Dinosaurs last ruled the earth around 65 million years before man, yet they continue to capture the imagination today.
But should we really be so quick to say we’ve never seen a dinosaur, or to think that such old bones couldn’t tell us anything about modern medicine?
Celebrating the highly successful BBC’s Walking With Dinosaurs exhibition at Satrosphere Science Centre, researchers from the University of Aberdeen and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen, will be teaming up with a Hollywood special effects maestro to unearth some amazing facts about dinosaurs for a special Night of the Dinosaurs.
On Saturday August 21 the science centre will be opening its doors in the evening free of charge from 6pm – 9pm, where visitors will be able to find out how much we really know about how dinosaurs looked and behaved, discover if they suffered from arthritis and if they tasted like chicken, as they hear from dinosaur experts from the University of Aberdeen and the SPE Aberdeen.
Dr Lobke Vaanholt, from the University of Aberdeen’s School of Biological Sciences. will explain how when it comes to working out what dinosaurs looked like and how they moved, that it’s all about the looks and the attitude.
Dino-diseases and what they could tell us about our own health will be picked off the bone by Dr Alun Hughes from the University’s Institute of Medical, whilst David Cox from the SPE Aberdeen will take a journey back through millions of years of geological history to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Hollywood special effects designer Tom Lauten from Nimba Creations will also be on hand to provide a unique and humorous insight into the process of making a life size animatronic model of everyone’s favorite prehistoric predator, the tyrannosaurus rex!
Alongside these four short talks, visitors will be able to explore the amazing models and real fossils in the BBC’s Walking With Dinosaurs exhibition and become paleontologists for the evening as they take part in their very own dino-dig, plus see a rare core sample, kindly loaned to Satrosphere by Shell, that crosses through the catastrophic events that wiped the dinosaurs off the face of the planet.
During the afternoon, there will also be a special lifecasting and prosthetic workshop held by Tom Lauten. The workshop, which takes place at 2pm is expected to be extremely popular and spaces are limited. Tickets for the workshop are £20 per person and are available to purchase in advance from Satrosphere.
Lynsey Thompson, Satrosphere's Development Manager said: “The BBC Walking with Diniosaurs exhibition has been amazingly popular with visitors of all ages this summer and the Night of the Dinosaurs event will help to further bring these fascinating creatures to life with the help of our expert guests and the workshop during the day will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those taking part ".
For further information about the free Night of the Dinosaurs event or the BBC Walking with Dinosaurs exhibition which is at Satrosphere until August 31, call 01224 640340 or visit http://www.satrosphere.net/ .