3 ms·

> It is possible to preserve newly fallen snow crystals, creating one's own snow crystal fossils. Nitpick, but fossils are specifically records of life. Footpr

> It is possible to preserve newly fallen snow crystals, creating one's own snow crystal fossils. Nitpick, but fossils are specifically records of life. Footprints left in petrified mud can be fossils. But a snowflake isn't alive, so a preserved snowflake can never be a fossil.

yial 11mo ago
What would be the correct word? Specimen? An ichnofossil is the fossil of activity of a living thing. But specimen seems like it might work as long as you’re not using wet / embalmed with it. Vitrification maybe almost works, but doesn’t seem to really work for a snowflake. Aquastasis ? (Joking) Apologies. After reading this I’m now wracking my brain trying to figure out what would be the correct word to apply to creating a /mold/ model / sample of a snowflake.
- taneq 11mo ago
  Imprint, maybe?
- moron4hire 11mo ago
  I believe it would just be called a casting or impression, even if it were an ancient object that had been preserved across geological ages.
  - yial 11mo ago
    Thank you! That makes a ton of sense. I somehow couldn’t make that connection mentally. Now we just need some special rule to make them into fossils… maybe if they’re over 20,000 years old- double the specimen quasi rule.
- maxbond 11mo ago
  Petrified? Like petrified dunes? Simply preserved?
dr_dshiv 11mo ago
What if the snowflake nucleated around microbes in the air, as is common? [1] Would that be life-like enough, especially as the crystalline structure of the snowflake itself would reflect the microbe. Or, what if the observer of the snowflake held the philosophical belief that we live in a single living universe, as did the ancient Stoics? [2] It appears that we have at least two clear instances where preserved snowflakes can indeed be considered fossils. [1] https://asm.org/articles/2019/january/snow-is-coming-whats-that-have-to-do-with-microbe https://asm.org/articles/2019/january/snow-is-coming-whats-t... [2] https://modernstoicism.com/modern-stoicism-expert-panel-posts-the-universe-as-one-living-creature/ https://modernstoicism.com/modern-stoicism-expert-panel-post...

yial 11mo ago

What would be the correct word? Specimen? An ichnofossil is the fossil of activity of a living thing. But specimen seems like it might work as long as you’re not using wet / embalmed with it. Vitrification maybe almost works, but doesn’t seem to really work for a snowflake. Aquastasis ? (Joking) Apologies. After reading this I’m now wracking my brain trying to figure out what would be the correct word to apply to creating a /mold/ model / sample of a snowflake.

taneq 11mo ago
Imprint, maybe?
moron4hire 11mo ago
I believe it would just be called a casting or impression, even if it were an ancient object that had been preserved across geological ages.
- yial 11mo ago
  Thank you! That makes a ton of sense. I somehow couldn’t make that connection mentally. Now we just need some special rule to make them into fossils… maybe if they’re over 20,000 years old- double the specimen quasi rule.
maxbond 11mo ago
Petrified? Like petrified dunes? Simply preserved?

dr_dshiv 11mo ago

What if the snowflake nucleated around microbes in the air, as is common? [1] Would that be life-like enough, especially as the crystalline structure of the snowflake itself would reflect the microbe. Or, what if the observer of the snowflake held the philosophical belief that we live in a single living universe, as did the ancient Stoics? [2] It appears that we have at least two clear instances where preserved snowflakes can indeed be considered fossils. [1] https://asm.org/articles/2019/january/snow-is-coming-whats-that-have-to-do-with-microbe https://asm.org/articles/2019/january/snow-is-coming-whats-t... [2] https://modernstoicism.com/modern-stoicism-expert-panel-posts-the-universe-as-one-living-creature/ https://modernstoicism.com/modern-stoicism-expert-panel-post...