Lucy chats to Dr Imran Rahman, NERC Research Fellow in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, about his work with 500 million year old fossil echinoderms. To bring his work to life, Imran shows Lucy some computer reconstructions of three fascinating fossils - Ctenocystis Utahensis, Protocinctus and Placocystites - which he's been able to capture using a small CT scanner from the university's School of Dentistry! Resembling objects like tennis rackets and shaving razors (which sounds like the fossilised remains of Roger Federer's kit bag), Imran uses this scan technology to explore, investigate and virtually dissect these intricate Cambrian Period fossils in order to learn more about what was once inside them. It's truly fascinating stuff. (The images related to this podcast can be found on Twitvid.)

First broadcast: 11/07/2011