Science

This Is How A 300 Million-Year-Old Spider Looks Like (Spoiler: Bloody Scary)

11:20PM August 5, 2009 | Jesus Diaz

When a headline says “Computer Technology Brings 300 Million-year-old Spider Fossils Back to Life,” it’s time to run to the hills, and start stockpiling canned food, gasoline cans, and weapons. Plenty of weapons.

Fortunately, we are not going to be fighting against giant zombie spiders any time soon, despite the Daily Mail. Scientists from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London have been able to reconstruct a Cryptomartus hindi and a Eophrynus prestivicii using computer tomography. And while they look bloody scary, they are only 3D computer models made out of 3,000 X-ray photographies.

Note to scientists: Please don’t revive any blood-sucking, web-weaving fossilized creatures from the Cambric period. Or any other creature, for that matter. Thanks. [Imperial College via Daily Mail]

Comments

  • Derrick

    August 6, 2009 at 9:00 AM

    There is no such thing as the Cambric Period.

  • JB

    August 6, 2009 at 9:48 AM

    For someone who is actually scared of REAL spiders, I can say that these pictures aren’t particularly shudder-worthy.

  • Elly Hart

    August 6, 2009 at 9:51 AM

    Why did they make the legs look purple? Or were they really purple?

  • narikki

    August 7, 2009 at 2:25 PM

    doesnt look that scary, but in real life with some textures on it and the fact that it would be bigger than us would probs be a lot more scaries =P

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