ct scanner

To grasp the power of Toshiba’s new Aquilion ONE computed-tomography (CT) scanner, imagine facing a picturesque beach. Your camera doesn’t have a panoramic function, so you take snapshots pointing to the left, the center, and the right. You tape the photographs together and it looks gorgeous, sure, but you’re missing the action of the waves crashing on the sand.

Granted, this probably isnt what they were thinking when Siemens designed this latest, higher-resolution version of a CT Scanner, but sometimes the unexpected applications are the coolest. Researchers studying the famous bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti stored in Berlins Altes Museum recently ran the sculpture through a scanner to look for details about what might be hidden inside. This had been done before, but the resolution at that point wasnt sharp enough to reveal any telling features. Previously, the group, led by famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, had also scanned Tutankhamens mummy, revealing that the famed king had died at about 19 years of age and, contrary to some theories, had probably not been murdered. In a National Geographic Channel special that aired last night, the researchers reveal that neither of two mummies they examined is likely to be Nefertiti, but probably  contain the remains of close relatives instead.—Gregory Mone

Via Medgadget