Science / Medicine : SCIENCE CALENDAR : Dinosaur Menagerie Show Puts Beasts Into Motion

Imagine walking into a room full of roaring, stomping dinosaurs and coming face to face with a 15-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex. Although people weren’t yet around during the age of dinosaurs, you can get a feeling for what they must have been like at the “Dinosaurs!” exhibit currently at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in Exposition Park.

In addition to the carnivorous T . rex , the menagerie of 13 moving prehistoric giants includes a Triceratops mother and her young, an Apatosaurus and a Maiasaura mother with three young and a nest of hatching babies. Also to be found at the museum will be a rare “robosaur,” a specially created robotic dinosaur with a control center inside that visitors can operate to move the animal’s neck, speak through its mouth and see the surrounding area on a video monitor.

Each new animal is designed by the Kokoro Co., Ltd. of Japan in consultation with paleontologists from museums and universities throughout the United States and Canada. As new scientific information is revealed, the models are updated, sometimes yearly. Inclusion of the family groups is a reflection of new information about dinosaurs’ social behavior.

The exhibit will be at the museum through March 18. Call (213) 744-6292 or 744-3466.

SCIENCE FOR KIDS

The California Museum of Science and Industry resumes its science workshop program for children from pre-kindergarten to early teens in January. The workshops emphasize a hands-on approach with projects for small classes. Returning topics include dinosaurs, model rocketry and lizards. New workshops include energy, animals and anatomy. Many new classes begin Saturday. Call (213) 744-7440.

Children can visit a human-size ant wall and ant colony in the Human Habitrail at the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena. Special insect activities are planned for Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Also at Kidspace, children can stop by Stuffee’s House and create a “Body Map” of their own body to take home with them. Body-mapping activities will be held Jan. 10 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Call (818) 449-9144

Centipedes, tarantulas and black widow spiders will be among the “Insects on Parade” at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County as part of their “Whale’s Tales” family program on Jan. 13 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Call (213) 744-3335 or 744-3534.

ASTRONOMY

The bright stars of winter will be the subject of the El Camino College Planetarium program on Friday evenings through Jan. 26. Programs begin at 8:05 p.m. Call (213) 715-3200.

Bonnie Buratti of the Comet-Asteroid imaging team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will discuss the findings of the Voyager mission and show some of the latest images of Neptune and Triton at a lecture sponsored by the Santa Clarita Astronomy Club at Placerita Canyon Nature Center on Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m. Call (805) 259-3274 or (818) 362-1175.

ENVIRONMENT

The unique ecosystem of the Farallon Islands will be discussed by Peter Pyle, Point Reyes Bird Observatory Farallon biologist, at the meeting of the Los Angeles Audubon Society on Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. in Plummer Park. Call (213) 876-0202.

HEALTH / MEDICINE

The cholesterol controversy will be the subject of a lecture by Dr. Gerald Leve, internist and endocrinologist, sponsored by the Pico-West Chapter Women’s American O.R.T. at Yablan Cultural Center on Sunday at 2 p.m. Call (213) 654-8728.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Repercussions from the human genome initiative will be the focus of a seminar at Caltech, Kerckhoff Building, Room 119 on Jan. 10 at 4 p.m. Call (818) 356-4087.