FfFfFfFF 58,375 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 In a world first for the study of historic documents, an unopened letter written in 1697 has been read by researchers without breaking the seal. The letter, dated 31 July 1697 and sent from French merchant Jacques Sennacques in Lille to his cousin Pierre Le Pers in The Hague, had been closed using “letterlocking”, a process in which the letter is folded to become its own envelope, in effect locking it to keep it private. The international team of researchers from universities including MIT, King’s College London, Queen Mary University London, Utrecht and Leiden, worked with X-ray microtomography scans of the letter, which use X-rays to see inside the document, slice by slice, and create a 3D image. “It has been a few weeks since I wrote to you in order to ask you to have drawn up for me a legalised excerpt of the death of sieur Daniel Le Pers, which took place in The Hague in the month of December 1695, without hearing from you,” runs the letter. “I am writing to you a second time in order to remind you of the pains that I took on your behalf. It is important to me to have this extract & you will do me a great pleasure to procure it for me & to send me at the same time news of your health & of all the family.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/mar/02/researchers-read-sealed-17th-century-letter-without-opening-virtual-unfolding-x-ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HermioneT 1,998 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 This is fascinating! Thanks for sharing. She / hers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PunkTheFunk 125,719 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Science never fails to amaze me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimisaMonster 31,073 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Guess she never got the "failed to send message" notice... Stream my new single, 💜"Heartbeat"💜, on Spotify! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CautiousLurker 19,732 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 OH NO, they found out about Daniel I must flee this country at once It's a joke! When you give me that look, it's a joke! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killa 18,853 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 mindblowing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bebe 17,289 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 This feels like a super high tech convoluted version of getting a messenger notification, reading what it say's, but not opening it so the other person doesn't see that they've been left on read. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionic 50,111 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 1 hour ago, TimisaMonster said: Guess she never got the "failed to send message" notice... More like left on read Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Just open it i dont understand why make it more complicated Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galactic Mess 1,393 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 6 minutes ago, KanyeWest said: Just open it i dont understand why make it more complicated I think the paper might be very fragile and they might want to preserve it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HermioneT 1,998 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 21 minutes ago, KanyeWest said: Just open it i dont understand why make it more complicated Old paper (often also the case in old book) is extremely delicate and might just crumble into dust when touched. It's probably easier to use this technic than open it and put the pieces together to read. Also old ink fades sometimes when exposed to light or other circumstances after being "contained" for so long. She / hers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimisaMonster 31,073 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 8 hours ago, bionic said: More like left on read But...that would be he got the letter, read it, and never wrote back Stream my new single, 💜"Heartbeat"💜, on Spotify! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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