Vaporizing Wasps With Lasers Might Be The Coolest 3D-Mapping Technique

Opaque objects have stood in the way of science for centuries. Only in the last hundred or so years have inventors begun to fight back against non-transparent menaces. X-rays, CAT scans and MRI machines have been at the forefront of the struggle for a while, but now the folks over at Lasers for Innovative Solutions (L4iS) have devised an innovative solution for 3D mapping an object—with lasers.

That colorful 3D rendering of a yellowjacket stinger was captured through a process called Laser Ablation Tomography, or LAT. LAT involves shooting a laser at the yellowjacket stinger, literally vaporizing it layer by layer.

"Just as each new layer is exposed, the fluorescent light that is being emitted from the sample is captured by a microscopic camera," says Andrew Yanders, a L4iS representative. "We produce image stacks of thousands of photos per specimen, with a potential resolution of a single micron." Then they render the stacks into 3D images ripe for analysis.

L4iS is applying its super precise laser/camera combo to all sorts of objects, mostly biological tissues, geological samples and meta-materials like nanocarbons. Data gained from the hyper-detailed imaging technique is invaluable to scientists and researchers, and often creates breathtaking snapshots of chaos and order from a never-before-seen perspective.

You can get lost in the endless examples of laser ablation available on L4iS's YouTube channel, or check out their website for more information on the lasers, the ablation, or the tomography.