How high school students used 3D printing to identify mysterious dinosaur fossils
In short: A group of students spent two weeks at the American Museum of Natural History learning to think like paleontologists. By scanning and printing fossils from the museum's collection, they reconstructed a skeleton and used comparative anatomy to solve the mystery of which dinosaur they were holding.
The program, titled 'Capturing Dinosaurs: Reconstructing Extinct Species Through Digital Fabrication,' tasked students with identifying an unknown dinosaur using only 3D-printed bones. To succeed, they studied mounted specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex and Apatosaurus in the museum's fourth-floor halls, applying comparative anatomy to their own printed Allosaurus fossils.
Beyond modeling, students gained access to the museum's research facilities, including the Big Bone Room and the Fossil Preparation Lab. They also observed professional scanning equipment, such as computed tomography (CT) scanners and scanning electron microscopes, to understand how modern scientists analyze ancient remains. The initiative was a collaborative effort between the museum's education department, the Richard Gilder Graduate School, the Division of Paleontology, HTINK, and MakerBot.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Students Use 3D Printing to Reconstruct Dinosaurs
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