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As reported in the secular, peer-reviewed scientific journal
Melanoidins (EU, Volume 4, 2003), the images are formed of conjugated,
complex carbon-carbon double bonds within a carbohydrate layer of starch
fractions and some saccharides. In many places this layer is clear. It is only
in some places that complex carbon structures have formed; structures that
absorb the right spectrums of the colors of light so they appear straw-yellow.
Spectra analysis confirms this. Microchemical tests with iodine also detected
the presence of starch impurities on the surfaces of linen fibers from the
Shroud. The impurity layer can be seen by phase-contrast microscopy. And with a
scanning electron microscope the fine crystalline structure of the coating can
be discerned. The image resists normal bleaching by chemicals or by sunlight, as
is expected. But it can be reduced with diimide, also as expected. The images are not paint, stain, dye or any form of pigment applied to the
cloth by hand or mechanical means. They are a pattern of melanoidins, the
same chemical products that give beer its color, toasted bread its brown, and
bodies their tan from sunless tanning lotions. The layer in which the color resides is as thin as the wall of a soap bubble.
It is as thin in places as 180 nanometers and as thick in other places as 600
nanometers, and it coats only the extreme outermost fibers. By comparison, the
average diameter of a linen fiber is 15,000 nanometers. The average human hair
is 100,000 nanometers thick. |
The
scientific study of the Turin shroud is like a microcosm of the
scientific search for God: it does more to inflame any debate than
settle it.”
And yet, the shroud is a remarkable artefact, one of the few religious relics to have a justifiably mythical status. It is simply not known how the ghostly image of a serene, bearded man was made.”
Scientist-Journalist Philip Ball Nature, that most prestigious of scientific journals, that once had bragging rights to claim that the Shroud was fake, responding to new, peer-reviewed studies that discredit the carbon 14 dating and show that the Shroud could be authentic. WHAT WE KNOW IN 2005
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