*Many thanks to the support generously provided by Meredith Siegfried Madden and Dr. Peter Madden.  Without you this wouldn't be possible.*

Smithsonian source data can be found [here](https://ids.si.edu/ids/media_view?id=3d_package:d8c636ce-4ebc-11ea-b77f-2e728ce88125)

This media file is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information and to review the 3D disclaimer, visit the Smithsonian’s [Terms of Use](https://www.si.edu/Termsofuse) page.

Orbiter, Space Shuttle, OV-103, Discovery

Manufacturer: Rockwell International Corporation  

Materials: Airframe: aluminum alloys, titanium, Surface: silica tiles, reinforced carbon carbon RCC nose cap and wing leading edges, Interior: many materials (aluminum, fabric, beta cloth, velcro, etc.)

Dimensions: Overall: 24.314m x 17.768m x 38.03m, 73176.5kg (78 ft. x 57 ft. x 122 ft., 161325lb.)
    
EDAN-URL: edanmdm:nasm_A20120325000

Orbiter Space Shuttle OV-103 Discovery

This is a 3D animation of a Blacktip shark (*Carcharhinus limbatus*, ID 730) captured in April 2016 in collaboration with the Discovery Channel and Dr. Neil Hammerschlag at the Universiy of Miami.  The shark was captured, photographed with the Beastcam technology, and released unharmed.  3D artist Robert Gutierrez converted the raw photogrammetry scan to this low-poly model, as well as animated it.

Downloads are freely available for creative and non-profit use. To inquire about licensing, please visit **www.digitallife3d.org**.

Model 9A - Blacktip Shark

Found this box car in the Rhyolite ghost town while on a capture trip through the desert for Realities.io 

Check out the interior!

**Location**
Rhyolite is a ghost town in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is in the Bullfrog Hills, about 120 miles (190 km) northwest of Las Vegas, near the eastern edge of Death Valley. The town began in early 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprang up after a prospecting discovery in the surrounding hills. During an ensuing gold rush, thousands of gold-seekers, developers, miners and service providers flocked to the Bullfrog Mining District. Many settled in Rhyolite, which lay in a sheltered desert basin near the region's biggest producer, the Montgomery Shoshone Mine - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyolite,_Nevada


**Method**
A7rii + Mavic 2 Pro
Created in RealityCapture by Capturing Reality from 223 images in 00h:19m:43s.

Union Pacific Railroad Car, Rhyolite

One of the UK's most 'decorated' or deliberately marked stones. The study by Andy Jones and myself identified 105 cup marks, and up to 47 linear features that radiate from or link them together. 

Read a [popular article](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/07/07/ancient-stone-monuments-may-have-used-mysterious-moonlit-ceremonies/) in the Telegraph or if your organisation subscribes, read the [full research](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1751696X.2017.1341241) in the journal Time and Mind.

This model was funded by [Cornwall Archaeological Society](https://cornisharchaeology.org.uk). The cup marks and grooves can be best seen with the "matcap" shader - selectable by clicking or tapping the Model Inspector tool from the 'stack' icon on the lower right of the viewer. Another good view is to select the AO option (from the 'stack' icon).

Read [my take on the discovery](http://tom.goskar.com/2017/07/11/hendraburnick-quoit-the-most-decorated-stone-in-southern-britain).

Hendraburnick Propped Stone

It's been a while! Here is a model based off the anicent apex predator of the sea, the Pliosaur. It was inspired by the recent discovery of a six foot long pliosaur skull found in the Dorset Cliffs. 

During a documentary with David Attenborough, the Pliosaur's movement is described as being closest to that of a penguins, so I thought I would try and push that motif a bit more.

Pliosaur

Discovery Space Shuttle

Star Trek - USS Discovery

Study model made to get an idea  of what the new ship for Star Trek Discovery looks like

Uss Discovery NCC-1031

Coffin of the Pharaoh Akenaten in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt.

This coffin was recovered from a tomb in the Valley of the Kings in what has been designated Tomb KV55.  The tomb was discovered by Edward R. Ayrton in 1907 while working for the wealthy American Theodore M. Davis.  The tomb has been controversial since it's discovery, originally being designated the burial of Queen Tiye.  It has now been shown through DNA analysis that the remains found in the tomb are those of Akenaten himself.  The DNA has further demonstrated that Akhenaten was the father of Tutankhamen (King Tut).
The face of the coffin and the name in the cartouche have been deliberately removed in an attempt to condemn the “heretic” pharaoh in the afterlife and erase his memory.

