From kolb@ucla.edu Fri Apr 20 13:42:16 2001 Received: from mxu3.u.washington.edu (mxu3.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.7]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.03) with ESMTP id f3KKgE960822 for ; Fri, 20 Apr 2001 13:42:14 -0700 Received: from caracal.noc.ucla.edu (caracal.noc.ucla.edu [169.232.10.11]) by mxu3.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.03) with ESMTP id f3KKgEb30857 for ; Fri, 20 Apr 2001 13:42:14 -0700 Received: from kolb.ucla.edu (ts18-178.dialup.bol.ucla.edu [164.67.35.187]) by caracal.noc.ucla.edu (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with ESMTP id NAA05891; Fri, 20 Apr 2001 13:42:11 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <5.0.0.25.2.20010420134301.07262820@pop.bol.ucla.edu> X-Sender: kolb@pop.bol.ucla.edu X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.0 Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 13:43:27 -0700 To: classics@u.washington.edu From: Jack Kolb Subject: Researchers use space technology to decode Pompeii texts - Ananova Alerting Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Researchers in Utah are using light-imaging technology designed for Nasa to read scrolls dating back 2,000 years. Brigham Young University researchers are reading papyrus artefacts found at a villa buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 BC. The technology was originally developed at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to study minerals on planet surfaces. The villa belonged to Julius Caesar's father-in-law. According to project leader Steven Booras, using the multi-spectral imaging system makes the scroll fragments appear as if they were written last week. He said: "Some scholars have told me they take two to three weeks to read a line of text. When that first image came up, I have to admit I was thinking, 'Hey, we've got something here.'" The Nasa technology enables Mr Booras' team to create a series of new images using hi-tech filters that limit the band of light. This means they can eventually turn charcoal-black fragments into clean, clear text. According to Mr Booras the technique already has archaeologists excited about future possibilities. A similar system has been used to decode religious texts found in Jordan and to uncover writing behind ancient murals in Mexico. See this story on the web at http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_266946.html CHECK FOR MORE ON: World http://www.ananova.com/news/index.html?keywords=World&nav_src=more_on US http://www.ananova.com/news/index.html?keywords=US&nav_src=more_on Technology http://www.ananova.com/news/index.html?keywords=Technology&nav_src=more_on Science and discovery http://www.ananova.com/news/index.html?keywords=Science+and+discovery&nav_src=more_on Amazing science http://www.ananova.com/news/index.html?keywords=Amazing+science&nav_src=more_on Space http://www.ananova.com/news/index.html?keywords=Space&nav_src=more_on Archaeology http://www.ananova.com/news/index.html?keywords=Archaeology&nav_src=more_on ---------------------------------------------- To register for more alerts, to remove yourself from this alert, or to find out more about Ananova alerting, Visit http://www.ananova.com/alerts/signin.html?fromemail=yes Lost your password? You will need your password to access your registration. Visit http://www.ananova.com/alerts/forgot.html?mode=forgot to request a reminder. .