Tuesday, November 24, 2009

a celebration of 'scanning'

Finally, a break in the action -- the maybe-Ur pellet consists of a small tube the size of a pencil-eraser that might be just the size to hold the tiny oracle-bead artifact that I found (but the maybe-Ur compound is still packed inside). The opaque density of the tiny tube would inhibit any viewing of the mucousal artifact content-imagery, however.

..which brings us to current editions of two archaeology-themed publications: Archaeology magazine November/December 2009 and the Society for Archaeological Science Bulletin Vol. 32, #4. Both issues are satisfactorily endowed with articles that describe various types of scanning possible when analyzing traditional artifacts such as rock and pigment or bone and marrow, but are not quite the ticket when regarding a mucousal oracle-bead chronicle.

The Archaeology article describes "...extremely powerful x-ray beams produced by a type of particle accelerator called a synchrotron...[at] the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France ...[which] creates a tightly-focused beam of electromagnetic radiation...". The SAS Bulletin describes 'pXRF' and 'EDXRF Spectrometry' technology that scans artifacts in situ with portable devices or after samples are carried away to laboratories; another article describes "thin-section petrography".

Because the mucousal oracle-bead chronicle consists of someone's memories preserved within that individual's own mucous, together with an audible voice strip, such methods described within the publications might well destroy the rare and tiny artifact. However, the methods can produce scans of sample materials that might eventually be matched with the contents of the oracle-bead when its physical analysis can be performed without altering it -- including the somewhat icky scans of ear-nose-throat mucous to determine which consistencies match the physical mucousal substance of the tiny history-bead that holds images of ancient human activities and civilizations, together with voiceover.

Just as human memories can be tested with brain-scan technology, extremely sensitive scans which produce spectra that can be matched with the elements of the oracle-bead imagery will also lead to some type of geiger-counter device that might locate other such beads elsewhere on the planet. As example, the oracle-bead chronicle holds preserved images of the world's metal, mineral and gemstone deposits before they were mined, and an appropriate scanning device would match spectra from those locales with spectra recorded during a scan of the artifact glob(e).

A wand, perhaps, in the hands of a wizard will be appropriate.

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