video: Unwrapping the mystery of a 2,500-year-old Mummy
Scientists in California are using computer scans to help unwrap the mysteries of a 2,500-year-old mummy, believed to be an ancient Egyptian priest named Irethorrou. The tests could help determine what he looked like and how he died.
In a basement lab at Stanford University Medical School, Irethorrou’s mummy lay tightly wrapped in tattered linen as a handful of scientists looked on. Starting with his feet, the scanner rotated around the mummy, snapping X-ray type images that appeared on nearby computer screens.
The pictures, showing well-preserved bone structure, were then mathematically manipulated to generate 3-D images that give a fuller picture of the skeleton.
The highly sophisticated scanning technology allows scientists to learn about the 5-foot-4 inch mummy in remarkable detail without doing invasive or damaging procedures. …[AP]
