Q&A: Paleontologist Jack Horner -- Bringing Science to the Big Screen

Cinema-savvy paleontologist Jack Horner is bringing back dinosaurs any way he can. He helped Hollywood do it as a consultant on the Jurassic Park films and now, using DNA, he's taking a scientific approach. He spoke to us about the latest in science, appreciating science fiction and the future of dinosaurs in film.
Q: What's your favorite sci-fi movie that doesn't deal with dinosaurs?
A: 2001: A Space Odyssey. It starts out with the ape guys hopping up and and down and ends with the embryo; it really does get you thinking about evolution. There aren't many movies that do that.
Q: Does the accuracy of the science affect your opinion?
A: At least it had science in it. Since Jurassic Park came out, my view of science in movies has changed quite a bit. Jurassic Park has a lot of science in it -- and a lot of it is wrong -- but if it was all accurate, it would be a documentary. I was very critical of science fiction films when I was younger but came to appreciate the fact that they're not accurate. It's part of making the movie exciting, especially when you can integrate science and science fiction to the point where people aren't really sure which is real and which isn't. After Jurassic Park, people really weren't sure whether you could or could not clone a dinosaur using DNA.
Q: But you are using DNA to try and make a dinosaur. How?
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