Information on the tomb can be found [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KV55).  A scan of another artifact from the tomb can be seen [here](https://skfb.ly/6PoHS).

Created using 138 photographs (Canon EOS Rebel T5i) using Metashape 1.3.

Coffin of Akhenaten, Tomb KV55

The wreck of Sir Ernest Shacketons Endurance was discovered on March 5, 2022 more than 3000m under water in the Wedell Sea.
Endurance sank in 1915 after it was enclosed and crushed by ice and was given up by the crew.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance

The discovery was made by the Endurance22 expedition aboard the S.A. Agulhas II.
Official discovery press release: https://endurance22.org/endurance-is-found
Image Credits: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust / National Geographic
Source: https://collect.wetransfer.com/board/sowc348bfrvti58ge20220307165300

Endurance Ship Wreck discovered

Pre-concert video Fly

The Pula Arena (Croatian: Pulska Arena; Italian: Arena di Pola) is a Roman amphitheatre located in Pula, Croatia. It is the only remaining Roman amphitheatre to have four side towers entirely preserved. It was constructed between 27 BC and AD 68, and is among the world’s six largest surviving Roman arenas. The Arena was built between 27 BC and 68 AD, as the city of Pula became a regional centre of Roman rule, called Pietas Julia. The building is named after the sand (Latin harena) that once covered the inner, performance area. It was built outside the town walls along the Via Flavia, the road from Pula to Aquileia and Rome. The amphitheatre was first built in timber during the reign of Augustus (2–14 AD). It was replaced by a small stone amphitheatre during the reign of emperor Claudius. In 79 AD it was enlarged to accommodate gladiator fights by Vespasian and to be completed in 81 AD under emperor Titus. This was confirmed by the discovery of a Vespasian coin in the malting.

Anphitheatre Pula | Pula Arena | CROATIA

Professor Yuan（1930.9.7-2021.5.22） is widely acknowledged for the discovery of the genetic basis of heterosis in rice—a phenomenon in which the progeny of two distinctly different parents grow faster, yield more, and resist stress better than either parent.
Professor Yuan’s pioneering research has helped transform China from food deficiency to food security within three decades. His accomplishments and clear vision helped create a more abundant food supply and, through food security, a more stable world. Professor Yuan’s distinguished life’s work has caused many to call him the “Father of Hybrid Rice,” while his continuing research offers even more promise for world food security and adequate nutrition for the world’s poor.

袁隆平 Yuan Longping

Mount Clare is a five-part Georgian Palladian plantation house located at Carroll Park in Baltimore. It was built in 1754 and is the oldest standing structure in the city. Currently, the house operates as a museum and is undergoing reinterpretation by a [commission appointed in 2021](https://www.baltmccpc.com/) to study the enslaved, indentured and imprisoned laborers who lived and worked at Mount Clare and a nearby ironworks.

“We are excited to be helping to usher in a new era that will create the framework for the research, interpretation, physical discovery and promotion of programming centered on Black Ingenuity and the contributions of the enslaved at Mount Clare. We also seek to reestablish Mount Clare as a site for envisioning and executing forms of racial equity in Baltimore and beyond.”

-Dale Glenwood Green, Founding Co-Chair of the Commission

Created in RealityCapture from 1729 images taken with a Nikon D750 and drone.

Mount Clare Museum House

This equestrian statue was designed by famous sculptor Auguste Bartholdi to commemorate the Gaul leader’s victory over Caesar at Gergovie, in 52 BC.
The first plans for the statue were drawn up in the 1860s but it was only finished and installed in 1903 during a ceremony presided over by the President of the Council, Emile Combes.
The exceptional talent of the sculptor, who was also the creator of the Statue of Liberty in New York, can be seen in the extraordinary vitality of the horse and rider.
http://www.clermontferrandtourism.com/discovery/main-sites/statue-vercingetorix/

Equestrian statue of Vercingetorix. Bartholdi

2016 Discovery Kids Logo

Discovery Kids Logo (2009, Updated)

