https://ift.tt/LYZS2IP
CT Scanning & 3D Printing Could Reveal New Dinosaur Species Inside Opalized Fossil https://ift.tt/YGmFTdC In order to get a closer look at, and learn more about creatures that died long ago, like dinosaurs, researchers and historians have turned to 3D printing and 3D scanning methods many times. The technologies have even helped reveal the discovery of a new species, like in the recent case of a small dinosaur that’s been preserved as opal in white sandstone rocks for over 100 million years. This opalized fossil is pretty rare, and paleontologists are using a micro-CT scanner at Flinders University, Tonsley in Adelaide, Australia, along with 3D printing, to study and reconstruct the dinosaur inside, and perhaps even discover a new species while they’re at it. Researchers have determined that the fossilized dinosaur, found in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, lived in forests not far from an inland sea, and is a plant-eating hypsilophodont—in layman’s terms, a small, running herbivore. According to the Palaeo Pictures documentary team, led by Flinders Associate Professor “Palaeo Paul” Willis, two miners found the fossil while they were searching for opal, which is Australia’s national gemstone; in fact, the country is said to be the world’s leading source of gem-quality opal. While opal miners find these opalized fossil shells often, they’re not seen as much in the rest of the world, and are chock full of important scientific data. This particular fossil was saved for scientific purposes back in 2019. Lightning Ridge fossils are often preserved as colorless, valueless potch (common opal), though some are made of precious opal, which is obviously high in value. But all of them are historically and scientifically priceless to paleontologists, so study is imperative to understand more about the ancient creatures inside these fossils.
Once CT scanning and 3D printing are complete, the reconstructed dinosaur will be “salvaged and revived” so that other researchers, and future generations, can see it for themselves.
The university researchers are working on the fossilized dinosaur reconstruction together with Palaeo Pictures and the Australian Opal Centre, a national museum in the opal mining town of Lightning Ridge to “preserve, display and research the greatest ever public collection” of Australian opal and opalized fossils. Only about 20% of the specimens have been scanned, so there’s still a long way to go, but recent scans of some of the pieces show that the bone inside the fossil has been preserved in extremely high detail. Associate Professor Willis says the team has already started 3D printing some of the most interesting specimens. Once micro-CT scanning is complete, the scan data will be used to help with a detailed study of the skeleton. Then, the team will be able to determine how it lived and died, as well as if it is actually a new species of dinosaur. The post CT Scanning & 3D Printing Could Reveal New Dinosaur Species Inside Opalized Fossil appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/5E8zmho September 23, 2022 at 08:41AM
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
April 2023
|