Opaque amber research. Palaeontologist Paul Tafforeau, from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, looking at trays o

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Opaque amber research. Palaeontologist Paul Tafforeau, from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, looking at trays of opaque amber. The 100-million-year-old amber (fossilised resin from prehistoric coniferous plants) will be X-rayed at the ESRFto detect the presence of inclusions (remains of trapped insects or plants). The ESRF X-rays are one thousand billion times more powerful than hospital X-rays. They are fired around the amber at multiple angles to create virtual slices. These are reconstructed into a 3D computer model or a physical model. In 2008 this technique has revealed over 350 extinct fossil animals, such as wasps, flies, ants and spiders, many of which were previously unknown.

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Photo credit: © PASCAL GOETGHELUCK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
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