Find out what's inside a real fossilized dinosaur egg! ERHAS Ep. 76 w/ Jessie Maisano

Summary

In this episode of 'Every Rock Has a Story,' Amy and Ethan explore the mystery of a rock that appears to be a dinosaur egg. With the help of paleontologist Jesse Misano and CT scanning technology at the University of Texas, they uncover that it is indeed a real fossilized egg. However, the contents inside, whether a baby dinosaur or not, did not survive the fossilization process. The episode highlights the use of advanced technology in paleontology and the excitement of scientific discovery, ending with the possibility of 3D printing a replica of the egg for educational purposes.

Takeaways

• 🐣 The rock in question is identified as a real dinosaur egg, a gift to Boston College.
• 🔍 Different layers and colors on the eggshell indicate various minerals that replaced the original material during fossilization.
• 🤔 The curiosity about what's inside the egg is a common question, with possibilities ranging from a baby dinosaur to an empty space.
• 🧑‍🔬 A paleontologist's expertise is sought to non-destructively explore the contents of the egg using CT scanning technology.
• 🏫 Jesse Misano, the lab manager at the University of Texas, explains the CT scanning process which uses X-rays to create detailed images of the egg's interior.
• 🔬 The lab has scanned a variety of specimens, including fossils and even Apollo moon rocks, showcasing the versatility of the technology.
• 📈 The CT scan reveals that the egg is indeed a real fossilized egg, with the original eggshell crushed and buried inside due to sediment pressure.
• 🦴 Unfortunately, the scan shows that whatever was inside the egg did not survive the fossilization process, leaving no trace of an embryo.
• 📊 The grayscale CT data provides a detailed view of the egg's interior, with different shades indicating varying densities within the sample.
• 🖨️ The digitized data from the CT scan can be used to create a 3D printed replica of the egg, aiding in educational outreach and preserving the original specimen.

Q & A

What is the main subject of the video episode?

The main subject of the video episode is the exploration of whether a particular rock is a real dinosaur egg and what's inside it.

What are the different observations made about the rock's appearance?

The rock has different layers and colors, with some parts looking like cement and others appearing red. It also appears to be eroded and cracked.

Why is the rock considered special at Boston College?

The rock is considered special because it is believed to be a real dinosaur egg, which makes it one of the most unique specimens in their collection.

What method is used to determine the contents of the egg without damaging it?

A CT scan is used to non-destructively determine the contents of the egg by taking a series of X-ray images as the specimen rotates.

Who is Jesse Misano and what is her role in the video?

Jesse Misano is the lab manager at the CT scanning facility at the University of Texas in Austin. She helps to perform the CT scan on the dinosaur egg.

What is the significance of the different grayscales in the CT scan data?

The different grayscales in the CT scan data represent different densities within the sample, with lighter gray scales indicating denser materials.

What was the outcome of the CT scan regarding the contents of the egg?

The CT scan revealed that the egg is indeed a real fossilized egg with eggshell fragments inside, but whatever was inside did not survive the fossilization process.

What additional information can be obtained from the digitized CT data?

Once digitized, the CT data can be used to create a 3D rendering of the egg and even 3D print a replica in various materials.

What is the educational value of 3D printing a replica of the dinosaur egg?

3D printing a replica of the dinosaur egg allows for educational outreach, enabling people who wouldn't otherwise encounter such specimens to study and learn from them.

What is the overall message of the video episode regarding scientific discovery?

The video episode emphasizes the excitement and mystery of scientific discovery, highlighting how modern technology can reveal secrets from the past and enhance our understanding of history.

Outlines

00:00

🐣 Unveiling the Mystery of a Dinosaur Egg

The video script introduces a rock that is speculated to be a real dinosaur egg. The host, Amy, examines the rock's features, noting the different layers and colors, and wonders about its age and composition. Ethan, a geologist, reveals that the rock is indeed a dinosaur egg, a gift to Boston College, and discusses the fossilization process. The team decides to use a CT scan to explore the egg's contents without damaging it, aiming to answer whether there's a baby dinosaur inside. They meet Jesse, a lab manager at the University of Texas, who will help them with the CT scan.

05:02

🔬 CT Scan Reveals the Secrets Inside the Dinosaur Egg

The script details the process of preparing the dinosaur egg for a CT scan at the University of Texas. Jesse explains the scanning process, which involves using X-rays to create a series of digital slices through the egg. The team is excited to see if there's a baby dinosaur inside. Despite the egg's density making the scan challenging, they proceed with the scan. The next day, they review the data, which shows the eggshell and the matrix inside. Unfortunately, it appears that whatever was inside did not survive the fossilization process, as the contents are too fragmented. However, Jesse demonstrates a 3D visualization of the egg and mentions the possibility of 3D printing the egg from the CT data, highlighting the educational potential of such technology.

