5/7/2023 0 Comments Bone fragments wow classic![]() ![]() For one, it can be hard to distinguish where rock stops and bone begins. But there are many challenges connected to the preparation and repair process. The alternative would be paleontologists going cross-eyed trying to mentally piece together drawers of bone fragments, and much less impressive fossil exhibits. ![]() Preparation and repair are a necessary part of putting fossils in a state where people can learn from them. Gluing pieces together, adding missing parts shaped from plaster - or covering sections in protective sealant or even paint in the case of exhibit specimens - are common treatments. Depending on the fossil and its envisioned purpose, the preparator then performs a range of interventions. At its most basic, the process involves removing enough rock from around the specimen so the fossil can be examined. When fossils come in from the field, they get shipped off to “beauty school,” Eklund’s term for the preparation process that gets a specimen ready for research or display. Developing the technique has made him an advocate for fossils as not just wow-worthy specimens but as tools to teach how the science of paleontology is done. It also has Eklund and others making the case that it’s not just scientists who can benefit from seeing fossils outside of their exhibit-ready looks. ![]() The approach is starting discussions about how fossils should be researched and prepared. He calls the technique Progressive Photonics, a nod to the stepwise nature of the approach and its potential for growth as more photographic techniques are incorporated. Matthew Brown, the director of the collections, stands nearby. Mike Eklund, a Jackson School fossil preparator and the driving force behind a new fossil photography technique, shines a light on the skull of a rhino-like Brontotherium kept in the Jackson School’s vertebrate paleontology collections. “This is the shortest path to getting the most complete story,” Eklund said. The experience inspired him to take the lead in developing a new photography technique that does not seek to just put fossils in their best light, but under a whole sequence of lights - 17, to be exact - that can illuminate a host of features, including those that would have otherwise remained hidden. Mike Eklund, a fossil preparator and research associate at the Jackson School of Geosciences, has spent years preparing fossils for scientific study and display. Biological remains may lurk in places where it looks like nothing is there. What looks like an actual attribute can turn out to be the result of repair. And sometimes the reconstruction work on fossil specimens is so good that the prepared specimens can fool the very scientists who are studying them. However, the preparation process includes techniques that can sometimes lead to scientifically important features, such as soft tissues or fine structures, being unknowingly damaged or stripped away. Making dinosaurs and other fossils look good comes down to the dedication and skill of fossil preparators. And when a skeleton does happen to show up on the surface, weathering and erosion start to whittle everything away. A carcass could have been gnawed upon and scattered by ancient scavengers, bones crushed or distorted by the piling on of millions of years’ worth of rock. But the truth is that fossilization is not pretty process. These specimens are meant to inspire wonder, to light a spark that can lead to or strengthen a lifelong interest in science. BY MONICA KORTSHAĮnter any natural history museum around the country, and it probably won’t be long until you encounter a cache of fossils - almost certainly big dinosaurs - posed and lit so they look nearly lifelike, not a single tooth or tailbone out of place. That's why we play it.A new fossil photography technique developed at the Jackson School of Geosciences is revealing scales, hair and other soft tissues, as well as signs of repair. Yeah, you're likely going to be competing with other people, but it beats waiting on the Crypt Fiend spawns in Fungal Vale/Noxious Glade/Terrordale for five minutes after you kill all FIVE of them (Terrorweb Tunnel might be a decent spot, but 90% of the time I go there, it's empty, and when it's not, it's also being patrolled by a level 60 elite).īesides that, we've been competing with people over the Sorrow Hill/Felstone Field undeads since LOOOOOONG before 1.11, so comparatively, it's not that bad. Sorrow Hill and either of the two lower level cauldron farms in WPL are the best choices, I think. Personally, I wouldn't say they're easy to farm, but they are easier to get than the Crypt Fiend Parts, which as far as I know, are the only other things that can be turned in for Insignias of the Crusade. Comment by ThottbotI don't really think there is a GOOD place to farm them, because everyone who is after them is going to be testing the same spots as you. ![]()
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