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Skulls Gain Virtual Faces

rw2 writes "Totally cool, The guys at Max Planck Institute for Computer Science have developed a way to reconstruct a persons appearence when a skull is found. When police find a skull and want to know what its owner looked like, they generally use artists who reconstruct the face by building up layers of clay over the skull."

28 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. Oooh! by bo0ork · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't wait to see what that skeleton that hangs in the biology class lab looked like when it was alive!

    --
    Does everything include nothing?
    1. Re:Oooh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      probably plastic.

    2. Re:Oooh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      so.. Michael Jackson then?

    3. Re:Oooh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, the one in my class had a normal looking nose.

    4. Re:Oooh! by hesiod · · Score: 4, Funny

      > No, the one in my class had a normal looking nose.

      I thought most skeletons didn't have noses...

    5. Re:Oooh! by Captain+Large+Face · · Score: 4, Funny

      I can't wait to see what Skeletor looks like. But I already have my suspicions...

    6. Re:Oooh! by PrImED73 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually, its already been reported to be Victoria Beckham

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      --Mods giveth, Mods taketh away--
  2. Re:sounds useful by Trigun · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why stop at monkeys? Do you know how many gibbons get murdered and decapitated every day, only to be identified as "Gibbon" and put on display in museums until someone can make a positive identification? If we could talk these lower primates into visiting their dentist more often, we would be able to more accurately identify these poor John Gibbon Does.

    You want to ask a real question next?

  3. I wonder What Skeletor Looked Like before... by thePancreas · · Score: 1, Funny

    Finally we will know THE TRUTH!!!!

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    I went to battle MC Escher, but drew a blank
  4. 16:40 EST, slashdotted... by dnoyeb · · Score: 3, Funny

    This can not be the case. This is getting rediculous.

    Were going to have to start diseminating slashdot stories on a staggered Timezone based schedule.

  5. Re:sounds useful (unfortunately it is) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    How often do authorities find skulls? And how often do they need to know what that person looked like?

    Well if you follow the national news at all you'd know that this happens a lot more than one would like to imagine it would.

    I mean I would rather see a tool that could tell if a living person's skull was empty or not,

    We could start with you, oh wait, your post is just as good to answer that question.

  6. I want one by tlacicer · · Score: 2, Funny

    how long before the desktop version is out?

    I wonder how you would test it? They should ban this, I mean it might cause people to start killing each other just so they can see if the software really works.

    --
    "A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the word you first thought of." - Burt Bacharach
  7. What about a fat-ass? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Seriously, how do they account for a tubby bastard? ...which nowdays is almost a certainty. That might throw off the model a bit if Skeletor is packing 350 lbs.

  8. Working diligently by Lane.exe · · Score: 2, Funny
    Scientists have reconstructed the face of Lucy, famed early human, using this technology. To little surprise, they found her primitive features closely resembled those of homo sapiens SCO executivus, a recent throwback to more primitive cultures that has surfaced in the deserts of Utah.

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    IAALS.
  9. Re:Old news. Like, 3,000 years old. by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Funny

    The reconstruction scenes were silly!

    Do you think Nefertiti and Akenaten sat silently next to each other, slowly turning at regular intervals to give each other shifty eyed knowing glances?

    And did you see that one priest dude with the leapord skin shawl and the GIGANTANORMOUS AFRO! The Afro was bigger than him! He was the pimpinest ancient egyptian I ever did see.

    And I liked that the whole conclusion that they had found nefertiti was based on "If its not Nefertiti, who else could it be?" Gee I dunno, maybe one of the other BAJILLION people who lived in egypt?

    Anyways. I cant stay mad at TV. I just wish they'd stick to CGI dinosaurs.

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    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  10. Re:Great, but what are the implications? by Experiment+626 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd say if your decomposed skull turns up somewhere, you have bigger problems than remaining anonymous from the police.

  11. Re:Great, but what are the implications? by vacaboca · · Score: 2, Funny

    Heh. "...it seems pretty ok cause it is hard to violate a skull's rights" That's just an open invitation to perverse thoughts and snide comments! Or maybe that's just me.

  12. CSI?!?! by thebatlab · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is not new. Doesn't anybody watch CSI? With the aid of computer technology they are able to zoom in on images taken from blurry security cameras to be able to tell if there is a carpet fiber on the jacket of the person in the very same picture! I'm sure they're able to fully rebuild a complete person from just the skeletal structure, muscles and all. They can probably interpolate from marks on the skeleton and thanks to that guy that knows everything he could probably help out b/c chances are he knew the guy. TV wouldn't lie to me!! Would it...?? *cowers in the corner*

  13. Well.. by CausticWindow · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just because your imagination limits the use for this technology, it doesn't mean that it can't be abused at all.

    What if they applied it in reverse for example? They could ruin the livelihood of frenologists all over the US.

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    How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
  14. the real test by justforaday · · Score: 1, Funny

    what sort of results would we get if we ran michael jackson's skull through it?

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    I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
  15. Re:Pretty neat by Fizzlewhiff · · Score: 5, Funny

    1. Glue on pencil erasers to set the skin thickness
    2. Cover with modeling clay to make the features using the erasers as a guide.
    3. ???

    You know the rest.

    4. Profit ?

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    'Same speed C but faster'
  16. So... by docbrown42 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...we will finally be able to see what Calista Flockhart REALLY looks like?

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    Ed Wedig
    Graphic design services
    docbrown.net
  17. Re:Soviet Mobs? by Soko · · Score: 3, Funny

    Actually in McBride's case, I'm waiting for them to find a way to reconstruct what's inside his skull, not outside. That may fall outside the prevue of real science, however.

    Soko

    --
    "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
  18. Re:Old news. Like, 3,000 years old. by penguin7of9 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I liked the look of the actress who played the doomed queen [...] Much more convincing than Yul Brenner, and a darn sight better looking.

    Well, unless Nefertiti was a drag queen, it is perhaps not all that surprising that Yul Brynner didn't make a convincing Nefertiti.

  19. Re:How accurate is it? by Elwood+P+Dowd · · Score: 2, Funny

    Fat leaves grease marks on the rings in your bones. Like in trees. When they cut your bones open, they can see how fat you were in each year by looking at thickness and greasiness of each ring.

    Dunno about eye shapes, though. Good question.

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    There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
  20. Anyone remember... by hiei · · Score: 2, Funny

    when MacGuyver did this years ago using eraser heads to build up the thickness of the skin and then recreate the face of a skull he found?

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    Upgrade your grey matter, cause one day it may matter
  21. Re:Soviet Mobs? by Mr_Matt · · Score: 1, Funny

    Actually in McBride's case, I'm waiting for them to find a way to reconstruct what's inside his skull

    Jeez buddy, I can tell you that right now! :)

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    But what does my opinion matter, I just vote here. It's not like I have any money or anything.
  22. Re:Soviet Mobs? by Slack3r78 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You have somehow managed to make references to Soviet Russia, the word "base", and SCO as well as twist your sentence structure without anyone cracking any of the standard jokes. Am I on the right Slashdot? ;)