10:03

📚 Reflecting on the Dinosaur Egg Discovery

In the final part of the script, Amy reflects on the experience of learning about the dinosaur egg. She expresses disappointment that there wasn't a baby dinosaur inside but is still fascinated by the fact that it's a real dinosaur egg. The script concludes with a discussion about the high-tech nature of the CT scan and the possibility of 3D printing the egg, which Amy finds exciting. The host thanks Jesse for the laboratory visit and Amy for her observations, emphasizing the excitement of scientific discovery. The script ends with a teaser for the next episode and a farewell note, promising more exploration of the past through modern technology.

Keywords

💡Dinosaur egg

A dinosaur egg refers to the reproductive structure laid by female dinosaurs, which contained the embryo of the developing dinosaur. In the video, the central theme revolves around the discovery and investigation of a potential dinosaur egg. The egg's authenticity and its contents are the primary focus, with the video exploring its layers, colors, and the possibility of a preserved embryo inside.

💡Fossilization

Fossilization is the process by which the remains or traces of ancient organisms are preserved in the earth's crust, typically in sedimentary rock, through mineral replacement or impression. The video discusses the fossilization process in the context of the dinosaur egg, explaining how minerals replaced the original eggshell, leading to its preservation and the different colors observed.

💡Eggshell

The eggshell is the hard, protective outer layer of an egg, which serves to protect the embryo inside. In the script, the eggshell of the dinosaur egg is mentioned as a key feature, with the layers and colors of the eggshell being indicative of the fossilization process. The presence of eggshell fragments inside the egg is used to confirm its authenticity.

💡CT scanning

CT scanning, or computed tomography, is a medical imaging technique that uses X-rays to generate cross-sectional images of the internals of an object. In the video, CT scanning is used to non-destructively examine the contents of the dinosaur egg. The script describes how the technology allows for a detailed look inside the egg without damaging it.

💡Paleontologist

A paleontologist is a scientist who studies prehistoric life, typically by examining fossils. In the video, a paleontologist is consulted to help determine the authenticity of the dinosaur egg and to explore its contents. The script highlights the expertise of paleontologists in understanding and interpreting ancient biological remains.

💡Embryo

An embryo is the early developmental stage of a multicellular organism, typically referring to the stage from fertilization until a major structure is formed. The script raises the question of whether the dinosaur egg contains an embryo, which would indicate the presence of a developing dinosaur. The absence of an embryo in the fossilized egg is a significant finding discussed in the video.

💡3D printing

3D printing is a process of creating three-dimensional objects from a digital file by laying down successive layers of material. The video mentions the possibility of using 3D printing technology to replicate the dinosaur egg based on the CT scan data. This showcases how modern technology can be used for educational purposes and to share rare specimens with a broader audience.

💡Geosciences

Geosciences is the field of science concerned with the study of the Earth, its materials, processes, and history. The video script includes a discussion about how the love for dinosaurs can lead to a career in geosciences, as it did for Jesse, the lab manager at the CT scanning facility. The geosciences play a crucial role in understanding the Earth's past and the life that once inhabited it.

💡Non-destructive testing

Non-destructive testing (NDT) is a group of analysis techniques used in science and industry to evaluate the properties of a material or a component without causing damage. In the context of the video, NDT is crucial as it allows for the examination of the dinosaur egg's interior through CT scanning without damaging the specimen, preserving it for further study and display.

💡Sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock is a type of rock that is formed from mineral and organic particles that have been deposited and subsequently compacted and cemented together. The script mentions sedimentary processes in relation to the fossilization of the dinosaur egg, where sediments burying the egg contributed to its preservation and the crushing of the eggshell.

Highlights

Introduction of a mysterious rock that might be a dinosaur egg.

Observation of the rock's different layers and colors suggesting various types of rock and possible erosion.

Discussion about the age of the rock and its significance.

Revelation that the rock is a real dinosaur egg from episode 54.

Explanation of the rock's layers as the eggshell and the different minerals from the fossilization process.

Introduction to Jesse, the lab manager at the CT scanning facility at the University of Texas.

Description of the CT scanning process to non-destructively examine the inside of the egg.

Jesse's personal journey from fashion to geology and her passion for paleontology.

Showcasing the variety of items scanned at the facility, including violins and Apollo moonrocks.

Preparation of the dinosaur egg for scanning within the CT scanner.

The start of the CT scan to determine the contents of the egg.

Discussion on the density of the egg and the challenges it presents for scanning.

Revealing that the egg is a real fossilized egg with no preserved embryo inside.

Introduction of 3D visualization and the possibility of digitally cutting into the scanned image.

