Submitted Abstract
What do rock music and palaeontology have in common? They both share a passion for the obscure and the underground, and they are both notoriously inclined to crossing frontiers. But there is more: the clandestine liaison between rock music and the science of fossils has long flourished underground. Now it is time to unveil and celebrate this unlikely love. Some palaeontologists openly display their passion for rock and metal music by naming new fossil species after their favourite rock stars. These extraordinary Rock Fossils are the stars of a hands-on exhibition showing both the ancient creatures and the music that inspired their scientific discovery. The exhibition is the perfect excuse for a varied framework program: interactive debates and workshops exploring fossils in science and science in music, a pro-level science slam, concerts by international fossil headliners, and expeditions to find out where and how some of the Rock Fossils were discovered. Extinct animals named after rock stars are the tangible proof that science is driven by passion. The Rock Fossils project plays on this emotive gateway to reach out to a public that surely knows about passion but probably has never linked it to science before.