The free 3D printed model for this week comes from SketchFab user 3D Fossils,who uploaded an extremely detailed model of a 500-million-year-old starfish last week. It was found in the Kataoua Formation in Morocco. Luckily, you don’t have to travel that far to examine this fossil!Now, you can print it out and begin studying it all in a matter of a few hours.
Oftentimes, we think about how 3D printing can help create new objects, but we don’t consider how it can also help to preserve old ones. A lot of museums are starting to 3D scan their collections, and post the models on the web. Not only does this allow everyone around the world to view the artifact, but it can also help document the item’s condition over time, and track any degradation.
One of the largest collections of 3D scanned artifacts so far isavailable from the Smithsonian. Their system, Smithsonian X 3D was unveiled in 2013, and since then the X 3D team has been working on digitizingas many of the Smithsonian’s pieces as possible. Albeit, they estimate that if the team were to scan 24/7 then it would take 260 years todigitize the entire archive. That’s a bit longer than most people are willing to wait, so the team has selected 10% of the collection to make their priority for scanning.
As 3D scanning technology improves, more and more opportunities are made possible. The Smithsonian envisions a future where researchers won’t collect specimens from the field. Instead, they will just 3D scan the research site. Without the need to remove artifacts from their environment, there’s significantly less chance of damaging the artifact, simultaneously helping to preserve the historic site.
Go ahead and start 3D printing your own museum!
