Posted on 02/07/2024 8:24:15 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The famous Herculaneum scroll, charred papyrus found buried by the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79AD, has been deciphered by artificial intelligence.
The feat was achieved by students in the Vesuvius challenge, which used algorithms to scan the artifact that would otherwise had been destroyed if unraveled by human hands.
The winning team read more than 2,000 'never-before-seen' texts that discussed sources of pleasure, such as music, the taste of capers and the color purple.
The three students, from Egypt, Switzerland and the US, share a $700,000 grand prize for uncovering hundreds of words across more than 15 columns of text, corresponding to around five percent of an entire scroll.
The Vesuvius Challenge was launched in March 2023 by Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky, and Silicon Valley backers.
At the time, Seales released thousands of 3D images of two rolled-up scrolls, as well as an AI program that had been trained to read letters in the marks left by ink.
Shortly after, Luke Farritor from Nebraska and Youssef Nader from Egypt independently revealed the same word hidden within the heart of the sealed manuscript - 'πορφύραc' - meaning purple dye or clothes of purple.
And the pair shared a $40,000 prize.
However, Monday's announcement revealed the grand prize winners, which also included Nadaer, Farritor, but in addition to Julian Schilliger, a Swiss robotics student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I’ve been to Pompeii and saw some murals on still-standing walls, some depicting pleasure. Took a photo of one and it’s now framed on my living room wall. It shows three little angels playing instruments. Maybe they were playing music for those engaged in “pleasure”. Pompeii Red is a terrific color, still fairly bright on the wall.
“Large pepperoni, no onions.”
Wheel?
Writing?
Well, I don’t think there is a right answer perse, although some technologies might carry more weight than others.
THe purpose of the question was more of a thought exercise than anything else. It makes one stop and think, especially in regards to the story above. Rome had what it needed, only because it didn’t know perhasp that it needed anything else. I know that “doctors” of the day would wish they had the knowledge that their modern counter parts have today, but then again, some thigns were don back in teh day that would astonish todays establishment.
LOL! Make your time!
RUN!!!!
Your car warranty is about to expire.
I’d go back 2 nights before and tell them to get the hell outta Dodge.
Eat At Joe’s
Now who would listen to your warnings? Human beings are the same in any era. May as well take some pictures, tourist trinkets, grab a quick bite to eat, grab some scrolls or loot the place.
Fire sale! Everything must go. We lava our customers!
Time shares available!
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