For Immediate Release Contact: Pat Kremer (312) 665-7100 (For Media Use Only) Journey into the World of 21st-Century Paleontology, Where Everything Old is New Again So you think you know dinosaurs? Only an old fossil would say that these days. Even paleontologists themselves are amazed by the new discoveries and exciting ideas emerging from their field. Catch up on the latest in dinosaur science in the interactive, multimedia exhibition Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries. Here’s a preview of what you’ll see. Meet Bambiraptor: An Introduction to New Discoveries, New Technologies, and New Ideas The name says it all: a dinosaur that’s cute as a baby deer…unless you’re the small mammal seized by its large claw. This recent fossil discovery, astonishingly complete, has given us new evidence about the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds. Learn what it is – and how new technologies are helping us find out. It’s Not Easy Being Big: The Biomechanics of Therapods It’s not easy being an average-sized human, either – especially if you’re being chased by a seven-ton T. rex. But could you have outrun the full-size creature bearing down on visitors near the exhibition’s entrance? Find out by studying the remarkably accurate, six-foot long, robotic T. rex skeleton. Paleontologists, biomechanical engineers, and computer scientists teamed up to create this lifelike moving creature. Even its smallest toes flex as it walks – each one has 50 mechanical parts! A video animation shows the “fleshed out” creature in sync with the robot. Interactive stations let you explore on your own how scientists worked with variables of weight, muscle mass, posture, and center of gravity to reconstruct T. rex’s gait and speed. And you’ll learn what scientists have recently discovered about dinosaur aging and growth – including the most incredible adolescent growth spurt of all time. Continue>>