Amber: An Insect Frozen in Time

This 3D simulation traps a virtual insect in a stream of tree resin and advances geological time to watch it turn into amber. A real Arrhenius cross-linking model hardens the resin, a quasi-steady Fickian oxygen flux through the thickening shell shows the diffusion barrier that halts decomposition, and a matched control specimen decomposing outside the resin — with no seal at all — sits alongside it so you can compare preserved versus decayed side by side. Adjust burial temperature, resin viscosity and the unsealed decomposition rate, then click the resin to drop an insect in and dial up the time-compression slider to fast-forward millions of years.