The deep sea and outer space are two worlds that have only been explored to a fraction of their full extent and therefore offer plenty of room for the human imagination.
It is precisely these environments that authors and filmmakers use to bring them to life with their own characters and stories and to entertain people.
On 14 September, marine biologist Dr Bettina Wurche and science fiction expert Hubert Zitt will be presenting exciting facts about marine and space dwellers at the Saarlandhalle from 6 pm.
In her lecture "Sperm whale - myth & reality", Dr Bettina Wurche will focus on the superlative sea dweller: reigning deep-diving champion, creature with the largest nose in the animal kingdom and the largest living predator on earth. At the same time, it is closely linked to human cultural history: whalers have chased after it for centuries, it has been immortalised in novels such as "Moby Dick" and its spermaceti oil was irreplaceable for humans for a long time. Due to its submersion and its enormous size, it has successfully eluded our investigations for a long time. New technology has made it possible to study it in more detail. Dr Bettina Wurche will present the latest findings to her audience.
Hubert Zitt will take the audience on a journey to other galaxies and in his lecture will look at various life and body forms in science fiction films. Their characteristics and abilities such as anatomy, locomotion, communication, intelligence, consciousness and reproduction are discussed in an entertaining and humorous way using film clips. In the case of artificial life forms, the speaker goes one step further and ventures a comparison between science fiction and current developments in our real world.
From sperm whale to alien - bizarre body worlds
Lecture: From sperm whale to alien - bizarre body worlds
Speakers: Dr Bettina Wurche, Dr Hubert Zitt
Further information
PDF of the lecture From sperm whales to aliens - bizarre body worlds
» From sperm whales to aliens (pdf, 332.16 KB)
