Dinosaur Robots (seriously): Paleontologist and Mechanical Engineer Team Up at Drexel University | 

Could Tyrannosaurus rex run down its prey or did the eight-ton “tyrant lizard” shuffle its feet on the ground like an elephant? How did large dinosaurs lay eggs? Could they kneel down or did they simply drop off their offspring from 2 1/2 stories in the air and hope they survived?

Short of the wildly advanced genetic engineering imagined in Jurassic Park, robots might be the best tools that we have for answering these kinds of questions. Hence the partnership between paleontologist Dr. Kenneth Lacovara and mechanical engineer James Tangorra, both of Drexel University, who are using 3D printing to create the most advanced dinosaur models the world has ever known.

“We’re hitting the point where we’re going to be able to study extinct creatures in the same way a biologist can study a raccoon or tuna,” says Lacovara. “It’s going to go beyond informed guesswork to testable hypotheses.” continue reading