Amber: An Animated Video

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Geology, Earth Sciences

Ed Hessler

This short animated video (3m 38s) from The Atlantic is about amber.

"Amber is precious, but its not a gem. It's fossilized tree resin--a substance that forms over millions of years, capturing ancient detail as the sap oozes. Amber specimens have led to a 'mind blowing' number of scientific discoveries, the writer Katharine Gammon says. 'The amount of detail you can get in fossilized specimens inside the amber is eons ahead of other types of fossils.'

"Why, then, has one scientist called for an ethical moratorium on the mining of amber?"

I would have preferred that the comparison with other fossil and fossilizing processes be more simply stated, "eons ahead". It is different and has its limitations, too. Scientists use what nature provides and are  grateful for it. But this is a peevish point. 

There is a link to Gammon's article on amber in The Atlantic.