
500M years ago, this critter had a really bad day - adrianhoward
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/science/500-million-years-ago-this-critter-had-a-bad-day/article22984858/
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annnnd
> In the case of Marble Canyon, the site’s proximity to the highway means that
> protection from souvenir hunters is an additional concern. So far, that
> protection consists of keeping quiet about the site’s exact location.

Isn't it kind of trivial nowadays to determine location from such photos?

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Zikes
Some years ago in McDonald County, Missouri a new highway was being built when
they discovered a cave of Native American artifacts. The new highway was being
built alongside the old one, and the existence of the cave was soon made
public. For months afterward there was a guard vehicle posted at the entrance
to that cave 24/7, until the site could be suitably explored and artifacts
cataloged.

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sizzzzlerz
They were fortunate to have the funds for a guard. Most digs don't have that
money so security through obscurity is the best alternative. It's a common
problem in the American southwest where, if news of a new site gets out, pot
hunters can come in, strip, and destroy a site over-night.

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dvh
It always seems to me that these paleontologist still use medieval technology.
Hammer and chisel. They hit the rock and hope for the best, where the best
case is that there will be fossil split in half. Imagine if they had some kind
of "rock MRI" or something like that. Or perhaps using laser to etch thin
layers and then combine them in PC into 3D model. Come on!

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pp19dd
There is no better tool than a geologic hammer.

MRI machines weigh tons, as rocks do, so there isn't any practical way to do
field sampling. The only portable tool available for field work is a ground
penetrating radar, and it requires lots of power. Making even a moderately
steep hike to these remote locations with just your survival gear is beyond
exhausting, so lugging machines and rocks becomes a huge challenge:
impossible. Transporting the equipment mechanically is an incredibly costly
endeavor.

An image from a GPR looks like this:
[http://mysite.du.edu/~lconyers/SERDP/figure1_pit_house.jpg](http://mysite.du.edu/~lconyers/SERDP/figure1_pit_house.jpg)
\- as you can see, the GPR can go through rock, but, what they're seeing is a
pattern difference: signal pattern, that is. The GPR doesn't have an imaging
resolution to be able to assemble an accurate point cloud, like you would with
photographic imaging to make a 3D model. Instead, it's like watching spray
from a water hose encounter an object - you can only really tell the water
stream hit something, and its rough shape.

I haven't used lasers for imaging in a decade, but they didn't make clean
cuts: they burn right through what you're trying to image. I believe it's not
a solution for sampling rocks. Though, a hammer can cleave right through a
rock and be done with it.

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nickhalfasleep
And now to add insult to injury, you get excavated, mounted, and displayed in
the moment you soiled yourself in death.

