![](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http://trecnews4u.blogspot.com/2014/05/fosil-avatar-mentransformasikan.html&media=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkIckKacsRfjbXyONI3pr89MGAlcTNq9SCtBb0DLVO53rf5erFYsQoSgsAPf_gAVjDpVRw4hVFzSbEhZHlKZ9p25Fh7QDJLyuYMN5aLiltzZ3rOxdofiWOrTzpTDNVz9JRFS-GghRxohl/s72-c/140522105130-large.jpg&description=..SILAHKAN MENGGUNAKAN " MESIN TRANSLATE "..GOOGLE TRANSLATEÂ DISAMPING KANAN INI............. PLEASE USE ........ " T...){kind=link}
DISAMPING KANAN INI.............
PLEASE USE ........ "TRANSLATE MACHINE" .. GOOGLE TRANSLATE BESIDE RIGHT THIS
..................
Fossil
avatars are transforming palaeontology
Date:
May 22, 2014
Source:
University of Bristol
Summary:
New techniques for visualizing fossils are
transforming our understanding of evolutionary history. Palaeontology has
traditionally proceeded slowly, with individual scientists labouring for years
or even decades over the interpretation of single fossils. The introduction of
X-ray tomography has revolutionized the way that fossils are studied, allowing
them to be virtually extracted from the rock in a fraction of the time
necessary to prepare specimens by hand and without the risk of damaging the
fossil.
.....................
New techniques for visualizing fossils are transforming our
understanding of evolutionary history according to a paper published by leading
palaeontologists at the University of Bristol.
Palaeontology
has traditionally proceeded slowly, with individual scientists labouring for
years or even decades over the interpretation of single fossils which they have
gradually recovered from entombing rock, sand grain by sand grain, using all
manner of dental drills and needles.
The
introduction of X-ray tomography has revolutionized the way that fossils are
studied, allowing them to be virtually extracted from the rock in a fraction of
the time necessary to prepare specimens by hand and without the risk of
damaging the fossil.
The
resulting fossil avatars not only reveal internal and external anatomical
features in unprecedented and previously unrealized detail, but can also be
studied in parallel by collaborating or competing teams of scientists, speeding
up the pace at which evolutionary history is revealed.
These
techniques have enabled palaeontologists to move beyond 'just so stories',
explanations for why sauropod dinosaurs had such long necks, for example, by
subjecting digital models of the fossils to biomechanical analysis, including
using the same computer techniques that engineers use to design test bridges
and aircraft.
However, the
scientists from Bristol's School of Earth Sciences highlight that the potential
benefits of fossil avatars are not being realized.
Lead author
Dr John Cunningham said: "At a practical level, we simply don't have the
infrastructure for storing and sharing the vast datasets that describe fossils,
and the policies of world-leading museums which protect the copyright of
fossils are preventing data sharing at a legal level."
Co-author Dr
Stephan Lautenschlager added: "The increasing availability of fossil
avatars will allow us to bring long-extinct animals back to life, virtually, by
using computer models to work out how they moved and fed. However, in many
cases we are hampered by our limited understanding of the biology of the modern
species to which we would ideally like to compare the fossils."
Dr Imran
Rahman, also an author of the agenda-setting study, said:
"Palaeontologists are making their fossil avatars freely available as
files for 3-D printing and so, soon, anyone who wants one, can have a
scientifically accurate model of their favourite fossil, for research,
teaching, or just for fun!"
Story
Source:
The above
story is based on materials provided by University of Bristol. Note: Materials may be
edited for content and length.
Journal
Reference:
- John A. Cunningham, Imran A. Rahman, Stephan Lautenschlager, Emily J. Rayfield, Philip C.J. Donoghue. A virtual world of paleontology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2014; 29 (6): 347 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.04.004
Cite This
Page:
University of Bristol. "Fossil
avatars are transforming palaeontology." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22
May 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140522105130.htm>.