2009 Discovery Kids Logo

2013 Discovery Kids Logo

A groundbreaking discovery in the Amazon rainforest has stunned biologists: *Felis vermiformis*, a hybrid creature combining feline and caterpillar traits. This small, segmented organism features the expressive head of a domestic cat—complete with whiskers, tabby markings, and golden eyes—atop a caterpillar-like body with ten pairs of prolegs and fine green bristles. Despite its surreal appearance, *F. vermiformis* displays agile movement and surprising camouflage abilities. Researchers believe its evolution may be linked to mimicry and predator avoidance. The creature’s emergence challenges conventional taxonomy and opens new questions about genetic convergence in isolated ecosystems.

Caterpillar

**Triceratops ignifrons: A Landmark Ceratopsid Discovery in Alberta**

In 2022, paleontologist Dr. Miriam Solano uncovered a striking ceratopsid specimen in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada. Named *Triceratops ignifrons*—“Fire-Frilled Three-Horned Face”—this quadrupedal herbivore measured over 9 meters in length and featured an unusually elaborate frill with spiked margins and preserved pigment structures.

Spectroscopic analysis revealed traces of structural coloration, suggesting vivid blue, orange, and red hues across its frill and flanks. This challenges prior assumptions that ceratopsids relied solely on size and horn morphology for display. The discovery of *T. ignifrons* provides compelling evidence for visual signaling in herbivorous dinosaurs and deepens our understanding of social behavior and predator deterrence in Late Cretaceous ecosystems.

Fire-Frilled Three-Horned Face - dinosaur

Shape Formula
Fibonacci Spiral Enhanced
r = a·φⁿ, φ = 1.618...
Summary
Golden ratio Fibonacci spiral enhanced

Learn
Origin & History
The Fibonacci Spiral Enhanced is part of Dmension's library of 2,307 parametric equations. It belongs to a rich tradition of mathematical form discovery spanning ancient civilizations to modern computational mathematics.

Mathematical Function
Golden ratio Fibonacci spiral enhanced The shape is defined by parametric equations mapping 2D parameters to 3D coordinates, encoding geometric properties, symmetries, and topological characteristics.
     
📦Volume
796688.8941 m³
Total 3D space enclosed by the surface, computed via triple integration
 
 🎨 Surface Area
1.826e+6 m²
Total area of the outer surface, computed from mesh triangles

⚖️ Mass
7.967e+8 kg
Volume multiplied by material density (m = ρV)

Fibonacci Spyral Enhanced

**New Theropod Species Unveiled: Tyrannovenator ignicolor**

In 2023, paleontologist Dr. Rafael Kim and his team unearthed a striking theropod specimen in the Kaiparowits Plateau of southern Utah. Named *Tyrannovenator ignicolor*—“Flame-Colored Tyrant Hunter”—this mid-sized predator exhibits unprecedented preservation of pigment structures and dermal ornamentation. Measuring roughly 7 meters long, it features prominent cranial crests and spine-like projections along its back, suggesting a role in visual display or intimidation.

Microscopic analysis revealed melanosome patterns consistent with iridescent and carotenoid-rich coloration, marking the first strong evidence of multi-hue signaling in apex predators. The discovery challenges assumptions about camouflage in large theropods and opens new avenues in the study of dinosaur behavior, ecology, and evolution. *T. ignicolor* stands as a vivid reminder that prehistoric life may have been far more colorful, and complex, than previously imagined.

Flame-Colored Tyrant Hunter - dinosaur

**Discovery of Tyrannovenator chromaspinus Sheds Light on Theropod Display Evolution**

In 2019, paleontologist Dr. Lena Moritz uncovered the remains of a previously unknown theropod species in Argentina’s Cerro Azul Formation. Named *Tyrannovenator chromaspinus*, or “Painted Spine Tyrant,” the creature measured approximately 6 meters in length and bore elaborate dorsal spines and pigment-preserving scale impressions, features rarely found in fossil records.

The vibrant coloration inferred from these remains suggests that visual display may have played a significant role in social behavior, challenging long-held assumptions about predator camouflage and signaling. The discovery marks a turning point in understanding the evolutionary pressures behind ornamentation in carnivorous dinosaurs, offering new insight into the intersection of survival, communication, and aesthetics in the Late Cretaceous ecosystem.

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