CAST (Computer Assisted Sonic Topography) (C/N)

At Alan Grant‘s dig, the paleontologists used the CAST program to determine how much a fossil needed to be protected.To determine this, the paleontologists would utilize a Thumper to fire a lead slug into the ground. The computer would assemble the date from the shock waves and turn it into a readable x-ray image. At the technology’s current state in 1989, the technology had only advanced enough to be able to locate the sites of buried fossils. However, the graduate students working on the dig claimed that in a few years the technology would produce images detailed enough to make an actual excavation redundant.

The technology worked flawlessly in the laboratory, but in the field it proved delicate and fickle. This resulted in somewhat lengthly load times and distorted images. As a new technology, the results of its images varied greatly, and Alan Grant was doubtful about it.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton page 55-56 (First Edition, Thirty Fourth printing)