You’ll be able to try on a spacesuit and find how how we know what colour dinosaurs were at a spectacular science night in the heart of York. STEPHEN LEWIS reports.

EVER fancied trying a spacesuit on for size? Or wondered how scientists know what colour dinosaurs were? Or been curious about what your surname reveals about where you come from?

If so, make sure you're in York two weeks from today. Because the evening of Friday September 26 is 'Yornight' – a night dedicated to the amazing scientific and historical research going on all around us in York.

You really will be able to try a spacesuit on – at King's Manor, of all places, as part of an evening leading up to a free screening of the hit film Gravity.

Over at the Tempest Anderson Hall, meanwhile, molecular palaeontologist Johan Gren will explain exactly how we can reconstruct the colour of dinosaurs – and then Patrick Boyle of the Yorkshire Geological Society will recreate the days of the great 'age of mammals' when giant hyenas hunted big game across Yorkshire.

If none of that grabs you, across at Dig! – which will be opening late into the evening – you'll be able to taste foods eaten by our ancient ancestors, including nettle stew made to a recipe used in the Bronze Age, and bread made from grains used in medieval times.

You'll also have a chance to take part in guided evening tours of York to find out more about the city's Norman, later medieval and Georgian past; or to quiz scientists face to face over a cup of coffee at two 'Researchers' cafés' opening late especially for the occasion, at the Treasurer's House and at York Cocoa House.

Yornight is part of European Researchers Night. Throughout the evening, from 4pm to 10pm, 300 cities across Europe will be celebrating the ways in which science and research have changed and improved our lives.

In York, more than 20 organisations will be involved, including the University of York, York St John University, the York Museums Trust, the Jorvik group, the York Medical Society, the Treasurer's House, the National Railway Museum and many more.

The whole city will be "alive with events" from 4pm to 10pm that night, says Matthew Collins, Professor of Archaeology at the University of York, who put together the bid for European funding which has enabled the city to stage YorNight.

You'll be able to stargaze with the help of iPad apps in Museum Gardens (weather permitting); explore York's cold war bunker in Acomb; find out about First World War ambulance trains at the National Railway Museum; discover how York scientists are developing new treatments for cancer; or handle some exotic lizards (in the Hospitium at Museum Gardens) then listen to TV's Zoo Vet Matt Brash talk about his work.

Throughout the afternoon and evening there will be glowing yellow and blue balloons outside every participating venue across the city centre. And there will be plenty of hands-on activities to keep the children interested, say organisers.

The idea of YorNight is to try to get people more interested in science and research, says Prof Collins.

York, with its two universities, the museums trust, Science City, and big companies such as Nestlé and Smith & Nephew, has a huge concentration of first-class scientists, he says.

Science has changed virtually every aspect of our lives, from the food we eat and the clothes we wear to the technology which we rely on so much today - everything from our cars, TVs and kitchen implements to our smartphones and the internet technology which keeps us all connected.

Yet many people have a stereotyped image of scientists. "There is this view of the old bloke with the mad hair and the lab coat," says Prof Collins. "It's not like that.

"Researchers are all around us in York. The people you bump into in the street – some of them will be researchers. And the work they are doing affects us all."

YorNight will be a chance for you to met some of those people, ask them questions, and find out for yourself about the work they are doing: work that is helping us to understand our past and also changing our lives for the better.


What's on on YorNight

YorNight runs from 4pm-10pm on Friday September 26. Events are free. For most you can simply turn up on the night, but some may need to be booked in advance.

To find out more, visit yornight.com

Meanwhile, here are a few highlights:

* Try on a spacesuit, handle a meteorite, and watch the film Gravity: King's Manor, 6.30pm-9pm

* The Colour Of Dinosaurs: talk by Johan Gren, Tempest Anderson Hall, 5.30pm

* The Giant Hyenas That Once Stalked Yorkshire: talk by Patrick Boylan, Tempest Anderson Hall, 6.30pm

* Handle a lizard: Hospitium, Museum Gardens

* The Vet's Life: talk by zoo vet Matt Brash, Hospitium, Museum Gardens, 7.30pm

* First World War ambulance trains: National Railway Museum (remaining open after normal hours)

* Exhibition of medical art: York Medical Society, Stonegate

* How Fruit Flies Could Help Parkinson's Disease: talk by Ryan West, York Medical Society, Stonegate, 7pm to 7.15pm

* Try Bronze Age 'nettle stew' or medieval-style bread: DIG! (open late)

* Chat to a scientist face to face over a cup of coffee: 'research cafés' at Treasurer's House and York Cocoa House open late