Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Ichingcarpenter

(36,988 posts)
Fri Dec 18, 2015, 05:21 AM Dec 2015

Bent Pyramid Secret Chambers Sought Using Cosmic Rays and Muon-detecting plates

Last edited Fri Dec 18, 2015, 05:58 AM - Edit history (1)

Some 40 plates have been placed inside the Bent Pyramid in Dahshur in an attempt to capture cosmic particles, Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities announced early today.

The installation (explained in this video) is part of an ambitious project using muons, or cosmic particles, to investigate Egypt’s main pyramids. The aim is to detect the presence of unknown internal structures and cavities within the pyramids and learn about the monuments’ construction techniques.

Called ScanPyramids, the study is in its first stage and is being carried out by a team from Cairo University’s Faculty of Engineering and the Paris-based non-profit organization Heritage, Innovation and Preservation under the authority of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.


The project uses a mix of innovative technologies such as infrared thermography, muon radiography, and 3-D reconstruction to look inside four pyramids, which are more than 4,500 years old. They include Khufu, or Cheops, Khafre or Chephren at Giza, the Bent pyramid and the Red pyramid at Dahshur.

"The first phase, consisting in a short infrared survey, has been completed on 8 November 2015. We have already revealed one of the most important thermal anomaly on the east face of the Great Pyramid," explained Mehdi Tayoubi, co-director of the ScanPyramids mission with Hany Helal, professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering and former minister of research and higher education.

“The rest of the results will be announced in January 2016,” he added.





Muon-detecting plates are placed within the Bent Pyramid.



http://news.discovery.com/history/ancient-egypt/pyramid-secret-chambers-sought-using-cosmic-rays-151217.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

First the Great Pyramid and now the Bent pyramid
are being searched for secret chambers and these are the oldest
and in better shape than the later pyramids.Also these do not have any writings in them as do the later pyramids.

2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Bent Pyramid Secret Chambers Sought Using Cosmic Rays and Muon-detecting plates (Original Post) Ichingcarpenter Dec 2015 OP
They have tried this before on the Great Pyramid of Chefren in Egypt - but that was back in the 60s. Jim__ Dec 2015 #1
Thank you for a greeat post. gvstn Dec 2015 #2

Jim__

(14,045 posts)
1. They have tried this before on the Great Pyramid of Chefren in Egypt - but that was back in the 60s.
Fri Dec 18, 2015, 12:38 PM
Dec 2015

I'm sure the technology is much better now.

I was curious about muon radiography and found this 2005 article in phys.org:

Earth is showered constantly by particles called muons that are created by cosmic rays, and clever scientists are finding ways to use them as probes of dense objects, including a massive pyramid in Mexico and volcanoes in Japan. American researchers also have proposed using the energetic particles to detect smuggled nuclear materials in vehicles and cargo containers. Muons are formed when cosmic rays from deep space interact with the atmosphere. The particles, which strike earth's surface at the rate of about 10,000 per square meter per minute, pass through large amounts of rock or metal with ease, yet their charge makes them easy to track.

...

Arturo Menchaca-Rocha, director of the physics institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico leads a team that is deploying muon detectors in a tunnel 26 feet below the base of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City. The researchers hope to find any hidden burial chambers or other interior features of the massive pyramid, which is about 740 feet on each side and 215 feet tall. Linda Manzanilla, an archaeologist, is collaborating in the research effort.

Menchaca-Rocha's team has been doing calibration of its instruments in preparation for taking a year's data on muon flux through the pyramid. The team will be looking for any surplus of muons striking a portion of its detector array compared to the background flux. That would be an indication that voids in the pyramid have allowed more particles to pass through to the detectors than expected. The denser an object, the less likely the muons are to pass through. The detector consists of an array of thin wires immersed in a gas. A muon passing through the detector will create an electric charge in the gas that can be picked up as a localized current in the wires.

Menchaca-Rocha and his colleagues are following in the footsteps of the late Luis Alvarez, a Nobel physics laureate from the University of California, Berkeley. In the late 1960s, Alvarez placed muon detectors in a tunnel beneath the Great Pyramid of Chefren in Egypt in search of hidden burial chambers. None were discovered.

more ...

gvstn

(2,805 posts)
2. Thank you for a greeat post.
Sun Dec 20, 2015, 01:50 AM
Dec 2015

I've always wondered why they can't just use something like radar to "see" into the pyramids but it looks a lot more complecated than I thought.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Science»Bent Pyramid Secret Chamb...