SHROUD OF TURIN
The Shroud of Turin bears the faded image of what appears to be a Christ-like
figure. Italian researchers say they've come close to the shroud's coloration
by blasting strips of linen with ultraviolet laser light.
By Alan Boyle
Italian researchers have resurrected the idea that the Shroud of Turin's
mysterious image of a Christlike figure could only have been created by a
powerful flash of light — but skeptics still aren't buying it.
Scientists have tussled with believers, and with each other, over the
origins of the centuries-old cloth for decades: Many believers think it's the
true image of Jesus, left behind miraculously on his burial cloths after his
resurrection. Analyses of the Shroud's chemical makeup, as well as radiocarbon dating of fiber samples, have led lots of
researchers to conclude that the image was painted onto the cloth during the
14th century. But other researchers, sympathetic to the Shroud's cause, say
those tests were faulty.
The Italian
studies, conducted at the ENEA Research Center in Frascati,
addresses a specific question in Shroud science: Could a burst of radiation
have created the coloration seen on the linen? The answer is yes, although the
results reported in the latest studies aren't a perfect match. So does that
mean the Shroud image could only have been created by the flash of a miraculous
resurrection? The answer is no, despite what you might read on the Web.
Five years of tests
"Sadly, we have seen many claims spread in the Web made by journalist/bloggers that discuss the content of a paper they never read," lead researcher Paolo Di Lazzaro told me today in an email. "It is obvious that a serious scientific work cannot prove any supernatural action. We have shown that the most advanced technology available today is unable to replicate all the characteristics of the Shroud image. As a consequence, we may argue it appears unlikely a forger may have done this image with technologies available in the Middle Ages or earlier. The probability the Shroud is a medieval fake is really low. In this sense, the Shroud image is still a scientific challenge."
"Sadly, we have seen many claims spread in the Web made by journalist/bloggers that discuss the content of a paper they never read," lead researcher Paolo Di Lazzaro told me today in an email. "It is obvious that a serious scientific work cannot prove any supernatural action. We have shown that the most advanced technology available today is unable to replicate all the characteristics of the Shroud image. As a consequence, we may argue it appears unlikely a forger may have done this image with technologies available in the Middle Ages or earlier. The probability the Shroud is a medieval fake is really low. In this sense, the Shroud image is still a scientific challenge."
Di Lazzaro and his colleagues based their conclusions on
five years of tests, using an ultraviolet laser apparatus and strips of
modern-day linen. They blasted the cloth with UV at different power levels, and
reported that they "achieved a very superficial Shroud-like coloration of
linen yarns in a narrow range of irradiation parameters." The best effect
depended on laser pulses lasting less than 50 nanoseconds.
"These processes may have played a role in the generation of the body
image on the Shroud of Turin," the researchers report.
They don't go so far as to claim a miracle. But the fact that UV laser
blasters didn't exist in the 13th century, let alone in Jesus' day, strongly
implies that they suspect something out of the ordinary was going on.
What do you think of the Shroud of Turin?
Di Lazzaro told me that the tests were not financed by ENEA, which is a
government-sponsored research agency, and were conducted outside working hours.
"The research was curiosity-driven, the attempt to replicate an image
which is considered 'the impossible image' due to its very peculiar
characteristics," he said.
Over the years, Di Lazzaro and his colleagues have published a long list of
studies, including peer-reviewed papers (see below). The latest studies were
presented at a May conference in Frascati and published in November as an ENEA
technical report (with a disclaimer saying that the contents didn't necessarily
express ENEA's opinion). But they didn't really get traction until this week,
just in time for Christmas, thanks to a series of sensationalized British news
reports.
Critiquing Shroud science
Shroud science, also known as sindology, usually percolates outside the scientific mainstream — but every once in a while a sensational claim comes into the public spotlight. Joe Nickell, an investigator for the New York-based Center for Inquiry, has been following sindology for decades. He noted that the Italian research revives a discussion going back to the 1980s, spearheaded by a group called the Shroud of Turin Research Project, or STURP.
