3-D scans of Tiktaalik’s bones are now available at HHMI Biointeractive — flip ’em, spin ’em, rotate ’em all around and get a good look at the beast.
Now if only the raw 3-D data were available, I could print out a life-sized copy of Tiktaalik, if I had a 3-D printer.
Ask the researchers for permission?
Or give me your address and I’ll commission the carver down the street from me to send you one in soapstone. Might cost a few bucks though.
Well, if you really want one, there are utilities which can rip 3D models off of webpages, and 3D printing services so you don’t need to have your own printer, but you’d probably have to be a Tiktaalik fanatic to go that route.
“If I had some ham, we could have ham and eggs, if I had some eggs….”
I wonder if that counts as illegal hacking, stealing the poor Government of Nunavut’s IP.
But maybe the GN should figure out how to post this model up for 3d printing — and thus get royalties.
I’ve often thought that it would be a great educational outreach program for museums to post 3D models of dinosaur skeletons, so that people with 3D printers could create realistic reproductions (in miniature).