Fossils are three-dimensional objects, but you aren’t really supposed to touch them, and you can’t see their depth and detail very easily over the internet. But a new database of fossils from the British Geological Survey actually has the necessary files for you to 3D print fossils yourself.
The searchable database has thousands of images of fossils you can zoom in on, rotate, and interact with on your screen. And you can bring these old bones and artifacts into the physical realm too, thanks to downloadable .ply and .obj files you can use to 3D print them. You can search by period of time, type of fossil, species, genus, etc. to find all kinds of fossils. For example, here’s a Pectinatites (a type of mollusk). And here’s an interactive trilobite.
via Gizmodo
