SRI09 is hosted by the Australian Synchrotron. This is the first time this major international synchrotron conference will be held in Australia from 27 September to 2 October, 2009, at the new Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
To showcase the diversity of synchrotron science to a wide range of research & industrial applications the Australian Synchrotron, in partnership with the Melbourne Museum, will hold a public lecture in The Age Theatre, at Melbourne Museum on Tuesday 29 September 2009, from 6-7pm.
Dr Paul Tafforeau, from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in France, is a keynote speaker at the SRI09 conference and will also give the general public an opportunity to discover the versatility of synchrotrons in his public lecture “seeing into the past with synchrotron light”.
Fossils provide important evidence of the history of life on planet Earth. To reveal the secrets of these fossils, Dr Paul Tafforeau has used synchrotron imaging techniques to reveal extraordinary detail of ancient fossilised organisms. These techniques will revolutionise palaeontology and enable the discovery new ancient species.
Synchrotrons are used to create detailed 3D images of fossilised organisms, without destroying the precious fossils, and reveal for the first time the internal secrets of ancient insects trapped in amber fossils. These techniques have broader applications to other fields including the detection of stress fractures and faults in heavy engineering machinery without disassembling them into component parts; and medical X-rays.
In the public lecture, Dr Paul Tafforeau will be supported by Dr Kate Trinajstic, a palaeontologist from Curtin University in Perth, WA. Kate will talk about her work on the preserved fossil fishes from the Gogo region in Western Australia and using synchrotron imaging techniques pioneered by Dr Paul Tafforeau. Kate and her team have travelled to the ESRF in France to conduct this research and will now be able to conduct similar research using the Imaging and Medical beamline at the Australian Synchrotron.
The lecture is free and bookings are essential. Please call the Melbourne Museum: 13 11 02 or visit http://museumvictoria.com.au/seeing-into-the-past
For more details about SRI09 please visit http://sri09.synchrotron.org.au/
More at: http://sri09.synchrotron.org.au/
Media inquiries please contact:
Jennifer Cook, Group Leader Media, Marketing & Communications on 03 8540 4194, 0400 108 239 or
jennifer.cook @synchrotron.org.
Background
Speakers
Dr Paul Tafforeau, a palaeontologist at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France, researches primate teeth and hominids dental development, as well as using optimizing X-ray synchrotron imaging techniques to investigate fossil insects in amber.
Dr Kate Trinajstic is a palaeontologist at Curtin University in Perth working on the well preserved fossil fishes from Gogo in Western Australia. Kate’s research group lead by Dr John Long , Head Palaeontologist at the Melbourne Museum, have formed a collaboration with Dr Paul Tafforeau at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) using his imaging techniques to reveal more information about the Gogo fish.