blivet radio
The Radio weblog of Hal Rager

Tuesday, May 28, 2002

Neutron Tomography Reactor Reveals Hidden Life Of Rocks. "Researcher Martin Wilding, geology assistant professor Dawn Sumner and Lesher have already used the method, called neutron tomography, to find bacteria living inside rocks collected in the Mars-like environment of Antarctica's dry valleys and Israel's Negev desert. They're also using it to study the structure of volcanic rocks and glasses, and of "black smoker" chimneys collected from the deep ocean floor. Neutron tomography could also be used for biology experiments, such as filming water movement inside plants, Wilding said. "We're just scratching the surface of what we can do," he said." [Science Daily] I think I saw a Nova where this technology was used on the fossilized skull of Sue, the Tyrannosaurus that Horner dug in the 1990s that ended up in the ownership dispute. This is amazing technology for seeing inside things that you ordinarily can't or don't want to destroy in the process. Like, say, mummies. Daddies too. 6:54:21 PM    comment   trackback []