The SLAC factor: Silicon Valley’s high energy network

For centuries, the legendary star catalog of the Greek astronomer Hipparchus was considered a lost relic of history. Now, thanks to some ultra-sensitive imaging, researchers have finally unmasked the 2nd century B.C. coordinates hidden beneath layers of medieval text. How did they recover it? With high-energy physics. Catch Adam Mann’s cosmic playback for SN.

📜 Palimpsest physics: Reading between the lines

To understand how you read a “deleted” book first written over 2,000 years ago, you have to look at light beyond what the human eye can see. Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) in Menlo Park, Calif., scanned a piece of reused parchment (known as a palimpsest) under different wavelengths — a technique called multispectral imaging. This unveiled traces of the original iron-based ink which had remained after the star map was scraped off and covered with other writing. They plan to use computer algorithms to further enhance what can be seen of the script. The technique, refined at high-energy labs, is now being used for everything from verifying fine art to analyzing the chemical composition of experimental batteries.

🔭 The SLAC factor

At the heart of this kind of imaging revolution is SLAC. Operated by Stanford University for the U.S.