Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share The papyrus and the volcano
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
The papyrus and the volcano
While digging a well in 1750, a group of workers accidentally discovered an ancient Roman villa containing over a thousand papyrus scrolls. This was a stunning discovery: the only library from antiquity ever found in situ. But the scrolls were blackened and fragile, turned almost to ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Over the centuries, scholars’ many attempts to unroll the fragile scrolls have mostly been catastrophic. But now, scientists are trying again, this time with the help of Silicon Valley and some of the most advanced technology we’ve got: particle accelerators, CT scanners, and AI.
After two thousand years, will we finally be able to read the scrolls?
Featuring Federica Nicolardi, Brent Seales, Youssef Nader, Arefeh Sherafati, and Julian Schilliger.
SUPPORT
Donate $10 per month and get our new “I axolotl questions” mug!
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or Twitter, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
LINKS
The Vesuvius Challenge is not over. Find out more here.
Check out more pictures of the scrolls and the process of “virtual unwrapping” at the Digital Restoration Initiative website, or watch Brent Seales lecture about his technique.
A 60 Minutes story (2018) focusing on the conflict between Seales and scholars Vito Mocella and Graziano Ranocchia.
A replica of the marble floor discovered by Italian farmworkers in 1750.
A video illustrating the process of “virtual unwrapping” with a jelly roll.
Contestant Casey Handmer’s blog post detailing his identification of the “crackle signal” to the ink.
CREDITS
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis
Edited by Taylor Quimby
Our team also includes Felix Poon.
NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie
Music in this episode came from Silver Maple, Xavy Rusan, bomull, Young Community, Bio Unit, Konrad OldMoney, Chris Zabriski, and Blue Dot Sessions.
Volcano recordings came from daveincamas on Freesound.org, License Attribution 4.0 and felix.blume on freesound.org, Creative Commons 0.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
View all episodes
By NHPR
4.7
14471,447 ratings
While digging a well in 1750, a group of workers accidentally discovered an ancient Roman villa containing over a thousand papyrus scrolls. This was a stunning discovery: the only library from antiquity ever found in situ. But the scrolls were blackened and fragile, turned almost to ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Over the centuries, scholars’ many attempts to unroll the fragile scrolls have mostly been catastrophic. But now, scientists are trying again, this time with the help of Silicon Valley and some of the most advanced technology we’ve got: particle accelerators, CT scanners, and AI.
After two thousand years, will we finally be able to read the scrolls?
Featuring Federica Nicolardi, Brent Seales, Youssef Nader, Arefeh Sherafati, and Julian Schilliger.
SUPPORT
Donate $10 per month and get our new “I axolotl questions” mug!
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or Twitter, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
LINKS
The Vesuvius Challenge is not over. Find out more here.
Check out more pictures of the scrolls and the process of “virtual unwrapping” at the Digital Restoration Initiative website, or watch Brent Seales lecture about his technique.
A 60 Minutes story (2018) focusing on the conflict between Seales and scholars Vito Mocella and Graziano Ranocchia.
A replica of the marble floor discovered by Italian farmworkers in 1750.
A video illustrating the process of “virtual unwrapping” with a jelly roll.
Contestant Casey Handmer’s blog post detailing his identification of the “crackle signal” to the ink.
CREDITS
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis
Edited by Taylor Quimby
Our team also includes Felix Poon.
NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie
Music in this episode came from Silver Maple, Xavy Rusan, bomull, Young Community, Bio Unit, Konrad OldMoney, Chris Zabriski, and Blue Dot Sessions.
Volcano recordings came from daveincamas on Freesound.org, License Attribution 4.0 and felix.blume on freesound.org, Creative Commons 0.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More shows like Outside/In
View all
This American Life
91,225 Listeners
Radiolab
43,820 Listeners
99% Invisible
26,263 Listeners
The Dirtbag Diaries
2,624 Listeners
the memory palace
6,888 Listeners
Gastropod
3,650 Listeners
Outside Podcast
2,134 Listeners
Something Wild
123 Listeners
10 Minute Writer's Workshop
138 Listeners
Sidedoor
2,248 Listeners
Wild Ideas Worth Living
1,275 Listeners
Civics 101
2,548 Listeners
Ologies with Alie Ward
24,568 Listeners
Bear Brook
15,293 Listeners
Throughline
16,497 Listeners
The Wild with Chris Morgan
3,436 Listeners
Document
815 Listeners
Patient Zero
1,361 Listeners
Stranglehold
327 Listeners
The Science of Birds
869 Listeners
Unexplainable
2,308 Listeners
The Atlas Obscura Podcast
1,741 Listeners
The 13th Step
996 Listeners
Writers On A New England Stage
8 Listeners
N.H. News Recap
6 Listeners
The Youth Development Center
284 Listeners
Check This Out
5 Listeners
The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs
128 Listeners
Death Resulting
43 Listeners
Homegrown NH
0 Listeners
Operation Night Cat
123 Listeners
Safe to Drink
23 Listeners