Up Next
Back to Show
Secrets of the Dead
Decoding the Herculaneum Scrolls: AI Meets Ancient Texts
Reading the Herculaneum scrolls required multiple scientific steps that started with taking extremely high-resolution X-rays with a photon beam. Next, computer scientist Brent Seales created a deep-learning artificial intelligence program capable of examining the X-rays in minute detail. This examination identified which elements of the image were papyrus and which were ink.
Support Provided By
Season
55:15
Learn the untold story of Maria Anna Mozart, Wolfgang’s older sister and collaborator.
54:45
Archaeologists search for Assyrian artifacts that survived the Isis occupation of Mosul.
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:16
Find out if the 15th-century murder of two princes in the Tower of London can be solved.
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:16
Uncover the only evidence of crucifixion in Roman-occupied Britain.
Unlock with PBS Passport
54:46
Discover the untold story of Paris’ most famous landmark and the race to top 1,000 feet.
55:02
Discover the world of dinosaur fossil collecting, an unusual hobby with a growing market.
55:16
Explore the sunken remains of an early Christian basilica in western Turkey.
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:25
New evidence sheds light on the early indigenous societies of the Amazon.
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:25
Research is revealing the hieroglyphic texts from within the tomb of an Egyptian scribe.
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:30
Explore the last days in Pompeii, before the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius 2,000 years ago.
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:30
Discover one of the most significant British archaeological finds of the century.
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:30
Fr. Marius Zerafa risks his life to recover a Caravaggio masterpiece stolen in 1984.