Mention of 3D printing technology to create replicas of the egg from the CT data.

Amy's reaction to the discovery and her interest in potentially 3D printing the egg.

Reflection on the scientific discovery process and the excitement of unveiling the past.

Transcripts

what if I told you that this was a real

dinosaur egg want to know what's inside

well in this episode we're gonna find

out welcome to every Rock has a

[Music]

story hi I'm Amy and this is the rock of

the deck so it looks like there's cement

on the front it's also kind of black

here and here but then if you flip it to

the other side it's like all red so I

wonder what different like types of rock

and if there are any different types of

rock on this it looks kind of like

eroded there are a bunch of different

layers and it's been cracked so I wonder

how old it is hey Ethan can you tell me

more about this rock thank you Amy for

introducing this rock to all of us Amy

notice some pretty important things the

different layers on the outside of the

Rock in the different colors and then

right in the middle it kind of looks

like it's covered or maybe filled with

something that looks like cement well

it's not cement or at least I hope it's

not you've seen this sample before

remember episode 54 this magical sample

was given to Boston College as a gift

and it instantly became one of the most

special rocks that we have in our

collection that's because this is a real

dinosaur egg look how round it is and

those layers that Amy noticed on the

outside are the eggshell and the colors

represent the different minerals that

replaced the original eggshell during

the fossilization process now every time

I tell somebody that this is a dinosaur

egg I get the same question everybody

wants to know what's inside is there a

baby dinosaur is there nothing at all or

maybe it's not a real egg after all I

want to know that too but I don't want

to crack it open and ruin it at the same

time now I have a paleontologist friend

and she has a way to solve the mystery

of what's really inside this remarkable

object come with me and let's find

out hey Jesse Ethan so nice to meet you

nice to meet you too thanks for having

us everybody I'm with Jesse misano Jesse

is the lab manager at the CT scanning

facility here at the University of Texas

in Austin Texas and Jesse we brought

this unusual object yeah take a look

we're pretty sure it's a dinosaur egg

and every time I show this to somebody

they all had the same question they want

to know what's inside is there maybe a

baby dinosaur in there and you can help

us answer that question right yes we can

how do you do it so we use X-rays and

rotation to take a series of radioraps

through the specimen so we'll be able to

tell you if there's a baby dinosaur in

this egg all right we can do this right

now today absolutely all right let's get

started all

right so Jesse tell me uh how did you

get interested in paleontology and

scanning fossils to begin with what got

you into the geosciences okay well like

every child in the universe I love

dinosaurs it always starts with the

Dinosaurs always starts with the

dinosaurs and those of us who became

paleontologists as adults simply never

outgrew that love I guess so so I

actually started college in a very

different major fashion really and my

senior year I realized I was kind of

bored then I decided to just go for it

and follow my heart so I changed my

major to geology okay and never looked

back

okay so Ethan welcome to

utct this is where the magic happens

we've been doing this for 26 years we

scan everything and anything that a

researcher wants to look inside of

non-destructively so Lucy was here for

two weeks back in 2008 wow we've scanned

half a dozen Stratovarius

violins and we've scanned a bunch of

Apollo moonrock so worldclass specimens

come through our door and hopefully this

is another one of them so wow so not

just fossils you scan all kinds of

things here scan all kinds of things wow

that's so cool so for your scan Matt

Colbert who is right here let me

introduce you he will be doing your

scan okay so what happens here okay so

here's where we Mount the specimen for

scanning so you're kind of going to make

like a new little nest for our dinosaur

EG nice and happy and staying

still and here's our CT scanner in here

in this large cabinet W this is huge

yeah this is about 30,000 lb of lead and

steel this cabinet wow all designed to

keep the x-rays inside so we stay safe

outside yeah I guess so oh this is it

all right so here's a turntable I'm

putting the egg on it x-rays are going

to be coming out of a little window here

and being picked up recorded on this

detector bank here and while the object

spins

360° And We Gather x-rays oh my goodness

so you guys we're about to find out

right now if there's actually something

inside that egg are we ready to go we

are ready to go let's do

this

so so there's the egg there's the egg

unfortunately it's is such a dense

object that we don't really have as much

um flexibility as we normally would yeah

but um we'll give it the old College try

here good we're at a university after

all that's

right are you surprised how dense It is

Well I got worried we've scanned some

Dinosaur Before uh a long time ago and

we had to use high energy so this is

going to be a long scan but it's going

to go into night and um and so tomorrow

we'll come back

and hope for baby dinosaur hope for a

baby

dinosaur hey Jesse good morning good

morning how are you well I'm great so

egg is out of the scanner yes and you're

going to show us what you found so the

data is a series of slices digital

slices through the egg going from the

