Using advanced particle accelerator-based imaging, researchers have successfully read the text inside several carbonized scrolls from the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. The scrolls contain previously unknown philosophical treatises by Philodemus of Gadara, a contemporary of Cicero, offering a rare glimpse into Epicurean thought.
This breakthrough allows for the non-invasive reading of hundreds of remaining scrolls that were too fragile to physically unroll. Scientists expect this project to recover a significant portion of lost Greek and Roman literature that was buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.