Using X-ray Radiography To Reveal Ancient Insects

1shooter writes "Researchers in France are using a synchrotron as a giant X-ray machine to peer into the insides of opaque amber to reveal insects dating from the age of dinosaurs. 'The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, produces an intense, high-energy light that can pierce just about any material, revealing its inner structure... From more than 600 blocks, they have identified nearly 360 fossil animals: wasps, flies, ants, spiders.' The process reveals detailed 3D images that can be used to make near-perfect enlarged scale models of the bugs using a 'plastic printer.'"

Comments

How many furlongs is that?

[Skevin]

> From more than 600 blocks, they have identified nearly 360 fossil animals: wasps,
> flies, ants, spiders

Why so far away? They might get better resolution if they held the sample right up next to the machine.

Solomon Chang

Re:How many furlongs is that?

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

>why the need for a synchrotron?

Resolution. Details are shown at the micron level.

Re:How many furlongs is that?

[sokoban]

What I'm wondering is, why the need for a synchrotron? Why not just any old X-ray machine? It seems from the video that the technique they're using needs collimated and coherent light. It seems that they are measuring the change in coherence based on the light being shined through the sample in order to calculate density differences and show structure. They're not doing diffraction measurements here, and the samples don't look like they're large enough to require the intensity generated by a SLS.

Re:How many furlongs is that?

[H0D_G]

The technique is similar to in line holography, in that the resultant image (a phase-contrast X-ray image)is constructed from the phase information of the light, as distinct from the intensity. phase contrast imaging is good for 'squishy' structures as it only needs a very small shift in refractive index to influence the phase, meaning that structures similar in density (ie, that would look similar on a conventional X-ray) can be produced.

Re:How many furlongs is that?

[RealGrouchy]

*looks up from the amber specimen*

"That's not a bug, it's a feature!"

- RG>

Yes, but...

[Naughty Bob]

Researchers in France are using a synchrotron as a giant X-ray machine......Do they run Linacs?

Holotype

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

A very interesting sidelight of this is that they "print" a 3d model of the data in plastic, and this model becomes part of the official holotype of the new species. A first for taxonomy, I believe. A 1 mm wasp gets turned into a highly detailed 30 cm model. Very cool, at least if you're a biologist.

New application

[Roger W Moore]

I wonder if this technique will work with Fortran code we still use in our Monte-carlo generators for the LHC. I'm sure it also contains ancient bugs....

Re:Today must be redundant day today.

[H0D_G]

Actually, intense and high energy are not necessarily the same thing, especially in terms of radiation. intense means that the number of photons over an incident area is high, whilst high energy means that the photons are from the higher frequency end of the X-ray spectrum.