Much of modern science is based on math. And much of modern math is based on the work of three ancient math Greeks: Archimedes, Euclid, and Pythagoras.
So, over the past two weeks, scientists at Stanford University's Linear Accelerator Center used powerful X-rays to read about a dozen pages of Archimedes' work that no one has read in nearly 800 years. A medieval monk, not realizing that he had the only known copy of several of Archimedes' texts, erased the one-of-a-kind pages around the year 1229. He scraped off the ink, cut the parchment in two, and used it to record prayers. Some 20th-century forgers erased more pages, when they painted over them to make the manuscript look more valuable.
Despite this mathematical mutilation, the scientists' X-rays--a million times more powerful than the ones used to see your bones--could still illuminate what's left of the ancient ink. The technique is called X-ray fluorescence, and scientists say that it's allowing us to re-read "one of the greatest figures of western civilization."
We don't have a superpowerful X-ray, but we can strap you into a time machine for a little visit with the old math Greeks themselves. Meet them and their mathematical achievements--and then click on the links to learn more.
From: KnowledgeNews
X-rays are especially useful in the detection of pathology of the skeletal system, but are also useful for detecting some disease processes in soft tissue. Some notable examples are the very common chest X-ray, which can be used to identify lung diseases such as pneumonia, lung cancer or pulmonary edema, and the abdominal X-ray, which can detect ileus , free air and free fluid.X-rays are relatively safe investigation and the radiation exposure is low. But in pregnant patients, the benefits of the investigation (x-ray) should be balanced with the potential hazards to the unborn fetus.
ReplyDeleteThanks for ur comment, please also check the following post on this topic
ReplyDeletehttp://naumankhan.blogspot.com/2009/02/x-ray-vision.html
its very interesting!