Equipment:MRI Track 2 Acquisition of a 3D X-ray microscope for advanced specimen-based organismal research

这项重大研究仪器(MRI)奖将提供资金购买一台X射线显微镜，以支持纽约美国自然历史博物馆(AMNH)的尖端研究。AMNH拥有170多名工作科学家，是全球领先的研究机构，研究生物结构、功能、系统学和进化论，以及人类学、地球和行星科学。X射线显微镜是下一代成像设备，它可以可视化物体的内部结构，分辨出小到千分之一毫米的特征。该仪器将使AMNH世界级自然历史收藏的高分辨率3D可视化成为可能，其中包括3400万件科学对象，主要是生物、化石和地质标本。由此产生的研究将在广泛的主题上取得重大进展，包括生物体的解剖、进化、生长、发育和功能，以及气候变化和行星系统的演化，涉及古生物学、动物学、考古学、民族学、海洋学和矿物学等领域。新仪器将通过理查德·吉尔德研究生院及其附属项目(如纽约市立大学、纽约大学、哥伦比亚大学)为培养下一代科学家做出贡献。它将通过允许在线共享数字数据来增加AMNH标本的可及性。它还将通过生成重要标本的卓越3D可视化来为展览和公共教育计划做出贡献，包括无法从保存它们的岩石中提取微小昆虫和化石标本的微小细节。630 Versa X射线显微镜(XRM)是一种微到纳计算机断层扫描(CT)系统，具有对下一代基于标本的研究至关重要的能力，包括亚微米分辨率(真实空间分辨率降至0.5微米)、允许更快吞吐量和更高扫描质量的高X射线通量、以及传播相位衬度，以增强边缘检测和低吸收材料的相似密度结构之间的区别。该仪器将通过显著提高可实现的扫描分辨率和在大范围完整样品尺寸范围内以高分辨率获得的扫描质量，来扩展基于样品的研究的前沿。该仪器将为AMNH的研究人员以及纽约市地区其他机构和财团的附属研究人员提供重要资源。它将通过在广泛的用户基础上扩展我们的研究和培训的前沿，来刺激下一代的发现。它将直接促进广泛主题的研究项目，包括哺乳动物解剖学和生理学的起源和早期进化，节肢动物的多样性，已灭绝的原始人的骨骼功能，海洋酸化对海洋生物的影响，太阳系形成的过程，昆虫的气管系统，动物组织的微结构解剖，包括蝙蝠和鱼类在内的小型脊椎动物的功能形态，以及许多其他。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award will provide funds to acquire an X-ray microscope to support cutting-edge research at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York. With over 170 working scientists, the AMNH is a globally-leading research institution for the study of organismal structure, function, systematics, and evolution, as well as anthropology and the Earth and planetary sciences. The X-ray microscope is a next-generation imaging device that allows visualization of the internal structure of objects, resolving features as small as one-thousandth of a millimeter. This instrument will allow high resolution 3D visualization of AMNH’s world-class natural history collections, which includes 34 million scientific objects, primarily biological, fossil, and geological specimens. The resulting research will yield significant advancements across a wide range of topics, including the anatomy, evolution, growth, development, and function of organisms, as well as climate change and the evolution of planetary systems, across the fields of paleontology, zoology, archaeology, ethnology, oceanography, and mineralogy. The new instrument will contribute to training of the next generation of scientists via the Richard Gilder Graduate School and affiliated programs (e.g., City University of New York, New York University, Columbia University). It will increase accessibility of AMNH specimens by allowing online sharing of digital data. It will also contribute to exhibition and public educational programs by generating superb 3D visualizations of important specimens, including minute details of tiny insects and fossil specimens that cannot be extracted from the rocks they were preserved in.The 630 Versa X-ray microscope (XRM) is a micro- to nano-computed tomography (CT) system with capabilities that are critical to the next-generation of specimen-based research, including sub-micron resolution (true spatial resolution down to 0.5 µm), high X-ray flux allowing faster throughput and increased scan quality, and propagation phase-contrast to enhance edge-detection and the distinctions between structures of similar densities for low-absorbing materials. This instrument will extend the frontiers of specimen-based research by significantly increasing achievable scan resolution and the quality of scans that can be obtained at high resolutions within a wide range of intact specimen sizes. The instrument will provide an important resource for researchers at the AMNH as well as affiliated researchers across other institutions and consortia in the New York City region. It will stimulate the next generation of discoveries by expanding the frontiers of our research and training across a wide user base. It will directly contribute to research programs across a wide range of topics including the origins and early evolution of mammalian anatomy and physiology, diversification of arthropods, skeletal function of extinct hominins, effects of ocean acidification on marine organisms, processes of solar system formation, the tracheal system of insects, microstructural anatomy of animal tissues, the functional morphology of small-bodied vertebrates including bats and fishes, and many others.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.