T-Rays to Reveal a Lost Da Vinci Masterpiece

Spy tech is expected to reveal a famously hidden work of art by Da Vinci, perhaps inspiring a new Dan Brown book in the process.

T-rays get their name from their terahertz frequencies, which are found between microwave RF and the far infrared, which is sometimes refered to as being “between electronics and optics”. The spy-beam technology is now being used to view murals hidden beneath inches of plaster.

Paris's famous Louvre museum, collaborating with American colleagues, recently announced they had used T-ray scanners to "detect colored paints and a graphite drawing of a butterfly through 4mm of plaster".

It is expected that the technique could reveal many similar hidden works of art, including the famously hidden Leonardo da Vinci painting, "The Battle of Anghiari”, which is thought to lie hidden behind a fresco at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Professor Gèrard Mourou of the Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquèe, one of the team behind the T-ray plaster probe, noted that T-ray imaging would allow the world to see da Vinci's masterpiece without damaging the overlying art. One wonders if the painting is revealed, whether it will inspire Dan Brown to write another overrated book. There are thousands of other hidden art treasures to be revealed as well.

"In France alone, you have 100,000 churches," said Mourou. "In many of these places, we know there is something hidden. It has already been written about. This is a quick way to find it."

T-rays may also offer a better alternative than using X-rays for security, since this would allow the everyday scanning of people without increasing cancer risk. The company Qinetiq has already sold T-ray gear to American homeland-security. The equipment scans the T-rays naturally emitted by human bodies while using automated software to check for materials like metal, plastic, or ceramics.

Posted by Rebecca Sato.

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