Shroud science, also known as sindology, usually percolates outside the scientific mainstream — but every once in a while a sensational claim comes into the public spotlight. Joe Nickell, an investigator for the New York-based Center for Inquiry, has been following sindology for decades. He noted that the Italian research revives a discussion going back to the 1980s, spearheaded by a group called the Shroud of Turin Research Project, or STURP.
"This is really nothing new," Nickell told me
today. "This is a supposed vindication of STURP."
Nickell said Di Lazzaro and his colleagues started out with the assumption
that the coloration on the Shroud couldn't have been created by applying
pigment to the linen — which runs counter to the conclusions drawn by other
studies. Starting out with the idea that the human figure shown on the Shroud
is an "impossible image" stacks the deck in favor of a miraculous explanation,
he said.
"Making the assumption of a miracle is a really, really, really,
really, really big assumption," Nickell said. "That it's done in the
name of science is just astonishing."
Nickell said the latest findings don't prove much of anything, even though they're
dressed up in high-tech tests.
"It is made up of whole cloth," he said. "The pro-Shroud
people start with the answer, and then they have to get some scientific
evidence to back this up."
From 2008: An American researcher says the Shroud of
Turin might be the real burial cloth of Jesus after all.
Some folks would suggest that the Shroud of Turin is a
valuable focus for faith, whether it's real or not. What do you think? How much
value is there in studying the Shroud, and how much impact do scientifico-religious
debates like this one have on your own thinking? Check out the Web links below,
give it some thought, and add your comments.
Update for 4:15 p.m. ET: Di Lazzaro sent a follow-up email calling attention to
his group's publications, which I've added below, and he poses this question
for Joe Nickell: "Was he (or anybody else) able to reproduce by chemical
paint, acid and any other color a depth of coloration which is 0.2 micrometer
thick (that is, one-fifth of a thousandth of a millimeter)? We are talking of
this, because on the Shroud, the image has a coloration depth so thin that it
is impossible to do with any kind of painting. I can quote peer-reviewed papers
that show this is the coloration depth of the Shroud image.
"By the way, Nickell will be interested to know that
using VUV photons we obtained this shallow coloration thickness," Di
Lazzaro wrote.
I'll pass the question along to Nickell, who says he
doesn't use email. I suspect the answer could go along two tracks: One is that
it's a tough thing to try to reproduce a precise coloration depth under any
circumstances. The other is that centuries of wear and tear might have had an
effect that's not easily replicated by the contemporary application of pigments
or other chemicals. But we'll see what Nickell has to say.
In my book, Philosopher's Stone which took me thirty years to write I explain the ancient science of the Ark and the sacred Hebrew MFKZT powder also known as the Philosopher' Stone, m-state and white-powder-of-gold and a host of other names now forgotten. It is an orbitally rearranged combined atom with all the protons in the center. This makes the nucleus much larger and atomic forces holding it together much weaker because protons are like little magnets of the same polarity. The electron orbit in a ring much further out--about 1000 Fermies from the nucleus.
This material is very abundant and is a priori state of matter. The mitochondria in all our body cells are able to transmute it into any element necessary for cell division.
The kings and priests ate this material to outsmart and out live their enemies. It enables a person to heal, read minds, levitate and do all the things they wrote about in the Bible that Jesus did. At that time many people were eating this material in large quantities in a specially prepared priest bread.
It can raise your IQ hundreds of points.The bread enabled their bodies to absorb more of it by bypassing the hydrochloric acid in the stomach.. (It tends to bind up and form chlorides in the stomach so that you don't absorb it.)
The Philosopher's Stone will burn and give off a flash of beta radiation when perturbed with magnetic frequency. When Jesus died the material in his body would give off a tremendous flash of light.
As a mineral supplement It theoretically can cure all disease by rebuilding your DNA and extend your life hundreds of years. The book contains seven priceless recipes to make it in your kitchen.
It is worth millions if you are dying from cancer or aids but it only sells for $20. !-800-BUY-BOOK You may also order it on line from my web site: www.GuardDogBooks.com
No comments:
Post a Comment