
X-rays reveal 1,300-year-old writings inside later bookbindings - ohjeez
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/04/x-rays-reveal-medieval-manuscripts
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Aelinsaar
The only thing more important to the study of human history than our
propensity to create mounds of garbage, is our endless quest to scavenge and
recycle.

Remember this? [http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/03/rare-example-of-
lost-...](http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/03/rare-example-of-lost-
language-found-on-stone-hidden-2500-years-ago/)

It also relates to the recent submission here at HN of the "This is not a
place of honor" article, about the hypothetical 10,000 year warning marker for
the WIPP.

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aylons
I bet this research used a particle accelerator, but the article doesn't
mention it.

Only these machines seem to be able to generate x-rays with enough brilliance
and collimation for this kind of research.

Unfortunately, most of the press does not cite this fact, and people simple
don't get to know about the existence and importance of these facilities,
which are always publicly funded. That's not only sad, but bad for science.

~~~
13of40
Actually, you're right and wrong. All x-rays are produced by particle
accelerators. (For that matter, so are pictures on a CRT.) The article says
they used "macro x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (MA-XRF)", which is a
commercially available technology.

~~~
aylons
Most commercially available technology have particle accelerator-powered
versions that are much more powerful.

This is the case for MA-XRF, used for the same purpose with painting at the
synchrotron light source at Brookhaven: [http://phys.org/news/2011-12-x-ray-
techniques-art-historians...](http://phys.org/news/2011-12-x-ray-techniques-
art-historians-rembrandt.html)

