Au contraire! Every rock in existence emits electromagnetic radiation.
Neither is it "mysterious-sounding".
Sadly, for the true audience of these articles (i.e., people lacking a solid background in the physical sciences), it's something very mysterious (they might not even realize, for example, that every object with a temperature above Absolute Zero - a slab of rock, for instance - emits measurable amounts of electromagnetic radiation).
Regards,
But not every rock in existence emits electromagnetic radiation sufficient to do this:
(From the article) The scientists reports that their measuring devices either malfunctioned or ceased to work at all.
Right?
Sadly, for the true audience of these articles (i.e., people lacking a solid background in the physical sciences), it's something very mysterious (they might not even realize, for example, that every object with a temperature above Absolute Zero - a slab of rock, for instance - emits measurable amounts of electromagnetic radiation).
So what? What's important here, as explained in my previous post, is the relative level of radiation produced by the burial slab, compared to other rocks in the immediate vicinity. They act as controls and enable the scientists to set the baseline level of radiation being emitted from other areas of the site. This baseline data can then be compared to the data acquired from the burial slab. When this analysis is repeated multiple times, a calculation of the statistical significance of any differences between burial slab and adjacent areas can be obtained. I assume this has been done, since the article refers those involved as "scientists".