 cmts de largo, no?

If the speaker had meant volume, he would have used "centímetros cúbicos".

In Spanish "centímetro" is always lineal unless it is a jargon in some profession: "rápido, dos centimetros [cúbicos] de epinefrina (uno en mil)"

It's true that a scientific article should be precise about whether it's a diameter or a volume, but it seems their probable sources of information didn't have it right either. ;(

Anyway, I think this is a diameter, as they talk about the brain being a little bigger than a tennis ball. :thinking:

It could be the "diameter", but in the context of the article, it seems they talk about the "length"...

Con unos15 metros de largo, el ampelosaurio de hace unos 70 millones de años sería un animal impresionante… pero torpe. Su cerebro medía solo ocho centímetros.

At any rate, "cerebro de mosquito" may be applicable here...

For the journalist. :D Thanks everyone.

Yes, Sir. :D
You're welcome!