Re: 3D fossil printing

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

I've seen an enlarged 3D print of an Ausktribosphenid mandible. If the quality 
of the scan is good 
(access to a synchrotron helps), the details in the replicas can be amazing.

On Thu, Jan 24th, 2013 at 4:41 AM, "Richard W. Travsky" <rtravsky@uwyo.edu> 
wrote:

> 
> This sounds very cool. I'd love to have some early homninid printings.
> 
> I wonder how detailed this can get
> 
> http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21728996.500-3d-print-a-fossil-with-virtual-
palaeontology.html
> 3D print a fossil with virtual palaeontology
> 
> SERGIO AZEVEDO was prospecting at an old railroad site in So Paulo state, 
> Brazil, when he discovered the fossilised bones of an unknown animal. 
> "Many times when you find a fossil in the field it's impossible to 
> determine how much of the ancient animal you have," he says. "Sometimes 
> you have just part of a bone or a tooth." Azevedo has a solution to this 
> perennial problem, which also acts as a safety net in case a stray hammer 
> blow destroys an ancient fossil during excavation. Just scan it and print 
> it.
> 
> His team at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio used a portable CT 
> scanner to determine the orientation of the specimen in the ground, then 
> they cut out a large section of rock to take back to the lab. There the 
> encased fossil was probed using a more powerful scanner - and a 3D replica 
> printed out in resin.
> [...]
> 
> 


-- 
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Dann Pigdon
Spatial Data Analyst               Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia               http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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