Is that bear fat or just chonky? Lasers may help scientists find out

One mid-September evening in 2018, Joel Cusick found himself pointing a laser scanner at the butt of a bear named Otis.

Cusick was taking a break from work, standing on a platform along the Brooks River in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve — a world-famous spot for bear watching, as the giant mammals like to wade in the water to hang out and catch fish. Otis was a few hundred feet away, standing relatively still.