Turin Shroud and Neutron Bombardment

Recent work has hugely advanced the pro authenticity argument and fabric age itself is likely to disappear as an issue.  Considering the remarkable circumstances of the resurrection itself, it is unsurprising that it was passed down amoung leading Christians until today.  That at least disposes of both maybes which we are supposed to multiply.  We simply do not need this argument for this case.

Much more important to us is the plausible production of neutrons during an earthquake.  Has this ever been observed?  If so it must be carefully measured and accounted for.  Carbon 14 dating has always been the monkey in the woodshed for dealing with ancient artifacts.  It has been seriously problematic and in fact grossly misleading at times.  It turned our understanding of prehistory upside down once with the tree ring adjustment.

Thus artifacts drawn from quake prone districts are clearly susceptible to adjustment.  Now can we prove that or even observe a real effect.

More pertinent, we have huge undated structures that appear to be used as a resonator using large blocks of granite.  These would surely emit ample radiation over their operating lifespan. So yes we need to become more curious.

Turin Shroud may have been created by earthquake from time of Jesus 

An earthquake in Jerusalem in AD 33 may have caused an atomic reaction which created the Turin Shroud and skewed radiocarbon dating results, scientists believe

By Sarah Knapton, Science Correspondent

7:24PM GMT 11 Feb 2014

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10631973/Turin-Shroud-may-date-from-time-of-Jesus.html

The Turin Shroud may not be a medieval forgery after all, after scientists discovered it could date from the time of Christ.

The shroud, which is purported to be the burial cloth of Jesus - showing his face and body after the crucifixion - has intrigued scholars and Christians alike.

But radiocarbon dating carried out by Oxford University in 1988 found it was only 728 years old.

However a new study claims than an earthquake in Jerusalem in 33AD may have not only created the image but may also have skewed the dating results.

The Italian team believes the powerful magnitude 8.2 earthquake would have been strong enough to release neutron particles from crushed rock.

This flood of neutrons may have imprinted an X-ray-like image onto the linen burial cloth, say the researches.

In addition, the radiation emissions would have increased the level of carbon-14 isotopes in the Shroud, which would make it appear younger.

"We believe it is possible that neutron emissions by earthquakes could have induced the image formation on the Shroud's linen fibres, through thermal neutron capture on nitrogen nuclei, and could also have caused a wrong radiocarbon dating," said Professor Alberto Carpinteri, from the Politecnico di Torino.

The Shroud has attracted widespread interest ever since Secondo Pia took the first photograph of it in 1898 which showed details which could not be seen by the naked eye.

Last year scientists at the University of Padua in northern Italy dated it to between 300BC and AD400 – still hundreds of years after Christ, who is believed to have died between 30-36AD.

[ this writer has no clue - arclein]

Other scientists have previously suggested that neutron radiation may have been responsible for the ghostly image of a crucified man with his arms crossed.

However, no plausible explanation has been offered for the source of the radiation.

Now Carpinteri’s team have hypothesized that high-frequency pressure waves generated in the Earth’s crust during earthquakes are the source of such neutron emissions.

The scientists base the idea on research into piezonuclear fission reactions which occur when brittle rock is crushed under enormous pressure.

Neutron radiation is usually generated by nuclear fusion or fission, and may be produced by nuclear reactors or particle accelerators.

During the process, neutron particles are released from atoms.

A powerful earthquake could achieve the same effect, generating neutron radiation from stresses in the Earth, it is claimed.

Mark Antonacci, a leading expert on the Shroud and president of the Resurrection of the Shroud Foundation, is currently petitioning Pope Francis to allow molecular analysis of the cloth using the latest technology. It is hoped that such an investigation will be able to confirm or rule out the radiation theory.

The Vatican has never said whether it believes the shroud to be authentic, although Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI once said that the enigmatic image imprinted on the cloth "reminds us always" of Christ's suffering.

The first, hotly debated, documented reference to the Shroud of Turin dates back to the 14th century when a French knight was said to have had possession of the cloth in the city of Lirey.

Records suggest the Shroud changed hands many times until 1578, when it ended up in its current home, the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.

The 14-foot long herringbone woven cloth appears to show the faint imprint of a man bearing wounds consistent with crucifixion.

Some have proposed that it came from the body itself, or was generated by an event inside the tomb, pointing to a divine origin linked to the resurrection.

The new theory is published in the journal Meccanica.