Catscans of Fossils: 
     CATHRIN DE NOOYER WANTS TO CRANK UP THE POWER ON CATSCANS.

     DeNooyer: "we're exploring the envelope of the medical machines to see how far
we can push them . . . without burning up the catscan."

     PUT THAT WAY, IT DOESN'T REALLY SOUND LIKE SOMETHING YOU'D REALLY LIKE  THE
DOCTOR TO USE TO TAKE PICTURES OF YOUR HEAD. . . AND YOU'D BE RIGHT.  

     DeNooyer: "that isn't safe for humans."

     BUT DE NOOYER ISN'T INTERESTEDIN HUMANS.  SHE'S STUDYING PALEONTOLOGY AT
PURDUE UNIVERSITY AND SHE USES CATSCANS TO EXAMINE FOSSILS.  TO SEE THE INSIDE OF
A FOSSIL, PALEONTOLOGISTS USUALLY CUT THE ROCK INTO THIN, THIN SLICES AND THEN
EXAMINE THE CONTOURS OF EACH SLICE TO RECREATE WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE IN 3-D.  THIS
DESTROYS THE FOSSIL AND, WHAT'S MORE, IT TAKES DAYS.  

     DeNooyer: "Normally what would take 50-100 hours to prepare. . .took me 10
seconds to run through the catscan."

     IT MAKES SENSE, BUT CATSCANS JUST WEREN'T BUILT TO LOOK INTO SOMETHING AS
HARD AS A FOSSIL.  DE NOOYER HAS BEEN TRAVELLING AROUND TO HOSPITALS AND
ADJUSTING THE CONTROLS TO CRANK UP THE POWER.

     DeNooyer: "what I'm doing is saying okay this medical catscan which is used to
scan in something that's soft and fleshy like a human body, what settings do I need to
give it so that I can see what's inside of a rock."

     SHE'S MANAGED TO MAKE IT WORK. 
     DeNooyer: "I can do some really groovy pictures."
NOW SHE'S TRYING TO TEACH OTHER SCIENTISTS ABOUT THE CATSCAN'S NEW IMAGE.