Baby Animals In The Womb
Do you remember the image of the elephant fetus in the womb pictured above? I do. I love baby animals and I though it was pretty cool. The picture comes from a documentary by National Geographic called ‘Extraordinary Animals in the Womb’ from 2006. I am unable to find the original footage but you can certainly watch other footage of “In the Womb” at http://natgeotv.com/uk/in-the-womb-animals/videos/animals
I really remember the pictures that were all over the internet. I wondered how the heck did they get these pictures with harming the animals. At the time ( 2006 ) of the first airing I had never heard of 3D imaging for sonograms. I knew they could colorize the things but these pictures were amazing. I honestly thought that perhaps National Geographic went too far and the photographer was taking pictures of dead animals. The pictures were just too good for being just sonograms.
I was right . Turns out that the producer, Peter Chin and his crew says they used a combination of three-dimensional ultrasound scans, computer graphics and tiny cameras to capture the process from conception to birth. They truly are stunning images, just as stunning as the ones of human development National Geographic did. That show depicted a humans development from conception to birth.
These shows and the pictures really move me and I must say, it is hard to imagine anyone harming any of these animals including the human when they see such pictures. They truly speak to the wonders of the world and if you are religious, or spiritual, then you also see the hand of God. I don’t want to get preachy here but Life is an amazing thing, it should be looked upon as a Gift, one that should not be discarded easily.
So now that you are mad at me because I mentioned the hand of God and life is a gift, maybe even insinuated some social commentary, let me say this:
The pictures are not real.
Well, they are real, but they are not pictures of real, living, breathing animals inside of their moms. The are actually pictures of models that were created using a lot of different inputs, such as sonogram imaging. The models were created using ultrasound scans and computer graphics and were made by special effects company Artem, whose other credits include the BBC’s digital monkey campaign and Terry Gilliam movie, The Brothers Grimm.
Oh yes the British papers were all agog over the pictures.
London Evening Standard had the headline “Elephant in the womb … The first remarkable close-up pictures of 
animals in the womb”.
The Standard said the picture had been created using an “array of technology” and a mixture of “ultrasound scans, computer graphics and tiny cameras”. It said one camera had been inserted into the elephant’s womb via its rectum.
The story was followed up in a number of national newspapers the following day.
The Times said the pictures of “live animal foetuses” had been created using “4-D images from inside the wombs of dogs, dolphins and elephants”.
The Mirror said the images were obtained using “highly sophisticated ultrasound techniques and tiny cameras planted in the womb” which were then “graphically manipulated by computer”.
The Brits were fooled and us Americans A quick search will show thousand of Americans who were also fooled. Yep, if you thought somehow they managed to get pictures inside the womb of a living animal without harming the animal you were, well not wrong, but hopeful and fooled by some very good models and lighting. Me too. The pictures, however, are very cool and I still think that taking a life, for the sake of taking a life, should be a hard thing to do.
Sources:
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/nov/29/pressandpublishing.uknews
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01/22/baby-animals-womb_n_4645771.html
http://www.artem.com/
