How scientists are using cosmic radiation to peek inside the pyramids
Muon tomography is a non-invasive investigation technique made possible by particles travelling through space at almost the speed of light. And it’s revealing secrets buried deep inside ancient pyramids and volcanoes.
By Rob Banino
Published: 09th May, 2021 at 04:00
By 13 October 2016 Mehdi Tayoubi already knew his ScanPyramids project was on the right track. That was the day Tayoubi and his team met with a committee of Egyptologists to tell them about the small, previously unknown cavity they’d found in the north face of the Pyramid of Khufu, also known as the Great Pyramid of Giza. The ScanPyramids project had begun just 12 months earlier, but was already yielding promising results.
Then later, in 2017, it struck gold: a huge void was detected deep within the 4,500-year-old pyramid. Although the void’s precise orientation was unknown, Tayoubi’s team was able to confirm that it was about 30 metres long and situated above the Grand Gallery – the corridor linking the Queen’s chamber to the chamber containing Pharaoh Khufu’s sarcophagus. It was the first major new structure discovered in the pyramid since the 19th Century.
“We don’t know whether this big void is horizontal or inclined. We don’t know if this void is made by one structure or several successive structures. What we are sure about is that this big void is there, that it is impressive, and that it was not expected – as far as I know – by any sort of theory,” said Tayoubi when the news broke in November 2017.
But perhaps more impressive than the two discoveries was the fact that they’d been made while the pyramid remained perfectly intact. There had been new no excavation or disassembly of the structure. No chamber walls were drilled through and no sealed corridors opened up.
More:
https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/how-scientists-are-using-cosmic-radiation-to-peek-inside-the-pyramids/
= new reply since forum marked as read
