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In-Depth Information
If our experiment worked, we igured that the next time he went abroad,
my colleague could convince the local authorities to let him CT scan price-
less local artifacts. Then he could send the design information to a nearby (or
distant) 3D printer to share with anybody else on the planet. He could offer
his host country an invaluable preservation service as well, since they, too,
could store the data from cuneiform CT scans and 3D print replicas.
CT scanned priceless artifacts can be 3D printed for preservation and educational
purposes. On the left is the original cuneiform and its 3D printed replica on the right.
An enlarged image of the replica is below.
We discovered that “faxing” cuneiforms was surprisingly easy. First we
converted the CT scan data into a design ile. Then we 3D printed exact replicas
of rare and precious cuneiforms in different sizes and from different materials.
Best of all, in the process we discovered an unexpected bonus in this cunei-
form fax experiment: the CT scan captured written characters on both the
insides and outside of the cuneiform. Researchers have known for centuries
that many cuneiform bear written messages in their hollow insides. However
until now, the only way to see the inner message has been to shatter (hence