top of the egg to the bottom so kind of

we'll be sort of looking at it like that

through yes exactly got it exactly so

that's what we have loaded up here so

I'm just going to proceed slowly through

the slices so to orient you what CT data

mean they're always grayscale and the

different grayscales correspond to

different densities within the sample so

density density so the lighter gray

scales are the denser materials so

that's the eggshell we're looking at

right here that's the actual eggshell

the eggshell oh my gosh on the outside

all right yeah and then this is the

Matrix that is filling the egg okay so

I'm going to proceed

further that's more eggshell that's been

pushed down inside so the good news is

this does appear to be a real fossilized

egg I keep believe it so this this is a

real this is a real egg yes it is

definitely a real fossilized egg and

that's because it's got the eggshell

buried down inside I'm going to go a

little bit further that's all eggshell

frag buried inside oh my gosh so

probably when it was fossilized pressure

from sediments burying the egg crushed

it pushed these fragments of eggshell

down inside okay so that's what we're

seeing there and we're continuing

through

and

unfortunately that's all there is

getting towards the very very back

looking for like a little dinosaur

skeleton sorry so the good news is it's

a real fossilized egg the bad news is

whatever was inside does not appear to

have survived the fossilization process

because it's so fragmented there is a

slim chance that whatever was inside

hatched and went on not here anymore the

majority of fossilized eggs that are

found don't contain an embryo so it's

unusual for there to be an embryo

preserved inside wow Jesse this is

absolutely stunning I'm not done you're

not done I'm not done I haven't shown

you the best part which is this

three-dimensional

visualization that's it that's it that's

our egg see that little part right there

that's this here right that is yes so

well this is is a three-dimensional

rendering that is based on the CT data

and one thing that I can do is digitally

cut into it so now we're digitally

cutting in and somewhere through the

middle that's right and so here again we

see these fragments of eggshell inside

wow another thing that you can do once

the specimen has been digitized with CT

you can actually print it in three

dimensions so really yes you can with uh

3D printing you can actually take a file

generated from the CT data and print a

replica or a copy of it in plastic in

Gypsum and metal so it's really helped

with educational Outreach of these

precious specimens that most people

won't encounter otherwise Jesse this has

been so amazing being with you thank you

so much for being part of e Rock hasle

story we'll see you guys back in the

studio

okay guys that was so cool definitely a

bummer that there wasn't a baby dinosaur

in there anymore but at least we know

it's a real dinosaur egg now let's

welcome Amy back into the studio and see

what she thought hey Amy how you doing

so now that you know what the Rock is

what did you think of the story can't

believe that there wasn't a mini

dinosaur inside of it because once you

were like this is the dinosaur in the

beginning of the video I was like

totally prepared to have a baby dinosaur

inside but it's still really cool that

got a dinosaur egg and the shell and

like the little bit that's like white

was the actual egg it's like that's

really cool yeah I still kind of can't

believe that this is a real dinosaur egg

I was worried it was going to be a fake

to be honest but it is absolutely a real

egg so what was the coolest thing you

saw thing was when they showed the scan

and it had you could like see like in

high like detail of all the different

like little cracks and it was the exact

same as the Rocks I think that's really

high-tech technology yeah high-tech for

sure and I got another question for you

have you ever seen one of these 3D

printers that we talked about we have

some in our school library well if you

could get the file from our scin would

you be interested in making a 3D print

of the dinosaur egg yes well that's

awesome because we're going to provide a

link to that digital file that anyone

can download and print at home or in

school so Amy thank you so much for

being a part of this episode it's been

so great having you collecting a sample

like this amazing fossil egg is just the

start of the fun the excitement and the

Mystery of science as we work to unlock

the SEC Secrets hidden inside all things

like this rock sometimes you find what

you expect and sometimes you don't

either way that process of scientific

discovery is what all scientists find so

exciting think about it we were the very

first people who have ever seen inside

that egg since it hatched 70 million

years ago today's Technologies and

Laboratories do allow us to see the

distant past at ever higher levels of

detail and in our next episode we'll get

to visit my lab here at Boston College

for now I want to thank Jesse again for

welcoming us into her laboratory and I

want to thank Amy who got this thing

started with all of her careful

observations we'll see you guys next

time

[Music]

[Music]

bye-bye

[Music]

so setting up a scan is always a

compromise of what you're doing and how

you're setting it up it's kind of like

when you've got an old fashion TV you

sort of set the brightness set the

contrast to get the image just right for

what you're trying to deal

[Music]

with oh you guys know what Monica celis

tennis tennis

player that was her

[Music]

[Music]

gr so the X-ray source which I looks

like a cing on

warship so sleek and beautiful that's

right