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3D Microscopy of Fossils Embedded in Solid Rock

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the john-hammond-getting-interested dept.

whitehatlurker writes "UCLA is reporting that a process involving Raman spectroscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy has enabled researchers to take three dimensional images of fossils that have been embedded in solid stone for over 650 million years. It also permits characterization of the chemical structures of the fossil. As the process is non-destructive and can image microscopic fossils (such as bacteria) with (formerly) soft tissues, there is speculation that this could be used on a mission to Mars to examine sediments there for evidence of life."

4 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. Nice by GreatDrok · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It is amazing what is preserved in fossils. Back in 1988 I did serial sectioning of a fossilised brachiopod (Gryphea) and using software I wrote on my BBC micro I digitised the layers and reconstructed them on the computer. Using blue and red filters I was able to show the internal support structures in 3D which was amazing and showed detail previously unknown from traditional serial sectioning. It should never be underestimated what 3D graphics can show that might be otherwise hidden. Of course, traditional serial sectioning is destructive unlike this new technique.

    --
    "I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
    1. Re:Nice by praedictus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The additional fine structure and soft tissue information will probably give us a lot more insight on a lot of the details of evolution. It will be interesting to see this method applied to PreCambrian and early Cambrian (eg Burgess Shale) microfossils. No doubt there will be applications in biostratigraphy as well, such as a finer grained division on index fossils due to differences in the soft tissues not previously apparent.

      --
      Watashi wa chikyubutsurigakusha desu.
  2. non-destructive by joe+155 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's good to see them looking into non-destructive ways of doing this, traditionally if you wanted a 3D image of a fosil you'd have to take out a hammer and try and get it out that way, whilst this isn't too much of a problem in most circumstances; it can be in some. This will help on earth when we have a chance of a rare fosil that we can't risk damaging, enabling us to get a good look before we try anything dangerous, or on mars where fosils might be increasingly fragile or hard to detect.

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    *''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
  3. Who invented confocal microscopy? by sdfad1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was quite amazed when I first stumbled upon this page. Imagine that, Marvin Minsky himself invented this microscope. He invented this microscope, (co-)founded AI, a whole lot more, and had so many students - including Gerald Sussman himself. We live with some really brilliant people today.

    Sometimes when you wished "I wish I was there when da Vinci did this", or when someone else did that, well, it's happening here today, at faster rates than ever, and we don't even realise it sometimes. We live in interesting times.